“It’s all in your head,” “You’re making it all up,” “I can tell that you’re lying”, “there’s no such thing”. Those are the phrases that I get told whenever I go into this subject. The Paranormal.  To me, the second side of the world is an interesting topic. Where do we go when we die? Do you we rise in the clouds or do we fall into h*ll.  I’ve seen pictures and videos on the internet, going deep into my feelings about this topic. I’ve yet to find out, but I can tell you one thing. Some just stay bodiless on this planet, roaming certain areas that they once lived or visited. I’ve been told that the Spirit World does not exist, and that there’s no possible way that ghosts are real. The ones who do say such things, don’t have any experience… but yet, I do.

It was around 8pm in the summer of 2009. My parents just left for a party and my brother was at a friends house, and of course, I was the one that had to stay home. My mom was at least generous to leave a twenty dollar bill on the kitchen counter to order some food. I also had some movies that i had rented an hour earlier so I was pretty pumped. I set up a nice hang out spot in the living room consisting of video games, pizza, movies and a whole bunch of blankets and pillows. Just  a simple night to rest and have fun; well that’s what I thought.

Around 10pm I realized one of my movies wasn’t in the pile. I think to myself where it is. I look around my living room, but couldn't find it. I jump right back to the little humble of ode that i made out of blankets and pillows, thinking about where my movie went. I felt like I  left the movie in my room, that could be the only option that came to mind. Realizing that no one was home to cater me, I had to be productive and get it myself, but as I got up, I felt strange… as if someone was behind me breathing on my shoulder. I was 11 and just thought it was the wind and the thought of the paranormal was not one of my concerns at the moment. So I just told myself that it wasn’t anything and just journeyed off to my room. I entered my room. I couldn't find my movie, but for some reason I’ve noticed something of very small detail. I looked at my desk and noticed that everything was flipped over the y axis of the desk. So the pencil case was on the left side and a little box full of coins was on the right side. I don’t remember if I rearranged my desk, but I considered that it was my brother. As I leave my room, I felt a very big temperature drop, so I went back in my room and went back into the hallway. It felt normal the second time. At this point, I started to consider the paranormal, but the evidence was lacking. I had the claim, but everything else was just not there, kind of like my mind.

I go back to the living room to find something astonishing. There was this table I had my food and drinks on. I remember putting some of the food back on the kitchen counter, but everything I had on the table was scattered across the kitchen counter and the table was flipped upside. All I could remember was that my jaw drop and stomach drop at the same time. What or Who did that. This is every kids nightmare. I close my eyes, and start to wipe them. I open again and notice everything is there like it was. I went to flip the table back, then to sit on the couch to think of what’s happening, and where my movie went. There was no way I wanted to leave the spot I was already in. Weird stuff has already happened and I was thinking that there would be more to come. I felt like someone was hiding in my house, hiding from me and taunting me before he struck, but I thought that was just idiotic.

I came to the point where I just blamed my brother. I laughed and said to myself “ Wow, he’s probably just hiding in his room. Telling me that he was at a friends instead of home, just to set up this weird, but great prank.” That’s what I thought of and it seemed legit. He wasn’t old enough to drive so I couldn’t check if his car was in the driveway. Plus, I didn’t even see him in leave the house. So as this being my reason for all the things happening, I went to his room thinking my movie was in there. I open up his bedroom door and turn my face towards the door, and I regret what I did.

I close the door and turn around to find something that left me breathless. A tall shadowy man sitting on my bed. I give out a somewhat small breath and he turns his head right to me. I could only make out a body size and shape. He was wearing some sort of a casual dress coat and penny loafers. He also had this boater hat, but the top of it was a lot more round. Even though small details like age and appearance were hard to make out, I can remember those eyes. They pierced into my mind and made me lose mental stability. We have a 2 minute stare down, but if felt like 2 hours. I was motionless. I tried to move but no limb in my body could work at all. The temperature drops throughout this moment, I can hear whispering coming from him. I could make out the words “Come, sit” and “Why?” I finally got my mind back in my body and ran out of that room. I ran back to the living room and promised to myself I wasn’t going to leave the living room or going to bed until my parents came home. I did find my movie in the laundry room, but I also found something a lot more important.

For the rest of the night, I sit and think of who that man was. I did the research and found that most spirits stay in the house/location in which they have deceased in. No living organism has died in my house other than a dog and a couple fish. My grandpa built the house with his bare hands. My mother lived in this house ever since she was born, along with her two siblings. I always remember her telling me all of her memories about her childhood. The whole backyard was a practically all shrubs and wheat, until my grandpa and his friends deteriorated the yard, now all of that is gone, which makes it look a lot more open.

“Devin?” My mom faintly says at the front door. I approach my mom. I want to ask her about what I just went through but there’s no way in h*ll that she will ever believe me. Most of the time, she doesn’t believe me when I tell her about not having homework. I knew I had to keep this as subtle as possible.
“So mom, I was wondering what our house was like before you lived here.” I said with excitement.
“Well” She says while pointing to the area where the kitchen, dining room and bedrooms were. “That area used to be a small cabin. Your grandparents loved the area but it was your grandma that wanted a bigger house. So your papa sent us away to my grandparents house while he stayed to make a giant addition to the cabin.”

There’s also a barn in my backyard and I was confused by the fact that she mention that. “But what about the barn, where did that come from.” I asked with a face of confusion.
“That was there before, but papa did a lot of work on it”
“But did you know who lived in the cabin before papa did all the work on it”
“To be honest, I don’t even think that anyone in the family knows about the cabin, even papa.”

I walk away somewhat satisfied about the facts that I had just been told. I stayed up another hour googling the history of the area of Clarkston I lived in, but nothing. To this day I still haven’t found any leads to who that man could’ve been or why he was just sitting on my brothers bed. I wanted to call my grandpa but he can’t remember anything. So I did what any other kid would do. Stay up until their parents went to bed, wait an hour, then go to investigate.

Two hours pass by and it’s around 2:30am. I slowly walk into my basement, trying not to awake my dog or parents. It’s dark to the point where I couldn’t see an inch in front of me. The only thing I could see was the moon shining through the kitchen window. A small draft gives a chill to my back and the recent memories start to kick. I’m getting a feeling he’s behind me, but I can’t look back.  I walk down the stairs, slowly to avoid creeking, but there’s nothing I could of done. I get to the basement and the darkness gets worst, as if I blindfolded myself. There are only some spots in the room that are visible due to the moon. I ran towards a shelf containing boxes of papers and documents.

I rip open the box like a lion ripping open a zebra. You could tell these papers were older than the 1812 Revolution. Just a big box filled with dusty yellow papers. I dig deeper and deeper. Nothing. The box was just filled with tax returns and really stupid daily reminders. I knew that I didn’t anything, but at the same time I didn’t want to leave. I felt his presence, even though it was probably in my head, I was too scared to turn my head 5 degrees left or right. I run upstairs, trying to avoid looking anywhere but at the ground. I manage to jump into my bed, put a pillow on my face to seal my eyes from the real world, and especially the world behind ours.

Till this day, I’ve yet to find any information about that day. There has been other occurrences since then. I don’t know if they are considered worse than what happened, but I can tell you it all leads to that man. I’m always wanting to find out. Soon, time will run out to find an answer to this, but trying to complete any task takes time. Yet, no matter who I tell they never believe me whatsoever. The human mind disappoints me when it comes to this kind of stuff. I remember reading this one paragraph from some internet page, but it spoke to me. It connected with the events that happened that one night by saying the phrase “You can try to tell any human being a personal memory, and they’ll shut you down; but you tell them there is wet paint on the wall, and they have to touch it to be sure”. I’ve lost some trust from people when they are told of my story. I know it’s hard for someone to believe something along these lines, It takes true respect from someone to actually believe. Now I know who I have full respect for and can fully trust, besides getting shut down. Only few do, and those are the ones who have gone through the same thing during a certain point in their life. I’m usually asked “Aren’t you scared to live in your house” or “How do you sleep at night”. I sleep fine and I’m not scared. I was never hurt by the spirit or felt threatened to the point where I needed a medium or therapist. I do live in my brothers room now since he moved out. Yes, it does seem odd, but like I said, I am not hurt or scared at all. The only thing I am is curious.