I have made the decisions to record my experience. I don’t know what will become of me, or my story. After the paranoia sets in, it’s hard to think strait, and you look twice at everything. What was that black shape crawling across the wall? What was that thing tapping at the window? I cannot guarantee everything written here is true, or that I have recorded everything, but trust me when I say that this is the worst experience of my entire life.
After moving to my southern California home with my parent’s from an apartment in Minneapolis, everything seemed normal. A new house wasn’t much of a change for me, since I had been moving from place to place for quite a while. The neighbors were nice, no problems. The house was a nice, two stories, three bedrooms, and two and a half bath. I have- well, had- the only bedroom on the first floor. That bedroom overlooked the backyard, and the area where my mother was planting her garden.
I wasn’t forced to help my mother plant the garden; I actually enjoyed it. We planted color- coordinated rows of flowers for the entire spectrum. Right outside my window, there was a rainbow all for my viewing pleasure. The entire time, she would talk to me about fun things we could do this summer.
“Jeanne, we will have so much fun this summer!” she said “We should have cookout with all the neighbors. They are so nice, I’m sure they’d love it!”
“The Hutchins calls me ‘Miss Baret’,” I said rolling my eyes,” It’s so strange.”
“Being called by your last name is a sign of respect, Jeanne. They respect you! Besides who wouldn’t? You are funny, nice, and pretty as a rose.” She said kissing my forehead.
“Mom…!” I groaned.
We worked until the sun was midway in the sky. The rest of that day went on as any normal summer day would be as normal as any other; I would just lie on the couch like a vegetable watching television. We ate dinner as a family. I did my chores, unpacked a little more, and went to bed. I thought I could hear something outside my window. Yes, there was definitely something outside the window. I could hear slow movement and the slosh and suction of something being propelled in and out of mud. The sound of the wet earth being moved around could be hard throughout the night, but I shrugged it off and assumed it to be an animal seeing the change we had made to the backyard. I let it go, and fell asleep.
The next day was about the same as the first. I lounged about and watched television, and went to the store with my mother to get things for dinner. Everything was normal that day. I checked out the backyard to see if an animal had dug anything up from the night before. Not even an imprint of any small paws showed in the damp earth.
When I went to sleep that night, I felt a pressure in my chest, like it was being pushed down by an invisible force. I fell asleep what seemed like instantaneously, only to wake up with a dry throat. I slowly drew my legs out from under my fleece covers, and sat up strait. It was so dark, and the light switch was on the other side of the room. I ran my hands along the wall until I felt the brush of the curtains at my fingertips. I fumbled with the drawstrings on the blinds, until I was able to pull it up and release a dim light into the room. I turned around and froze.
The plants that could clearly be seen from my window were gone. I turned in disbelief. My eyes must have been deceiving me, they couldn’t be gone. I found my way down the hall and into the living room. I pulled back the sliding glass door and let the night flood in. I cautiously placed once foot down on the pavement. I drew back and cringed at the ice cold surface. I forced my feet onto the patio and tensed up, bracing myself from the cold. I quickly adjusted and walked out into the grass. I could barely see five feet in front of me as I kneeled down next to the garden. There were little holes where all the flowers should have been. The flowers seemed as if they had just disappeared entirely. I reached my hand into a hole to search for any sign of roots. I felt through almost every hole and found nothing.
I placed my hand into the dirt to feel for anything. I felt something brush my hand. The earth under my hand collapsed, and I felt it quickly twine up my arm and around my neck. It tugged at me and pulled at me, pulling me down. I saw the earth open up into a large hole. I clawed at the cold trying to free myself, but it was no use. I dragged my hands at the earth, but it was too late, it had already gotten me. I closed my eyes as I fell into the hole, waiting to hit the ground.
I sprung upright, my head pounding, sweating beyond belief. My room was light now, I could see the morning light through my lime green curtains. I could hear the shower upstairs running. What? A dream? That was too real! I could feel it all! I remember every last detail. I could feel everything. It wasn’t possible. Relief flooded over me when I realized. It was just a dream! I’m alive! I was still shaking with shock as I pulled myself out from under the covers and onto my feet.
The entire day was a blur, and I remember how paranoid I was after that dream. That night, it was hard getting to sleep. I was so afraid of having that dream. I sat awake for at least an hour before I drifted off. I should have stayed awake. I’ve had to sit back, and watch the same dream play out in front of me for the past 3 weeks. I’ve told my mother, who talked to a psychologist. He recommended gardening as a therapeutic element to calm the dreams. I can’t handle these dreams much longer; I feel like I’m going crazy. I’ve been training myself to sleep only once every two days, and I’m hoping to get up to three soon. I know it sounds crazy, But insomnia is better than this dream. The pain of it smashing my jugular vain and depriving me of oxygen is so real. I think I know how to stop this, I heard somewhere that salt can help ward off evil spirits, so, if I can find a way to use it I think I will be successful at gett