It was about ten o'clock at night. I was stretched out on the couch with my three-year-old son peacefully sleeping face down my chest. I had been reading his favorite book to him.I laid there listening to my son's shallow breathing and the sounds of the old and tired house. A creak here. A groan there. I was just about to doze off when I heard a movement on the other side of the living room. I turned my head and looked into the dark corner of the room just in time to see an unidentifiable shadow begin its journey in my direction.
The movement was accompanied by the sound of quick, shuffling feet. I held on to my son's sleeping body as I watched the shadow creep toward the couch and disappear from my view as it reached the base of the sofa.
My heartbeat quickened and my breathing stopped as I waited for the unknown to happen. The sweet innocence of my son's naivety did nothing to calm my own angst and fear. I continued laying there with my head turned toward the room with my eyes searching for any movement at all when a dark spot rose from the ground and blinded my view of the room behind it. The darkness was less than a foot away from my face when two red slits for eyes slowly opened and stared deep into my own eyes. We looked at each other for what seemed like hours before the eyes closed and the shadow descended to the floor and scurried off.
* * * *
Imagine hearing this story on the radio while laying in your bed in an apartment that you knew once belonged to the landlord's recently deceased mother. As soon as the caller had finished her experience, I leaped from my bed and ran toward the light switch which was inconveniently across the entire room. I then stayed up until four in the morning playing MLB '05 with all of the lights in the apartment turned on.
I have been listening to Coast to Coast AM radio as I drift to sleep every night since my junior year of college. It is a show that has no boundaries. Usually there is a guest that talks about any particular area of expertise and when nothing is scheduled a segment entitled Open Lines allows listeners to call in and share accounts of ghost, shadow people, and UFO sightings and other weird experiences.
Most of the callers are clearly insane, but occasionally there is that one story that scares the crap out of me. No matter how bizarre the story gets, the host of the show maintains a level of interest and never criticizes. Normally the callers and guests go on and on about these ridiculous topics which puts me to sleep, but whenever the host opens the lines for callers, I quickly reach for the remote and change the channel.
I have been listening to Coast to Coast AM radio as I drift to sleep every night since my junior year of college. It is a show that has no boundaries. Usually there is a guest that talks about any particular area of expertise and when nothing is scheduled a segment entitled Open Lines allows listeners to call in and share accounts of ghost, shadow people, and UFO sightings and other weird experiences.
Most of the callers are clearly insane, but occasionally there is that one story that scares the crap out of me. No matter how bizarre the story gets, the host of the show maintains a level of interest and never criticizes. Normally the callers and guests go on and on about these ridiculous topics which puts me to sleep, but whenever the host opens the lines for callers, I quickly reach for the remote and change the channel.
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