MY PERSONAL PARANORMAL EXPERIENCES
Part I

As a child, my first experience with a spirit took place in a home that we later learned was built on land that was once involved in a Civil War battle.  This home was a 3 bedroom ranch and was only 10 years old when we moved in.

My family lived in this home for about 6–7 years, but the experiences that happened there occurred almost from the day we moved in.  My mother, father, and oldest brother never experienced things, or never said anything if they did.  The spirit seemed to be active for only me and my youngest older brother whenever he was home on military leave.  The spirit would enjoy visiting my brother in his room and making its presence known by either sitting on the bed with him at night or rocking in a rocking chair that sat in a corner of the room.  Needless to say, my brother didn’t get much rest when he was home.

As a child of about 5 years old I wasn’t too fond of the dark, so a night light in my room helped with my fears.  However, I would sometimes lay awake at night and hear the footsteps of someone walking on the tile floor of our den, knowing that everyone else in my family was sound asleep in their own bed.  Sometimes I felt my mattress sink in at the foot of my bed as if someone had just sat down there.  At times like this I eagerly pulled the covers up and crawled under them to feel safe from whatever was on the other side.

One night, while my youngest older brother was home on leave, a terrible thunderstorm passed through and took out our electricity.  My mother knew I feared the dark and since my night light didn’t work, she calmed me by lighting a candle on top of the chest near my bedroom door to give light until the electricity came back on.  As I lay there in bed trying to go to sleep, I started to hear a blowing sound.  The sound was a bit muffled but it still seemed like the sound made while trying to blow out birthday candles.  I sat up in bed and looked toward the doorway where the sound appeared to be coming from.  I noticed that the candle flame leaned to the side every time I heard the blowing sound.  The flame would straighten up and then as the blowing sound came the flame would lean to its side.  It was on this night I learned that something I couldn’t see was actually doing that to get my attention.

After laying there for awhile and watching this, I finally decided to go to my brother’s room and tell him about it.  I woke him up and told him what had been happening, and he sat me down on his bed to explain what was going on.  My brother didn’t want me to fear the unusual events in the house.  He calmly explained what he, too, had been experiencing in his room.  Then he explained that spirits can sometimes be here on earth with us and will do things to get our attention to make themselves known to us.  He assured me that the spirit in our house wasn’t there to hurt us; it just wanted us to know it was there.

As the next few years passed, I got used to the unusual sounds I heard at night.  After my brother explained what was truly happening there I no longer feared them.  Little did I know that a new experience would happen that would be etched in my mind for the rest of my life.

As we prepared to move out of this house, I was lying in bed one night when I was suddenly awakened by a knocking sound outside my bedroom window.  Still being quite young, I hesitated for a minute and just listened.  Remembering what my brother had told me about not fearing anything, I made my way to the window that was beside my bed.  I slowly lifted one of the blind slats and peered out.  The full moon lit the backyard much like daylight. 

As I peered out, I saw a figure moving out and away from my window.  As I watched, the figure of a young man appeared.  This young man was dressed in military fatigues and the moonlight cast a shine off his black boots.  He slowly turned toward me, and as our eyes met he smiled at me.  He then turned his face away from me, took one more step, and disappeared.  I knew that this young man, obviously a soldier, was the spirit that had been making himself known to my brother and me. 

After this memorable encounter, I never saw the soldier again and had no other events in this house.

–Deborah Durr