The Dark Night of the Soul

When I lived in Oklahoma, I had a very old house. The kind that creaked and groaned in the wind. The kind that you never quite felt alone. Sometimes, it was welcoming, but other times, it felt... well, evil.

We've all heard of ghost stories growing up, but I never thought that I'd live one.

I'm the type of person that is very practical, curious, and interested in things I don't understand. So I question ghost stories. But this was something different. I didn't understand it and I still don't.

I was going through a very dark time in my life. Everything that I knew was falling apart around me. Crisis after crisis were happening, tragedy after tragedy. In English, we call this the dark night of the soul. It was a cold January night in Oklahoma, when I started seeing shadows out of the corner of my eye and started to wonder if I was alone in the house. Because it suddenly felt like I wasn't. Like something was watching me.

I went to bed not wanting to think about it, but at 3 am, I woke up with a jolt, turned to the corner of my room and said "You aren't welcome here, only good things are welcome here." And then fell immediately back to sleep. And I did that the next night. "You are not welcome here, only good things are welcome here." And the next. It was like something watching me in my sleep and I knew it. On the fourth night, I said phrase " you are not welcome here" and a small box was knocked off of my dresser. Finally, on the fifth night, I had a nightmare that something was on my chest and was choking me. I fought in my dream, but part of me knew it was real. But I was paralyzed at the same time. When I finally was able to wake up, I was gasping for breath, looked in the corner and said it again "You are not welcome here, only good things are welcome here." When I got up, there were red welts on my neck and my throat was sore. Shaken, I grabbed my car keys and ran from the house.

The next day, I brought in a priest and cleansed my house. I moved a few months later, but still think back of that week. I don't know what happened, but I'm very glad to not live in that house anymore.

Vocabulary list:

Creak (v.) — (of an object or structure, typically a wooden one) make a harsh, high-pitched sound when being moved or when pressure or weight is applied.

Groan (v.) — make a deep inarticulate sound conveying pain, despair, pleasure, etc; (of an object) make a low creaking sound when pressure or weight is applied.

Jolt (n.) — an abrupt rough or violent movement.

Gasping for breath (v.) — to breathe quickly in a way that can be heard because you are having difficulty breathing.

Welts (n.) — a raised, red area of skin caused by being hit or by cuts healing.