We Started To Laugh, But We Wanted To Cry

On the Friday of May the 18th, one of my best friends had her sweet sixteen at her house, inviting several friends, including me. We did typical teenager stuff: we played games like Red Rover and hide-and-go-seek (in the dark, with one of my friends' fog machine), etc.

At around ten o'clock, a few friends went home, which left Paige, me, Kiersten (Paige's 12-year-old little sister) and two other girls (our friends Erica and Bethany). We all gathered in the basement to discuss what to do for the rest of the night and I mentioned that I'd brought my Ouija Board along, since Paige had asked me to. She didn't actually believe it would work, but Bethany and I did. Erica must have believed it, or maybe she didn't want to take the chance, because she got mad and dragged Kiersten upstairs while we brought out the board. Kiersten threatened to tell on Paige, but Paige decided we should do it anyway.

There are two couches in Paige's basement--one against one wall and one just a few feet from the air hockey table, a vanity, and a desk with a desktop computer. In front of the couch, that's in front of the air hockey table, was a coffee table. That's where we set up.

I set down the board to face the couch and lit three candles: one white, one green and one pink. They were all burning brightly (keep this in mind). I set the planchette in the middle of the board and sat on the couch next to Paige. Bethany sat on the floor, on the other side of the coffee table, about a yard in front of the T.V.

Paige and I touched two fingers to the planchette (after turning off the lights, of course) and I asked if anyone was there. Along the time we were waiting for a response, we made jokes to each other (not about anything spiritual, not anything offensive, just about how Paige and I were shaking so much that WE were moving the planchette every few seconds about a millimeter). I did this twice and got no response, so we said goodbye and started to converse. I admitted that I felt a presence behind the couch and Bethany silently nodded her agreement. Paige just kind of smiled--she felt nothing, I'm sure. We switched off the lights and started again.

I, again, asked the questions. "Is anyone there that would like to communicate with us?" After getting no response, twice, we turned on the lights and Paige said, "I keep looking in the T.V screen, expecting to see someone." to which I agreed with her. My heart was beating fast and I was about to say something when Bethany's eyes widened and she asked if we felt a chill. As soon as she asked, my arms became cold and then a cold chill swept over my legs. Bethany suddenly then points out that the candles are dancing around wildly.

Creeped, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do it again, but then Bethany said that she wanted to try, so we switched places. I became the writer and she became the question person. We switched off the lights, and after telling her a few important things, she asked if anyone was there. She did this twice and I couldn't help staring behind them, near the air hockey table, close the corner of the room, next to the vanity. After saying goodbye, I noticed the white candle was almost burnt out; the flame was even small and blue. We blew out the tiny blue flame and swapped the candle with a smaller, white candle that Paige had.

Paige admitted she wanted to try and I stayed the writer. Paige asks if anyone is there that would like to communicate. After several seconds, I suddenly chuckle. I try to hold it back, since there's nothing funny going on, but then I start to giggle. Paige is staring at me as she asks, again, if anyone is there. Suddenly, I start to laugh uncontrollably and it was scaring me because it didn't sound like me at all--it was dark and psychotic, like I'd completely lost my mind. Paige, looking a bit creeped, said goodbye and switched on the lights, then hurried upstairs to check on Erica and Kiersten. Bethany stayed downstairs and watched me as I cleaned up.

My laughter didn't stop completely, I still giggled here and there as I was picking things up (I alternated from the feeling of wanting to laugh and the feeling of wanting to burst into tears). I was shaking pretty hard and I couldn't move my left hand, four of my fingers seemed to stuck together and my thumb curled in slightly toward my palm. After several seconds, I was able to move it, but my arms were asleep.

After we go upstairs, grab Erica and Kiersten, we headed back downstairs to watch the scary movies I rented. Unfortunately, Paige's DVD player chose that moment to quit working. So we tried watching T.V for a while, but got bored and played games instead.

I could not go anywhere alone for the rest of the night and I felt a pull toward Bethany, probably because we started to experience the same things.

We both felt drained and we wanted to sleep, but it was like something was keeping our minds awake. We'd feel a pull towards the back of the couch, near the air hockey table, and we'd laugh hysterically at nothing. We moved from the couch against the wall, to behind the couch, to the floor near the T.V, back to behind the couch. That's where we slept.

We'd always be laughing at nothing or we'd overreact and laugh too much at a simple joke, or even at something that we wouldn't have normally thought to be funny. At one point, I was shaking so hard that my teeth were chattering, but I wasn't cold. The thing is, I was SWEATING and so was Bethany, which was weird, because the other girls were complaining that it was too cold. Bethany and I were thoroughly creeped out, but after a few seconds of staring at each other in horror, we would break into outrageous laughter.

We didn't want to freak the other girls out, so we didn't say anything about it, we just texted each other about it. At one point, I did go upstairs alone to get more water. I felt someone following me and when I got back downstairs, Bethany texted me to say that when I left, she still felt someone with her. I remember, at some time in the night, she asked me if I felt like, when I was laughing, if someone was laughing with me. I did.

Eventually, we all fell asleep around three a.m., Bethany admitting to me that she could stay awake no longer, that a weight was pressing her to floor and she had to sleep. My eyes would not stay closed for long, but with the help of my MP3 player, I was finally able to fall into a deep sleep.

To this day, I still feel like someone is always watching me and like they are following me, at a distance, but they're definitely following ME. The Ouija Board is sitting in a case, in a compartment in my book shelf, hidden away. It doesn't happen often, but I'll randomly chuckle or giggle at absolutely nothing, or I'll suddenly want to cry like I've lost someone or something precious to me. Even right now, I am even in a different state to visit my mother for my birthday, I feel a presence staring over my shoulder and I feel the pull to cry.

I am still very creeped out and unsure about my feelings for Ouija Boards. I have no clue if I will ever use one again.

Thank you for reading my experience and feel free to leave any comments. If you'd like to try and point out something helpful (please don't say that Ouija Boards are the toys of the Satan or anything like that, I obviously knew what I was getting into) then I would highly appreciate your advice.