Childhood Curse

This will be my first time telling my story to people other than my close family (those whom I lived with and grew up with). Even then it took me well over 10 years to tell them of my experiences.

You guys can call me D, I'm Mien. The only reason I feel this is worth mentioning is because of our cultural and religious background. My family, especially being the son of a shaman is very religious and superstitious. Me on the other hand am of the newer generation. I'm a psychology major and always try to be rational and logical with my way of thinking. (Any questions with what Mien people are and our beliefs, please feel free to ask.)

Though I mentioned above I am a rational guy, I do believe there are things we can not rationalize with logic. Oxymoronic I know, sorry about that.

Anyways my experience goes back to when I was about 9 going on 10 years old. I grew up in the back house between a Christian church and an abandon house with my parents and older brother. The front house was occupied by my grandparents, uncle, aunt and 5 cousins.

As you can imagine, I grew up with with my cousins as my neighbors and first friends. We played hide and seek, cops and robbers, tag, pretty much everyday was an eventful fun day. This was before the time of smart phones and internet. Seems like a loving family on the surface, but behind closed doors I was shunned and made to be an outcast by my aunt and uncle, even my grandmother. This may be due to the fact that I am adopted, or maybe my grandmother didn't think her stepson, my father, her kin, I do not know. Though I think it's the former and not the latter.

One summer night my cousins and I were playing hide and seek. I remember this night vividly. It was a Saturday, twilight hour. The sun was slowly setting and casting an orange glow in the sky. I was running to find a place to hide. Running along the walk-way in between the blocked off church and my grandparents' house. All of a sudden, mid stride, I felt a pinch on the left side of my stomach right underneath my rib cage. I stopped abruptly and lifted up my white t-shirt and upon doing so a silk worm came falling down. I quickly examined my stomach and found an irritation left by the worm. After cursing to myself I slowly lifted my head up and the most surreal feeling I've ever had in my life took hold.

There was suddenly no more orange skies, no more sunset, no light nor darkness. There was just the empty space; a deafening silence and not a single movement to disrupt what I can only describe as pure peace.

Then it happened.

I peered into the little window that looks into my grandparents' basement with my back towards the church. The basement was dark and empty, yet I have no idea why it took hold of me. I stood there frozen just staring into darkness and seemingly out of thin air there were two red eyes staring back at me. (I still get the chills and my ears feel deaf when I talk about it.)

Whatever it was, I was locked down in a staring contest with it for what felt like hours... I don't remember feeling scared, I just remember the feeling of being alone. And I blinked. I blinked and the colors and sounds of the world came flooding back. I was able to move again, so I ran and hid not wanting to be found my by cousin.

As I hid in my hiding spot, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and goosebumps filled my body. I was overcome with fear having realized what just happened.

After seeing the red eyes, I've had a series of bad luck and weird things happened. In middle school I went through a period of great depression and self loathe.

I've seen shadows and faces. Heard voices inches from my ear and not being able to make out what they were saying. Still I told no one about what I was seeing or how I was feeling until one night in 2009. Driving home from Best Buy where I work I seen something dart across the freeway. It looked so real I braked and swerved trying to avoid hitting it. After passing it I turned back only to see nothing was on the freeway.

As I was pulling into my driveway, I heard a rattling sound come from my engine. Thinking it was odd since I just got the car from the dealership two days prior I popped the hood open finding the washer to my timing belt was completely unscrewed and was just hanging by the edge. I went to grab it and it just fell off onto the floor. I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I thought how close I came to losing control of the car on my way speeding home from work.

So I ran inside, woke my parents up and told them everything that's been happening to me since I was 9. Being Mien, we did a huge ceremony, trying to cleanse/exorcise whatever it was they think was causing me all this grief, to no avail. So my mother, at wits end took me to a gypsy.

I don't believe in palm reading, but my mom already spent big money to see her I had to entertain the idea. Having never meeting her previously, she took my palm and began telling me things she shouldn't have known, and things no one else should have known. She then brought up me being adopted. And then how I saw the red eyes. I looked at her dumbstruck. She told the eyes I saw were that of my biological grandmother whom cursed me when I was a baby because I didn't get adopted to my biological mother's brother. She's been following me around ever since.

The gypsy then gave me some weeds and twigs made to look like a bird nest, to put in my room. For about a month I wouldn't experience anything. After the month of silence, my closet door will always open at night while I'm sleeping.

There's more but I don't want to wear out my welcome. Thanks for reading.