An Assortment Of Experiences

Hey fellow readers, I had been debating about making this post for a while now, and I'm finally taking the plunge today. These are some of the experiences that I have had while living in my house, these aren't very obviously paranormal, and a keen scientific mind might be able to explain these away, but I am convinced that I have had a few brushes with the supernatural. Apology for the lengthy post.

This one dates back almost nine years, I was on the computer doing whatever teens do, when I heard a door slam, loudly, somewhere in the opposite end of the house, on the lower floor. Figuring it would be my sister, who did have a habit of slamming doors when in one of her moods, I yelled in the general direction asking what's wrong. On not getting a reply, I went to check on her, I went downstairs to an empty home and the air was still as a summer noon. No idea what made that door slam so loudly.

My house has a terrace just outside my room, I love it, and spend countless hours in there pacing as I gab on the phone, sneak an occasional smoke, or just take in the scenery and contemplate things. I especially love it during the monsoons as I stand there, watching the clouds roll in with their showers. But something about the place gives me the creeps at night, the fact that it faces a thicket of trees doesn't help, invisible critters create a shrill cacophony at night, and I tend to avoid the place then. This one time I was out on the terrace at night, I didn't want anyone overhearing me talking to my boyfriend. The place was creepy as usual, except something seemed amiss, it dawned on me that not a single insect/bird was making any noise, wondering if a snake had wandered into the neighborhood (it has happened before), I futilely attempted to peer down into the velvety darkness. As I neared the wall close to the thicket, I suddenly felt colder and could see my breath condense in front of me. This was extremely unusual, given that this was an Indian summer night with temperatures close to 80 degrees. I have read similar stories where someone explained how this happens due to a rapid temperature change or something, can't recall, maybe it was one of those cases. But nevertheless, I hastily made my way to my room, and continued my call.

This is my mom's story, who swears it happened, she had been working on an article (she works as a correspondent for a daily) late into the night, when she heard a faint whisper calling her name, maybe it was a hallucination brought on by overworking herself or something like that, but she swears it sounded like my dad (who had been dead for almost 16 years by that point). The same night she had a dream, where she saw her dead husband cross a veil to somewhere, she almost followed him, but woke up before she could do it. She's convinced she would have died had she followed him. She being a superstitious person, had a Hindu priest perform a ceremony of sorts, similar to a Christian priest blessing the house I suppose. Creepy. Moving on.

This one is the scariest thing I have ever experienced until date, and is likely to remain so. I had been having a party at my place as my mom had left the house to my sister and I for the weekend, we naturally proceeded to call our friends over and get drunk. Around 2 in the morning, the music had turned down and it was just a group of people talking over cigarettes and cheap scotch. Tragedy struck. We ran out of smokes. Four of us left the place to buy a fresh pack or two, yes drunk driving was involved, we bought our smokes and were nearing my place. Now before you see the entrance to my house, you make a turn and there's maybe 50 meters of open road, (this is important to the story) there's another entrance from the main street as well, which we weren't taking at this time. I was in the backseat babbling, being happily drunk, while one of our sober-ish friends drove. As we made the turn, he stepped on the brakes and swore loudly, snapping us out of our haze. All of us saw it. A woman, almost seven feet tall, was menacingly making her way down the road in the opposite direction (toward the main street), she was draped in the traditional Indian garb, and from what we could see of her skin, it seemed like it was made of porcelain? Her skin had this weird sheen to it. Her arms swung wildly and she covered the distance in rapid strides and made the other turn, which would have led her on the main street. The driver gingerly stepped on the gas and made it to the main street to see deserted streets and footpaths, save the occasional car or a stray pooch, there was no traffic. We went back home and passed the rest of the night swapping spooky stories. I still cannot forget the terror I felt, was it an alcohol-induced vision? Maybe. But how could the four of us have the same hallucination?

This is the last experience that I'll share with you all before concluding. My grandfather came to live with us as he neared the end of his life, we didn't want to put him in a hospice and instead wanted him to have all the comforts of our home, and be surrounded by his loved ones. We set him up in a spare bedroom, brought in his favorite rocking chair and his hand-rolled cigarettes. He lived with us for almost a year before moving on. The spare bedroom was brought back in use and I let one of my friends from Uni sleep in there after it was too late for him to go home. He didn't know my granddad had lived in there, but the next day he told me of the salt-pepper haired man smoking near the window as he slept. He said he could smell the unfiltered cigarette smoke. Maybe my grandfather's photo on the mantelpiece could have subconsciously given him an idea, but that doesn't explain the smell of cigarettes. I'll have dreams of him (my granddad) if I choose to sleep in that room for any reason, in those dreams I'm convinced that he's still alive. Often I wake up in a cold sweat realizing that it was a dream and he has been gone for the past four years. It's disconcerting.

I have more stories of this house, I still live here when I'm not living at my dorm. Somehow we have gotten used to these, and the frequency has decreased over time. I don't know what to believe. I'll post a few more of my experiences as and when I have the time.