The Joey Doll

I was 11 years old living in Santa Rosa, CA. We rented a small duplex in an old neighborhood. It was always cold and damp, and smelled like mold. My room was in the back of the duplex, it had large sliding glass doors that would go out into the weed infested back yard.

One night in the wintertime at about 2am, I awoke suddenly with my eyes wide open. I felt a presence in the room. My room was only lit by the moonlight. I felt some pressure on my chest, I tried to speak but couldn't, it was a choking, throbbing in my throat. My arms and legs went stiff as a board, I couldn't move them at all. Even my neck stiffed up. My muscles were all clenched up. I could only move my eyes around the room.

I looked up at my bookshelf case. It stands about 8 feet high. On the very top of the shelf I could see my doll sitting there starring down at me. The doll was a gift from my mother, his name was "Joey". It was called a Joey Doll. I was so very scared. I'm getting goose bumps even now writing this and I'm 32 years old now.

Eventually since nothing else happened, I fell asleep. But I'll never forget that night for the rest of my life... The doll was still up there in the morning. I took it down and threw it out.