Now, we return to our story.

Yes, we travelled over a hundred miles to a castle in Oklahoma. The Castle Muskogee is a remarkable tourist destination. In May, they hold a renaissance fair with knights, and jousting, and costumes. They really go full bore. They have constructed a whole village with knick-knacks and food and plenty of games for the kids. In July, they have a celebration of America’s independence with a firework show. In December the whole place transforms into Santa’s Christmas Village. But in October, a darkness sweeps over the Castle Muskogee and it mutates into something much more sinister. It becomes the haunted village. There are numerous bloodcurdling attractions and dozens of actors roaming the grounds in various Halloween disguises.

The haunted village was the whole reason for our vacation. There is so much to do there that it can’t possibly be fit into one night. With that in mind, we decided to make it a weekend trip so we could do everything we wanted to at a comfortable pace. I obsessively checked the weather every day for two weeks prior just to make sure nothing would interfere because the majority of the activities are outside. The worst I saw was a 50% chance of rain on Saturday. But that stuff tends to change daily so I wasn’t too worried about it. Nothing was going to stop our haunted weekend. We headed into the village around 6:00. People were still setting up their shops and cooking food as we walked around. The haunted village comes alive when the sun sets around 7:00, meaning we had an hour of meandering time before things got interesting. We walked around and looked at various shops and made a mental checklist of what we wanted to go back and see before we left. Eventually, we found ourselves in front of the castle. The castle itself contains two haunted houses and a torture chamber. People were beginning to line up at the door so that they could be the first ones in. Normally, that would be Ashley and I but Friday night was all about casually strolling through the ghostly township.

Ashley suggested a trip to the winery. We stepped in to find woman dressed like a pirate wench behind the counter. We decided on hard cider which came in a plastic Frankenstein goblet that we could keep. Our first set of wine glasses! We took our drinks outside just as the show was about to begin. The familiar opening tune of “This is Halloween” from the movie “A Nightmare before Christmas” began to play over the sound system as an assortment of ghoulish characters began to assemble in front of the castle. They greeted each other and danced to the song. What’s awesome is that it’s not just the actors that dance, it’s also regular people like me and Ashley that dress up and get in on the fun. Perhaps someday I will be brave enough to join them, but that night I was content with sipping my cider and watching the spectacle. The song ends and there is a brief pause until “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” kicks the performance into high gear. Ashley and I are laughing with warm tummies as the show goes on to include the “Cupid Shuffle” and ending of course with a show-stopping dance to the Michael Jackson hit; “Thriller.”

As I said before, there are a lot of shops and attractions in this village. Clothing stores sell renaissance looking apparel, a leather shop sells hand-made wallets, belts, and you can even custom make your own. The gift shop has T-Shirts and other mementos from the Castle Muskogee. For attractions there is the “Coffitorium”, a place where you can take grimly posed pictures. You can lay on a bloody gurney surrounded by rusty medical tools, sit in an electric chair, or even lie in a coffin to get your picture taken. There is a witch’s house where you can go and listen to an “actual witch” talk about spells and poisons. But it’s not just shops and scary stuff; there is the “Enchanted Garden” with over 200 inflatable Halloween decorations and plenty of bounce houses for the little ones. There truly is something for everybody.

Last year, when Ashley and I went to the castle…twice, we walked past a small tent right at the entrance to the village. In that tent was a psychic who reads tarot cards. She was there again this year and we absolutely had to get a reading. Usually we go to “Da Ben’s” in Eureka Springs to get our tarot cards read, but when we go there we do our readings separately. At the castle, we opted for the couples reading. That meant that we would both be at the table, one would get their cards read first and then the other and the psychic would draw connections between the two.

Let me just say that I am a skeptic when it comes to a lot of things. I have read about cold reading (predicting things about someone based on body signals, small talk, and reactions), being intentionally vague and other types of trickery. That said; this was the best tarot reading I have ever received. It wasn’t only because of the news in the reading but it was the most deliberately accurate reading I have ever gotten. Sometimes you get a reading and you end up with more questions than when you started. A good reading should try to answer those and leave you wanting a little more. A great reading will answer those questions and then send you on a new path of life that you had never thought of.

While we were speaking with the psychic and she was explaining what the different readings entail, I got this feeling. It was a warm feeling in my core. It was very strange but it wasn’t alarming by any means. Once we sat in the tent and the reading began, the feeling intensified. The closest thing I can equate it to would be the feeling of rising and free falling at the same time. There was no doubt in my mind that her energy was the cause. I felt a superior calm but I was still alert. I have to give a list of the instances that made this reading unsurpassable.

-In Ashley’s reading the psychic said that we have a long history and that we were probably connected in a past life. Ashley has said this on several occasions. It was strange to hear someone else say it based on how Ashley shuffled tarot cards

-In Ashley’s reading the concept of karma came up in that she was reaping rewards for putting positivity into the universe. Ashley happens to talk quite a bit about karma and the universe.

-In Ashley’s reading the Capricorn card came up. I am a Capricorn and the psychic had no idea about that.

-In Ashley’s reading the Virgo card came up. Ashley is a Virgo. Again, the psychic had no idea about that.

-In Ashley’s reading the psychic said that “there is a worry about money, but money is coming.” Ashley will be finishing nursing school next year, at which point money will be coming.

-In my reading the first card was the same as Ashley’s first card. This happened despite my intense shuffling. It was the cup of fulfillment and is also correct. I feel very fulfilled with my relationship.

-In my reading the Cancer card showed up as an early spiritual influence. My friend Tara is a Cancer and was the first person to talk to me about Wicca and, in a greater sense, the concept of karma.

-In my reading the Totem card showed up in reference to my ancestors watching over and trying to influence my decisions. The psychic said that this will represent a Native American heritage. My grampa revealed that some of my family’s lineage is based in Missouri where the Cherokee were close by. I had always been told that I have Cherokee in my bloodline. The psychic could not have known this.

-In my reading a Celtic symbol came up as well. I am Irish.

-In my reading a card representing satisfaction in my relationship. “I am allowed to sing my own song.” The card depicted a musician playing a lute and singing. I love singing and pretending I can play guitar. Also, the card was completely correct.

-In my reading my outcome card was of a snake biting itself. This represented reaping what I sow and collecting my rewards for all of the hard work I have done. This is very similar to Ashley’s karma card.

We both left the reading in disbelief with what we had heard. I couldn’t believe a reading could be so accurate. As we walked further away the simultaneous rising/falling feeling went away and we looked for something else to do before leaving for the night. Ashley and I came upon a campfire during our wandering. There were people sitting on wooden benches listening to a man tell ghost stories. We pulled up a bench and listened to one of the two story tellers weave us a tale that was actually “A Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. The barbarically dressed man pretty much only changed the names and left out the creepiest parts of the story, but yeah; it was the same. What was funny about it was that he had trouble deciding whether or not he wanted to have a British accent or an American accent. As a result, he switched between the two throughout the entire story. Somehow, at one point he was doing both and a southern accent at the same time. Then the second storyteller came up. I figured he had to be better than the other guy. False. He was not.

The second one, who looked like a nerdy Guy Fiery in a monk robe, tried to tell a story about a girl who had a dream about being attacked by a wolf. In the first two minutes of his story he must have said “you know” about 30 times. Do you want to know the secret of terrible storytelling? Saying “you know” regarding every detail of your story instead of describing it like someone who is good at it is pretty much the worst thing you can do. He might as well have said, “The girl had a dream, yadda yadda yadda, and then she died. Done!” It was a huge bummer and I’m not sure it was even a ghost story. It was more like a conversation he overheard but only heard parts of. The bi-continental barbarian came back and turned two poems into ghost stories. Ashley knew both, I knew neither. Suddenly a teenaged couple came and sat down next to us. Almost immediately, the boy started taking loudly about how the story was actually a poem and how he knew he had read it before and how he thought it was in seventh grade when he had read it. All of those bits of information were out loud and heard more clearly than the story teller which annoyed me in two ways. So, I mumbled “oh my god, shut up” under my breath until the universe felt my energy directed at silencing this kid. Suddenly, he and his girlfriend left the campfire. Thanks Universe! Ashley and I started laughing. All in all, a great experience. When the “you know” guy was going to start again, we decided to make our exit.

We headed back to our hotel for the night for some dinner and relaxation. The air was crisp and the breeze was invigorating. We hadn’t even done the scary stuff and we were already worn out from the frenetic energy of it all. All in all it was another great day of our mini vacation. Saturday would prove to be the most entertaining when we returned to have the hell scared out of us.

Stay tuned for the final episode in the Muskogee Saga.

(Worm cake, source: Crafty Kids, Summer 2000, Vol. 2. No. 3 issue)

1. Candles only

Switch off all the lights and only allow candle lighting. To enhance the creepy feel, carves some Halloween pumpkins and put tea candles inside. Try to give each pumpkin a different ghastly face.

2. Halloween meals

Have a pumpkin meal. Make good use of the pulp that derived from carving Halloween pumpkins. Pumpkin recipes can be soup, pie and pudding, and cooking is easy. For desserts, have worm cakes (bake cake in a soup can as the soil, add whipped topping, pudding, crushed cookies as the dirt and finally the gummy worms).

3. Dress up

Since the celebration is at home, feel free to have a bold and dreadful dress up. The simplest one is to cover oneself in a white sheet and pretend to be a ghost. However, eating and drinking will be inconvenient and cutting holes in white sheets is a squander. Here are a few more suggestions.

To dress differently:
a. For men, apply makeup and be the Joker in Batman movie.
b. For women, add a witch nose, a black pointed hat and dress. Apply makeup to give yourself a lot of winkles all over the face to enhance the degree of evilness.
c. For children, dress them up as little devils, with a devil fork.

To dress more or less the same style:
a. Wear a black capote, a white ghastly mask and be the Death.
b. Be vampires. Feel free to smash your mouth with tomato paste.
c. Be a corpse that just had your prison break from the coffin for this party. Paint stitches all over the faces and wrap some bandages loosely around the body.

Don’t forget to take some photos. Pretend to be ghastly in front of the camera as if the house has been raped.

4. Watch a movie

Pick a movie that is horrible enough to make everyone scream. Some suggestions are The Omen, Halloween series, Saw series, A Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.

If kids are in the party and you don’t want to frighten them, The Nightmare before Christmas, Casper and The Addams Family will be more appropriate.

5. Share ghost stories

Let everyone tell a ghost story. If anyone has difficulty coming up with a story, compose one together. Each person contributes a line until the story ends.

The aforementioned celebrations are affordable and easy to prepare comparatively. No matter who the participants are and the number involved, let’s all do something special and stamp the Halloween fun in your memory. Enjoy your creepy night.

.

Other festival related articles you may be interested in reading:

Annual Dig of a Myth

13 Common Customs for Chinese New Year
 

As most people state, I never believed in ghost until I had my own experience. I have heard others state that they have seen ghost, at some point and time, but I never paid much attention. Since my first experience, I have paid more attention to the fact that they live among us. Ghost Adventures, which airs on the Travel Channel, shows a group of guys that search for paranormal activity. Just like myself, Zak never believed in ghost until he saw one for himself. There has been many photos of ghost over the years, but with our technology as advanced as it is, you can barely tell what’s real and what is not. Like I said, I never believed myself until I had my experience. But in all honestly, a lot of us feel like we need to see it to believe it. I think that the show Ghost Adventures is authentic. They go out to some of the most active hot spots, to search for life after death. The show airs on the Travel Channel every Friday night at 10:00 P.M.

MY STORY

      Like I said before, I have never seen a spirit, ghost, or black mass. That all changed in the summer of 2006. I lived in Casa Grande, Arizona at the time. I lived in an old apartment building on Trekkell Road. I had already been living there for about six months when this occurred. We never used the bedroom, my wife Ashlie and I, so we had our bed in the living room. The apartment was just a studio sized apartment. I was fast asleep, when all of a sudden, I heard someone whisper my name. I looked over at my wife and saw that she was fast asleep. As I started to wake up, I felt like someone was starring at me. I could honestly say, i felt and heard breathing. I walked into the kitchen and then the bedroom, just being curious. I wasn’t thinking that it was anything, it was just my first reaction.

     After a few minutes had past, I decided to lay back down. As soon as I layed back down, I heard my name again. I was half way asleep the first time, the second time, I was awake. I didn’t know what to think about it. I never checked the time when I looked around the apartment. I just basically ignored it and went back to bed.

     I don’t know exactly how much time had passed between, but when I woke up again, I could not move. I couldn’t speak, even though I was screaming inside. Something had my body pinned down to the ground. I tried and tried to yell at my wife but whatever had me, had complete control. I never felt any pain but I felt the force of my body being pushed against the bed.

     Even though it felt like forever, it probably happened for about five minutes. I didn’t know what to think. I was afraid to tell my wife cause she would think I was crazy. I never saw anything when I was held down, but I couldn’t move my head either. When I finally gained control of my body, I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do. What was that? What just happened to me?

     The next morning, I told my wife about what happened and she was very understanding. She has seen weird stuff before and she has had past experiences, so she understood what I was saying. We tried to get information about the past of the building, but we couldn’t find anything about it. Little did I know, but, it was just the start of a crazy week.

I KNEW I WASN’T CRAZY

     The very next night, me and my wife both, would have an experience. Ashlie woke me up that night and said she was hearing weird noises from the apartment next door. Both of us knew nobody was living in them. He also heard noises coming from the bedroom. We both went through the house and once again, we found nothing.

      We both decided to lay back down and we went back to sleep. Ashlie woke me up again and told me that she saw a black mist in the corner of the wall, hanging from the ceiling. She told me that she could see the outline of a body and she heard it making noises. She didn’t know how he was awoken, but when she opened her eyes, she saw the mist. If it wasn’t for my experience, I probably wouldn’t of believed her.

     Two or three days went by and it seemed like things were back to normal. My baby was going up state for work. She was going to be gone for two days and it kind of worried me. I knew nothing had happened in the last couple of days but I was wary about staying there by myself. I decided to sleep with all the lights on and the tv on. I usually always keep a little bit of light on but this time, the whole house was lit.

     Once again, later that night, I was awaken by hearing my name called. I had begin to notice that the activity would always start between 2-4 a.m. I was afraid to look around, so I decided to stay under the cover. Then I thought to myself, why is it so dark? When I took a peak, no lights were on. I didn’t think about the power being off because I came to the conclusion that something else did it. I tried to lay back down and finally fell asleep. The next morning when I woke up, the tv and all the lights were back on. Being that I never got up to check, I can’t say that something turned them off. But after the next night, I could.

TIME TO GET OUT

      The very next night, I did the same routine as the night before. I turned all the lights on and the tv up. I talked to Ashlie on the phone for an hour and then fell to sleep. Once again like before, when I woke up, I couldn’t move. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t budge an inch. The more I tried, the more I was pinned down to the bed. I never felt no pain but I could feel the pressure. The next thing I know, I am thrown off the bed and hovering over the floor, face first. I wasn’t touching the ground. I was about 3 inches off the ground, just floating. I know it sounds crazy but I am being truthful. I remember thinking, how could this be. What in the world is doing this? I noticed that it was dark again and the tv was just static. They say that ghost use energy to manifest or try to speak. A few minutes later, I was thrown back on the bed and I could move again. Next, I heard a deep growl and I looked up to the corner of the living room. There is was, a big black mist. It was at this point, I really feared for my life. The only way I can describe it is by referring to the movie,”Resident Evil”. On the movie, they have what is called a “licker”. It was a demon like figure. I was speechless. After a few seconds, it disappeared into the wall. That was the last night I stayed in that apartment.

MY CONCLUSSION

      I know there is something out there that I can’t explain. To me, I believe there is life after death, here on Earth. This experience was enough to make me a believer and I wanted to learn more about it.  I have not had any encounters since, but I pay more attention to my surroundings now. You can honestly feel it in your body, when a ghost is near. It can come from goose bumps or the static that raises the hair on your arms. But, still to this day and on, I will never forget what I went through in Arizona.

     There are two types of ghost. The demons are the ones that attack people. many believe they are like this because they died a violent death of some kind. The other type is just a presence. This might be the type that tries to communicate with you. Ghost hunters use equipment that give off energy, which is believed what ghost need to communicate and to manifest into an image. Below, you can see some pictures of the equipment that ghost hunters use.

[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6trH81xpko]

Haunted Vehicle Source 

TV Ghost Source

Anyone have any good stories?

We sat,sipped tea and were chatting when he warned us that there are some paranormal activities going on in that area so we should be careful.Usually,I would let it go and think it as a superstition and neglect it. By the evening time,when we were enjoying being on the Dam and sightseeing,it was almost dark and we decided to leave.The sun set,the height of the Dam and the atmosphere was amazing.I didn’t want to leave,to be honest. We were walking down the stairs of the Dam when he,my supervisor friend who works on the Dam,started to tell us something which happened to him.

He told us that one-day,just like at that time of the evening,he was walking down the dam and heard something from inside the bushes.He thought it might be something like grasshopper.He said he kept walking down when all of a sudden,from nowhere,he heard a sound as if someone rushed nearby him.He said he was scared and  started to offer prayers.We were all listening to this and enjoying,but at the same time,a bit shivered too.

We asked him for the permission to leave and while we hugged each others,as this was our last hug before I would move to the UK,he told us to be careful. The problem now was,we were not 5 friends who came to visit him,now we were 8 because 3 others joined us from the Dam. I and my other 2 close friends thought to let others go in the car and we would catch some public transport from the main-road.We said bye to other friends and told them the point of meeting near our house. We started to walk for the main-road.In the way,we found,it was REALLY dark because of the huge trees which were covering the whole sky.Now,we were talking about the ghost.One of them said,”It is just a superstition of the people, there is nothing such a ghost”! I told him that in our religion they do exist.And the other friend agreed with me.

While we were talking,in the meanwhile,we heard something like a stone fell from the height.Let me tell you one thing  which I forgot to tell,there were mounds as well,as high as 30 feet.And on top of it,huge trees.The stone came from  the mound.At first,I shouted if there was anybody up.We didn’t hear any reply or answer.We started to walk again. Again,all of a sudden,from nowhere,a stone fell in front of us.Believe me,that was enough to freak all of us out. The guy who said there are no ghost,was the one who held my hand and said,let’s run. As I was athlete and a sportsman,I ran as fast as I could,but believe me,believe me,believe me,you will get double speed if you go through that kind of situation/incident.I left my friends behind and thought they couldn’t run fast,so I waited a bit for them.At last,they joined me and we ran towards the main road till we caught the bus.

“Hear what?”

“Shh. There it is again!”

The three lines above are the most common thing you will hear in a scary movie, when you hear something that goes bump in the night. However, have you ever thought that maybe, somethings in the dark, are meant to stay in the dark? Let me tell you a few stories about things that happened to me, a few things that went bump in the night.

Let’s say I was about twelve or thirteen years old. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but I can tell you what I do remember. It was dark, I was lying in my bed. I had my own room, however my mother and father had taken the door to my room off. I was afraid of having my own room, however I’m not exactly sure why. Anyway, I was laying in my bed, and I heard something in the kitchen, which happened to be the room, exactly next to mine. It sounded like someone was playing the cup stacking game on the floor in the kitchen. The game started to get louder, and louder on the linoleum floor, then finally it was on the carpet of my bedroom. Not expecting what came next I held my breath. The sound stopped at the end of my bed. I exhaled slowly, but then something jumped on my bed! I thought for a second it might have been the cat. But how I was wrong. I looked at the end of the bed to see ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I ran so fast out of my room and slept on the floor in my mom and dad’s room.

On many occasions I spent the night in my mom and dad’s room on the floor. The house we lived in was haunted. Whatever was there was in the attic and it didn’t like to play nice. I remember another time I was younger, and my sister and I were sharing a bedroom. I was lying in bed, so was she, and the attic stairs were in my parent’s room. Our closet were behind the stairs. All of sudden while me and my sister were giggling about who knows what, we hear something fall down the stairs, like a bouncy ball. We told my mom about this the next day, and she opened the attic door, to reveal boxes that had been thrown down the stairs! 

I remember when we moved out of that house. It was relief. No more Mr. Poltergeist for us… or was it?

I guess I’ve lived in “haunted” houses all my life. So when something goes bump in the night it doesn’t really frighten me. Well of course, now I don’t have the option to sleep on mom and dad’s floor anymore.

Michael Duff Newton, a certified Master Hypnotherapist, began regressing his clients back in time to access their memories of former lives, when he made a discovery of enormous proportions: it possible to “see” into the spirit world through the mind’s eye of subjects who are in a hypnotized or superconscious state. In his book “Destiny of Souls” he explains in a section also what ghosts are.

Being myself of the school “See it to believe it”, I am not advocating for the accuracy of the statements he makes in his book. But considering there is so many things in this world that defy logical explanation, I found his book intriguing and thought I would share some of his insights in here. It is up to you if to believe it, give it the benefit or doubt or dismiss it as nonsense.

People all over the world report having seen or met ghosts. But is that a production of their imagination, under the right circumstances or is there something true in these accounts.

 Dr. Newton states, it is mistakenly believed that ghosts do not know they are actually dead and that they do not know how to escape the situation. According to Newton, the obstacle is more of a mental nature rather than material one.

 In his opinion, ghosts are less mature spirits who have trouble freeing themselves from earthly connections. The reasons for staying behind can be varied. Their life ended maybe in an unexpected manner and these souls may feel their free will was thwarted in some way. Quite often there is a terrible trauma connected to the ghost’s death. Perhaps they want to try and protect a person they care about from danger.

Dr. Newton, does not associate ghosts to evil spirits or presences. Actually he doesn’t believe there are any evil spirits or demons at all.

Undoubtedly, cinematography and literature have fed the interest and appetite for these kind of stories and people love to be scared by a good ghost story. But if there really is something like that in reality, that remains a question of belief.

Sources: Destiny of Souls by Michael Duff Newton

Villisca, Iowa – “The Axe Murder House”

Creede, Colorado – “The Stanley Hotel”

Gettysburg, Pennslyvania – “The Farnsworth House”

Vicksburg, Mississippi – “Anshe Chesed Cemetery”, “Beluah Cemetery”, “Cedar Hill Cemetery”

Moundsville, West Virginia – “West Virginia Penitentiary”

Frederick, Maryland – “Mount Olivet Cemetery”, “Roger Brooke Taney House”, “St. John’s Cemetery”

 Hutchinson, Kansas – “Kansas Underground Salt Mine”, “East Side Cemetery”

Rawlins, Wyoming – “Wyoming State Penitentiary”

Holton, Kansas – “Hotel Josephine”, “Hotel Holton”

Amityville, New York – “The Amityville House”

Beaufort, North Carolina – “The Hammock House”

Seven Springs, North Carolina – “The Gangster Ghost”

Savannah, Georgia – “The Pirate’s House Restaurant”

   My husband rose from the bed and walked into her room.  I could hear the mumbling of their voices as my husband tried to console our five year old daughter.

   “Did you yell at Akaiysha?” My husband asked as he returned to our room.  “No! Did she say I yelled at her?” I responded.  “She said you yelled at her to get back into her room.  I didn’t think you did, but that is what she is crying about.”

   I got out of bed and walked to her room, puzzled.  I knew I had not yelled at my daughter, I was sure that she was not making it up either.  In order to get to my daughter’s room from my bedroom you can use one of two routes.  You can walk directly through the sunporch and around the corner, or go through the kitchen and the dining room.  We always use the sunporch.  At the time we had a guest bed set up in the sunporch used on the nights my brother needed a place to stay.

   “Mommy, why did you yell at me?” My daughter asked through sobs as I entered her room.  I explained that I had not done so, yet she was adamant about what she heard.  “I was walking to your room and you yelled at me!  You yelled from Uncle Tommy’s bed to get back to my room!”  She sobbed.  “Akaiysha, did you really hear that or are you making it up?”  I asked.  “Yes mommy, you yelled at me.”  I consoled her by laying with her until she fell back asleep.  All the while I was trying to come up with a logical solution as to why my daughter was under the impression that I yelled at her.  I could come up with none.   Left to assume that an “un-see-able” was the culprit responsible for the yelling, I became furious.  I knew it was crazy but I entered the sunporch where Uncle Tommy’s bed was located and told whoever or whatever “it” was to get out of my home and leave my children alone.  I had chills running down my spine, but stood my ground despite them. 

   Never again was the woman’s voice heard as of yet.  I know there are other beings living in my home, but I’ll be damned if they are going to scare my children!

   My son loves to clean, he knew if he helped me there was a good chance he would get to push the vacuum.  He grabbed the cord and took off running to her room.  I too had to go to her room to return something so I followed.

   As I rounded the corner and was entering the library doorway my son came running back to me, burying his head between my legs, and holding on to me for dear life.  He was terrified, saying “Not going in there, it’s scary!”

   The second I released the doorway I felt something fly past me quickly.  I watched as it landed on it’s two hind legs with it’s black wings spread.  It landed as a raven would.  It’s beady red eyes watching me.

   I did the only thing I knew how.  I dropped everything I was holding, grabbed my son tightly to me, dropped to my knees and prayed.  I prayed until I felt peace wash over me. 

   I opened my eyes and asked my son if the scary thing was still there.  “No mommy.”  I walked him to my daughter’s room and he walked right in.  “It’s not scary anymore, mommy.”

   As we walked out of my daughter’s room and into the library he stopped. “It’s scary outside, Mommy.” He said as he looked into the sun porch and out the window.

   I reassured him that the scary “thing” was gone, it could no longer hurt him, and he was safe.  That was not the first time I had seen this red-eyed, black-winged beast, and I was sure it would not be my last.