The house burned down years ago, a blessing I suppose, but the images and voices still live in my mind. We had just moved into the new house when I noticed strange images while outside playing in the huge front yard. Just flashes of movement at first and then full bodies, moving in my peripheral vision. They were teenage boys wearing short sleeved white button-up shirts tucked into black pants. Crew cuts to match. One of them wore horn-rimmed glasses. The sounds of laughter would soon accompany the images of the boys running past me. They were always there, always running in the front yard, the yard I was forced to mow.

Eventually the oddities of the front yard would follow me into the house and into my room. Only there was no laughter. There was only a scared little boy dealing with a demonic whisper in his head so loud that he would stuff cotton balls in his ears until they hurt. This never worked of course. Most nights went by without incident, other nights I was not so lucky. If I wasn’t screaming and flying off the top of the bed bunk and landing on my knees I would be found standing next to my parent’s bed looking down at my mother. My mother would wake up and put me back to bed. In the morning I would recall none of it, in either scenario. This went on for 4 years, some days worse than others. I would eventually build up a tolerance, defenses against the onslaught. But mowing the huge lawn and sleeping on the top bunk always sucked.

As time went on even my mother would turn on me in my dreams. From in my room I would be playing on the floor or sitting in bed when my mom would walk past the open door. Seconds later she would walk by again. I have chills writing this. It was my mom, only not my mom. It was the smiling demon. She/he would enter my room and begin the beatings. I would awake to feel pressure on my body as if someone were sitting on me. Scared, bruised and not wanting to go back to sleep. I would eventually relent and fall back to sleep. And it would begin all over again. The room, the hallway, my mom and the demon. Life was good.