My Childhood Terror

by Javier Rosado
(Phoenix, Arizona)

I am going to share my story of how I was haunted as a child. I was born in Vera Cruz, Mexico. I grew up on a small ranch with my mother, father, brothers and sisters. We were extremely poor and had no running water or electricity. When I was about 5 yrs old my father was brutally murdered, he had gone to town to buy supplies that we needed. On his way home, he was stopped by 2 men who wanted to rob him. They took his horse, and my father attempted to run away but they caught up to him and began to stab him with a machete. He was screaming so loudly according to witnesses that they then just cut his throat and killed him. A few months after his death strange things started to happen to me. At night it would be pitch black in my room as we had no electricity, and as i lay in bed I began to hear what sounded like heavy footsteps walking toward me. They came closer and closer and would stop right next to me. I could not see anything in the dark room but I could hear heavy breathing. I was so terrified that I just grabbed the covers and pulled them over my head. The next thing I noticed as I lay there with my heart pounding, was the covers slowly moving down as if they were being pulled off of me. I would grab them harder and pull them back over my head. Night after night this went on, the footsteps would always stop by the head of my bed. One night as I lay there awake listening for the sound of footsteps, I was yanked so hard by my hair that it pulled my head back, and then I felt something like a hand brush my face. I was so afraid all the time, and I dreaded when the sun went down and it began to get dark. Night after night I would lay awake under my covers just praying for morning to come.Sometimes I would ask to sleep with my mom or my grandmother. On those rare occasions I would finally be able to sleep peacefully. One night I was laying in my bed hoping that sleep would come, I happened to look over at the door of my room that was slightly ajar and i saw what appeared to by an arm and hand stretching

toward me covered in blood. I tried to call out for someone but when I looked again, there was nothing there. Up to this point, I had not told anyone anything because I was afraid they would not believe me or they would think I was crazy. So one day I was in the living room staring at a picture on the wall and a rock whizzed past my head. I looked around and there was no one, then a second rock flew at my face. I ran outside my heart pounding.Was I now being haunted during the day, when the sun was out? I wasn't sure, but the next day as I put on my baseball cap to go out and play, something or someone hit the top of my head so hard that my cap went down over my eyes. Well, this finally scared me so much that I knew I had to tell someone. I had been living in fear for 4 yrs. dreading sunset, and having to go to bed. I would lay there alone in the dark, awake, with my heart pounding, the covers over my head, even in the summer, when it was so hot that sweat would be pouring down my face. I felt so alone and so scared, and I was so happy when the sun started to come up, but now I didn't feel safe even in the light of day. So, I finally told my Mom everything. She consulted a psychic. According to her, it was my deceased father that was haunting me Apparently, my father wanted to take me with him to the next life, and because I was sensitive, and had an open heart, I was more vulnerable to experiencing these paranormal events. My mother eventually moved us to Phoenix, Arizona. I was so scared that my father would follow us and continue to haunt me. I am now much older, and happy to say that I no longer experience any paranormal events, it has taken me 20 yrs to get over what happened to me as a child. I used to have to sleep with the lights on and was afraid to go to the bathroom at night. Now, I sleep peacefully and am even able to dream. I feel much stronger, rested, and happy and I even look forward to going to sleep at night. I hope my story helps other people who may going thru similar experiences.