So do you ever get that feeling...

that someone is watching you? No, this isn't like a "walk-out-in-public-and-see-someone-staring-at-you" sort of feeling, it's a "walk-into-a-room-and-feel-cold" feeling. See, I've had this happen a couple of times, minus the feeling cold part. I guess I just had to kinda talk about this, since it's something that has always interested me.

People, in a way, are all blessed with a little ESP, a little connection to the spirit world. Now I'm not one of those hippie types who are like "yeah man, if I like, smoke enough weed I can like, see ghosts and stuff" or "ah yes, the fates have smiled on you through the cards and you will be blessed tonight" etc. etc (though I have friends who are like that...I don't do the whole "fates" thing), but I do think that everyone is given an extra sense: the Sixth Sense if you will. Now someone might not be able to see ghosts or speak to them (like a medium), but - like I said earlier - some people get a feeling of someone watching them. Or there's the sudden cold air feeling, or a feeling of hitting a wall. Now the last one is the oddest that I've ever experienced, since I've never experienced walking into a patch of cold air.

This came to my attention because of a conversation I had with a few friends on Wednesday. Our astronomy teacher decided to skip out on class and, when the rest of us left, one friend of mine, another girl, and I all stayed to make sure he wasn't going to walk in later. As we sat there, we began talking about (I don't even remember how we got on the subject) ghosts and such. The girl (we'll call her "Kate" for now) was talking about the dorm she lived in last semester, which is haunted. "Jade" said she lives in that dorm currently and has had some paranormal stuff happen to her and her roommate. I asked her what, and she told me about it. She had left the room to go across the hall to her friend's room, only to have her roommate burst in moments later asking,

"Why the hell did you move all my furniture?" she responded
"It moved?"
"Yes! Why'd you move it?"
"It wasn't moved when I left, and that was thirty minutes ago." They both walked back over and realized there was something else going on in there. Just as they closed the door (saying something like "S*** I ain't goin' in there!" I imagine), they heard a crash, and flung open the door again. There had been a cross, maybe three inches in length, that had been hanging over their mirror. It had been flung around and landed face down in the center of the room. They got out of there.

Kate went on to tell us that, at some point, someone had been opening the window at night. She thought it was her roommate, and got up a few different times to shut the window. Finally, she got back in bed after shutting the window and looked at the foot of her bed, only to see a shadowy figure standing there. She switched on her bed lamp and the shadow disappeared, and when she turned off the light it was still gone. So she went to sleep for a while, then heard the window being opened. She closed the window, got back in bed, and realized the figure had returned. As she moved to turn on her light the shadow reached forward and grabbed her foot (she could even feel it). She screamed, turned on the light, and ran to her roommate's bed to wake her up. Needless to say they didn't sleep that night.

Supposedly, in that room, or rather the room above - supposedly the ghost gets bored and moves to other rooms to "f*** with other people" - was once home to a girl who hung herself. As well, the all-boys dorm next to mine had a kid who hung himself on the second floor. It is now a RL (residential leader's) room, as is the one in Kate and Jade's dorm. Actually, the kid that hung himself contributed to the "you can't stay in the dorms during breaks" policy my college has...he hung himself right towards the beginning of Christmas break and no-one found out until they all came back...nearly four weeks later. I can't imagine the stench. He had no family, which is just sad to think about...he must have been so lonely.

Now I've never experienced anything paranormal, but a few times I've walked into an area and felt like someone was watching me, or felt like I hit a wall I couldn't pass. In an antique shop in Hico (the same one with the old phones and typewriter) I walked towards one area of the store and got a feeling similar to vertigo. I wouldn't walk over there...I finally mustered up the courage to walk a little closer but I don't think I actually set foot in the area. Occasionally I'll also get the feeling of being watched when I'm in my room (not the one here in the 'Ville, but my actual home where my mum and dad are). It's not the "creeper watch" though, just kind of "oh, is someone there?".

This has always confused me. In all of those ghost shows and such, the first thing people do when they see a benign spirit (like the one at the foot of the bed) is to fight against it, or turn on the lights, etc. Jade had an experience where a spirit (like the one in Kate's room) kept turning on the TV in her friend's room when they were sleeping over. I mean, if the ghost wants the TV/radio on or the window open, I'd leave it open. You know, be like "hey man, you want the TV on? Fine with me, go ahead, I don't mind. Just don't shadow molest me or anything, ok?"

Spirits are interesting creatures. Now I believe in spirits, ghosts, etc., but I've never seen one. In a way, I've always wanted to see one, you know, spend a night in the haunted dorm or something like that, but I'm also afraid to. "You have to see it to believe it" is the sort of phrase I'd go by...and what if I saw it? What if, now without any doubt, I knew spirits existed? Its kind of frightening...something you can't combat, no matter how hard you try.

I may start sleeping with a bottle of holy water under my pillow from now on...sleep on that guys. Good night!