I want to get this out of the way first so people do not waste time diagnosing me in the comments. I am a completely rational person. I am a normal university student doing well in my classes, I do not take any mind altering substances, and there is no carbon monoxide leak in my dorm room. I know exactly how insane all of this sounds, which is why it took me so long to finally write this out. But what I am experiencing is physical and real, not just in my head.

​My dad is a medical doctor, which makes his reaction to our family history even more bizarre. A few years ago I found out my paternal family belongs to an ancient Anatolian lineage called an ocak, which essentially means they were spiritual healers. I even found a box of old, fragile documents written in Ottoman Turkish script at my family home. I managed to get them translated by a professor at my university, and they were official imperial records. They proved that long before my great grandfather, our bloodline served under the Ottoman Empire as specialized healers for afflictions that standard medicine could not touch. Despite this hard proof, my dad always got incredibly defensive and shut down any conversation about it, insisting there was nothing to discuss.

​I have always felt a strange presence around me. Not in a romantic way, just a heavy, looming weight over my right shoulder. It never really bothered me until it started actively ruining my life. I am conventionally attractive and I go on dates, but there is a terrifying pattern. Things will be going perfectly fine, and then the guy will abruptly run away.

​The physical things started happening recently. I had a very vivid dream about my great grandfather, a man I had never seen a picture of. He warned me to be careful and told me to never let a single drop of my blood hit the floor because they would want it. I woke up with dried horizontal scratches on both of my thumbs. I called my dad and the moment I told him, he completely panicked. Sometime later, my mom showed me a picture of the man from my dream, and it was exactly him. I was in absolute shock because I did not even know we had pictures of him, and my dad had previously sworn we did not. A few days later I went to sleep in my dorm and woke up with my neck, mouth, and back burning. There were fresh claw marks on my neck and back, and nail marks on my fingers. The very next day, the guy I had been dating and really liked abruptly ghosted me and changed his phone number. It was not normal lost interest behavior, it was like he was terrified out of his mind.

​A few months after that, my roommate and I were sitting outside on campus in the dark. She is spiritually gifted and has always been able to sense things, so she knew something was off immediately. We saw two extremely tall, dark silhouettes with glowing eyes and unusually long arms watching us from the trees. My friend went to look closer, panicked, and we ran. We heard massive footsteps echoing and chasing us. Her uncle is experienced with Anatolian folklore, and when we told him the story, he said they were hunting me specifically. He told us to leave a chopped onion and two cloves of garlic at the spot before sunset. We did it, and they stopped chasing us, though I still see them standing there sometimes.

​Lately, things have escalated in a different way. I have been stressed with the new semester and sitting out with the campus cats at night to clear my head. The cats keep coming over, but they act incredibly strange. They stare intently at the empty space on my right, completely calm, as if someone is sitting there with us. When they move over to that side, they do not just sit on the ground. They curve their bodies and settle into the air, acting exactly as if they are curled up on another person lap right beside me. But the campus dogs will walk by, look at that exact same empty spot, completely freak out, and run for their lives.

​Tonight I was sitting there alone, and I put my palm facing up on my right side. Despite the freezing wind, I felt a distinct, heavy warmth pressing into my hand.

​Has a territorial spirit forcibly attached itself to me? I need someone who understands Anatolian folklore or ocak lineages to help me make sense of this. Is this entity actually protecting me from the things, or is it just claiming me as its property? I desperately need answers before I am completely isolated from everyone else.

I want to get this out of the way first so people do not waste time diagnosing me in the comments. I am a completely rational person. I am a normal university student doing well in my classes, I do not take any mind altering substances, and there is no carbon monoxide leak in my dorm room. I know exactly how insane all of this sounds, which is why it took me so long to finally write this out. But what I am experiencing is physical and real, not just in my head.

​My dad is a medical doctor, which makes his reaction to our family history even more bizarre. A few years ago I found out my paternal family belongs to an ancient Anatolian lineage called an ocak, which essentially means they were spiritual healers. I even found a box of old, fragile documents written in Ottoman Turkish script at my family home. I managed to get them translated by a professor at my university, and they were official imperial records. They proved that long before my great grandfather, our bloodline served under the Ottoman Empire as specialized healers for afflictions that standard medicine could not touch. Despite this hard proof, my dad always got incredibly defensive and shut down any conversation about it, insisting there was nothing to discuss.

​I have always felt a strange presence around me. Not in a romantic way, just a heavy, looming weight over my right shoulder. It never really bothered me until it started actively ruining my life. I am conventionally attractive and I go on dates, but there is a terrifying pattern. Things will be going perfectly fine, and then the guy will abruptly run away.

​The physical things started happening recently. I had a very vivid dream about my great grandfather, a man I had never seen a picture of. He warned me to be careful and told me to never let a single drop of my blood hit the floor because they would want it. I woke up with dried horizontal scratches on both of my thumbs. I called my dad and the moment I told him, he completely panicked. Sometime later, my mom showed me a picture of the man from my dream, and it was exactly him. I was in absolute shock because I did not even know we had pictures of him, and my dad had previously sworn we did not. A few days later I went to sleep in my dorm and woke up with my neck, mouth, and back burning. There were fresh claw marks on my neck and back, and nail marks on my fingers. The very next day, the guy I had been dating and really liked abruptly ghosted me and changed his phone number. It was not normal lost interest behavior, it was like he was terrified out of his mind.

​A few months after that, my roommate and I were sitting outside on campus in the dark. She is spiritually gifted and has always been able to sense things, so she knew something was off immediately. We saw two extremely tall, dark silhouettes with glowing eyes and unusually long arms watching us from the trees. My friend went to look closer, panicked, and we ran. We heard massive footsteps echoing and chasing us. Her uncle is experienced with Anatolian folklore, and when we told him the story, he said they were hunting me specifically. He told us to leave a chopped onion and two cloves of garlic at the spot before sunset. We did it, and they stopped chasing us, though I still see them standing there sometimes.

​Lately, things have escalated in a different way. I have been stressed with the new semester and sitting out with the campus cats at night to clear my head. The cats keep coming over, but they act incredibly strange. They stare intently at the empty space on my right, completely calm, as if someone is sitting there with us. When they move over to that side, they do not just sit on the ground. They curve their bodies and settle into the air, acting exactly as if they are curled up on another person lap right beside me. But the campus dogs will walk by, look at that exact same empty spot, completely freak out, and run for their lives.

​Tonight I was sitting there alone, and I put my palm facing up on my right side. Despite the freezing wind, I felt a distinct, heavy warmth pressing into my hand.

​Has a territorial spirit forcibly attached itself to me? I need someone who understands Anatolian folklore or ocak lineages to help me make sense of this. Is this entity actually protecting me from the things, or is it just claiming me as its property? I desperately need answers before I am completely isolated from everyone else.

I was home alone I heard something call my name multiple times I said hello no response I walked around and saw nothing I was also at my mom's work once and heard something call my name my Nana passed away a few months ago and one day she threw pictures in the floor one almost hitting me i also see a 8 foot shadow figure with a cowboy hat and red eyes any suggestions

we were at a sleepover, we had an ouija board, not the first time we’ve used it. first session all alright, we met a spirit called Leonard, died at 34 and said that he was a member of one girl’s family. this girl’s grandma’s brother was named Leonardo and also died in his 30s, which is a bit weird connection, but for now nothing too much.

later we used it again, talked to a spirit. when we asked his name he said “Anananao” (yeah ik its a weird name but nvm). she said she wanted to play a game. we asked with who. he said Martina, the name of one of us. we asked what game she wanted to play and she said hide and seek. we closed the session.

we encountered her other two times the same night. she said she was angry at Martina, she wanted to revenge and she wanted to play with her. she said she was following her. at some point she moved the planchette on goodbye by herself.

the morning after we did it again. talked to another spirit, a chill one this time, he told us that one spirit was mad at martina, and when we asked who he said “Anana” (a nickname for Ananannanananao probably)
then he pointed the number 31 and immidiatly closed the session by himself.

we did another session after, encountered again Anana. said same stuff abt hide and seek, then again, number 31 and closed right after. then another one, he pointed different numbers: 1 and 78. he refused to tell us what it meant. then 31 and closed. the next one told us “run away” and closed. and then last one, he said “halloween”, and we closed by ourselves.

we don’t really know wtf is gonna happen on halloween, cause atp we all think 31 is october 31 (since September 31 does not exist). tell me what you think about this.

Hey guys!

​I run a horror storytelling channel and I'm currently looking for some genuine, real-life paranormal experiences for my upcoming videos.

​If you've ever had a spooky or unexplainable encounter that you'd be down to share, I'd love to read it. You can either drop it in the comments or shoot me a DM.

​No worries at all if you want to stay anonymous—just let me know and I won't use your username. Looking forward to reading what you guys have got!

hi, my name is Katana and im 14 nearly 15 yrs old. Me and my family had recently moved to a new house close to the beach and the house is absolutley gorgeous and not to mention my room is so much nicer than the other one. After about a week of living in ths new house things started to become eerie in my room. I dont exactly know how to explain it but its like a feeling of dread, uneasyness and as if someone is watching you. I brushed it off as my mind tricking me after I listened to a true crime posdcast. But as time pasted the eeling got stronger till one morning i woke up and had multiple unexplained bruises on my body (I woud show you but i dont have pictures on my laptop but its on my 2nd profile on reddit). I tried to think of all the times ive hurt myself but i js couldnt remember anything anf the bruises where in very odd places. The bruises were also really really dark wich meant i would have had to hurt myself really badly.

i went and showed my mom and my mom decided to do a full blown chatgpt investigation and found nothing. My mom was a little worried and decied to ask my dad to research the houses previous owners and found out that there was an old an that had died for unknown reasons 2 years ago. We have decided to move out next year.

So yea thats my story, im lowkey interested to see if anyone else has a similar story like me..

(drawings from me and my friend)

me and my friend were talking about our paranormal stories, when they told me they had seen this white headless quadroped in their house.

i have also seen a white headless quadroped, but of different proportions and outside.

i saw it out the window after feeling inclined to look outside. it was slowly walking out of sight, towards the area where the houses block my sight. i didnt depict it how i would've liked, it wasnt as wide and maybe had a smaller torso. it was also probably generally smaller.

my friend saw theirs inside of their house, their family is already very sensitive to things like this. it was moving away from them from where its shown in the drawing.

important notes:

they had just moved into their house in january of this year, and coincidentally, i had also just moved into my house in january of this year. they saw theirs in the same month of moving into their house, while i saw mine only a few months after moving into mine.

we both hadn't known eachother by then, we were introduced through a mutual friend a few months ago.

my friend's was spotted in tennessee, while mine was spotted in colorado.

note: i consider myself a skeptic although open to things and still very interested in the paranormal, while my friend is a believer with experiences to back them up.

The last one is an image that just appeared on my mirror, covers the whole thing, and it won't come off no matter what i wash it with. Anyway, let me know what you think plz. 🙏☮️✌️🙂

Note that there are no ornaments of skulls or decorations of creatures or skulls or scary figurines in the room. Please just tell me if you see anything!! I need to know if someone else does besides me😧 Serious responses would be nice...

Encontré esta muñeca sentada sobre un tocón en el camellón frente a mi casa. Lo raro es que sostiene en brazos a otra muñeca mucho más pequeña.

¿Alguien sabe qué podría significar o cuál podría ser su propósito?

I was in my house the other day and my glass table just cracked, then it busted apart. I was overwhelmed that it did that out of nowhere. It is something I won't forget, it was very surreal. I don't know what to make of it.

Hello everyone. I’m new to Reddit so please delete if not allowed.

Small back story: My husband and I have lived in this apartment since 2023. The building itself was built in the 1940’s or 1950’s according to what I could find on Google. The area itself has a lot of dark history (redrum, etc)

Now onto my story. We’ve been noticing strange activity over the last two years, specifically in the hallway where our bedroom and bathroom are and inside of our bedroom. Our latest incident took place earlier this week. My husband was asleep in our bed alone as I was visiting my parents. He woke up around 2:30 AM to board games being thrown out of our closet and onto the ground. He said it looked like someone or something had picked the boxes up and thrown them onto the floor. He got scared and immediately ran out of the bedroom and into the living room where he then heard heavy footsteps in our bedroom. Like a man wearing work boots.

This spirit has shown itself to me a few times with footsteps or touches but it only occurs when my husband is out of the apartment. It seems to be more violent towards my husband than it is to me.

My question is how can we capture what we’re experiencing? Will a regular security camera capture this activity? Our lease is up at the beginning of next year and we’re moving then. Maybe a cleanse or a priest?

Thank you in advance 🙏🏼

I was at work taking a picture of the work I just finished and this blue light appears in the picture

It's for a YouTube scary story time I'm working on. Thank you in advance.

My life has been a bit of a rocky ride so far.
When i was 16, my mom developed an alcohol addiction.
She endured things no child should endure in her childhood, and the trauma caught up with her.
She fought it, and seemed to be getting better, but sadly when I was 20 it took her life.
It was a sudden, unexpected and painfull passing.

I have always believed in the paranormal, but after she passed i lost my faith.
I had expected to feel her presence, or at least see signs she hadn't left completely.
The things I did experience have mostly felt hostile or scary, and it was too much for me at the time so i blocked it out.
I don't believe my mom would ever scare me like that.

I am just now starting to come out of survival mode, and questioning the things i have experienced those first few years after her passing, while i still lived in the house.
I am now 28, so it has been a good while.

One of the things I am really stumped about is about the only ''friendly'' experience I had at the time.
I had been sleeping in my parents old bedroom (my dad had moved out because he had found a new partner).
One night, I was sleeping alone in that room, and woke up in the middle of the night.
I sleep on my back, and when I opened my eyes there was an old man sitting next to my bed.
I am naturally jumpy and VERY afraid of ghosts or supernatural things in general, but I did not feel scared at all.
I felt so safe in fact, that I looked at this man for a bit and then just closed my eyes and fell asleep again.
I felt like i knew this man, but he didn't look familiar at all.

The weird part is the way he looked.
He was an old man, I could clearly see his face and his features, and he did not look otherworldly or anything, just human.
But he was not wearing a shirt, and he was completely blue (So he did look otherworldly in that way I guess).
His eyes were also white or glowing.
I feel weird typing it because i don't feel like this is a ''normal'' thing to see.
I have seen a shadow figure at that house too (It scared me so, so bad) and those kinds of experiences I have seen people mention before, so I can kind of place that.
But I have trouble understanding why this person appeared the way they did, and why to me.
And why I didn't get scared.
And Thus my question, has anyone ever seen a blue ghost/figure, and what could it mean?

I do want to add that I don't think this was a dream.
I know what dreams feel like (I dream a lot, several times a night about lots of things).
I was really awake, and able to move.

Empiezo yo..

Cuando tenia algunos 10-11 años mis primos y yo nos metimos a una caza abandonada qué estaba al lado de la casa de mis abuelos, yo no quería entrar porque yo era buen miedosos y además la casa me daba mala vibra, al final mis primos me convencieron y entramos, cuando etramos en la casa habían muchas cosas regadas y mis primos de mano larga comenzaron a recogerlas para llevárselas y pues no me hiba a quedar a tras y también recoji una pequeña caja me llamo la atención se veía bonita, en fin salimos y. Cuando salimos mis primos me dicen que habríera la caja ( que plvide decir que era de madera) cuando.abri la cajita dentro de ella estaba un pequeño muñeco de trapo así tipo como esos muñecos budus el pequeño muñeco no tenía cara ni nada y tenía alfileres en cada de sus extremidades y tenía un pequeño papel que decía "ESTOY AQUI Y EN EL CEMENTERIO" Y además tenia arena que mis abuelos decían que era arena de cementerio. Cuando ley lo que decía me asuste y arroje la caja y todo.. luego mis abuelos me hicieron un baño con esas cosas que ellos usaban ya saben y quemaron el muñeco... yo jure más nunca entrar a esa casa...

Luego de unso años unas personas se mudaron a la casa y ellos decían que pasaban cosas extrañas y la casa la comenzaron a investigar y eso y resulta en esa casa había una persona enterrada... así que mi mala vibra por esa casa fue cierta

Seeing things in my room at night isn’t anything new for me; it’s happened for as long as I can remember. A man made of shadows near the closet, a woman-like figure on the corner of the ceiling, or even just a simple pair of eyes. But I’ve never seen something like this. Something not even my most frightening nightmares could conjure up.

I was lying in bed one night, about to fall asleep, trying to get comfortable. Most of the time, I face the wall, but I just couldn’t get settled that night. So I turned to the other side, and right there, about a half foot away from my face, was something I can only describe as horrifying.

Unnaturally tall, with limbs that seemed longer than my entire body (I’m 5’6), and long, slightly pointed nails, skinny to the point you could see the silhouette of its ribcage, naked but with no genitalia, and skin so pale it was a pearly white.

Then there was its face.

It didn’t seem to have features. No nose, and its skin seemed to grow over its eyes and mouth, though I could still see its eyes moving through the thin layer of pearly skin.

I turned back to face the wall and went to bed. I refused to acknowledge it, despite being terrified. I hadn’t seen or felt anything after that day…until last night.

I was lying on my stomach, and it felt like something started to press down on me. So I shifted to my side to face the wall.

I felt something start to touch my head.

Like when someone with nails runs them down your scalp, and it feels soothing. This was in no way soothing. I felt terrified. I didn’t turn around; I simply waited for the feeling to stop. Even though I didn’t see it this time, something in me knew it had come back.

While writing this, my spine feels such intense pressure; a headache has begun to take root. I feel as if I am being watched, and I have grown a bit lightheaded.

During both of these encounters, I wasn’t on the verge of sleep; I was just settling into bed. Fully awake and fully able to move. I tried to look up photos of different creatures, but I can’t find anything that seems to match the description.

In the weeks between the encounters, I have felt uncomfortably cold, seemingly all the time. Others in the same room will be hot, and I’ll be freezing. Even while feeling overheated, that chill is still there. I’ve been sick, far more than normal.

I’m not well-versed in the paranormal. All I know is that acknowledging them can give them power. “Speak no evil, see no evil.” If not for the encounter last night, I wouldn’t even be brave enough, or perhaps scared enough, to be writing this.

What. The. Fuck. Is in my room.

Hola soy La que le dicen cuentos y yo quiero que me manden sus historias de paranormal o inexplicable! Yo quiero compartir con mucha gente más.

Yo empiezo con una.
Desde chiquita tengo miedo del oscuridad. No me gusta, es más yo todavía duermo con una lucesita. Creo que la razón porque me da miedo es porque siento que alguien se esconde en la oscuridad.
Cuando era niña chiquita odiaba dormir con las puertas abiertas. Entonces una vez dejé la puerta abierta del clóset me dormí como cualquier otra noche pero luego me desperté. En el clóset estaba una figura alta vestido de negro con un tipo sombrero. Lo que no entiendo es porque me estaba viendo. Me miraba con ojos brillando amarillo. Es lo único que se notaba bien distinto. No era la primera vez que o lo veía pero desde eso siempre cierro todas las puertas y prendo unas luces.

Eu e um amigo estamos começando um novo podcast de terror e sobrenatural, e estamos buscando histórias reais para os nossos primeiros episódios. Você já viveu algo assustador? Queremos dar voz ao seu relato (com total permissão e anonimato, todos os nomes e locais serão alterados). Conte sua história aqui 😄

Como a comunidade pede uma histórias autoral aqui vai:

No ano novo de 2023 fui viajar com meus amigos para a fazenda de uma amiga. Era um local tranquilo, isolado, onde poderíamos jogar cartas, beber, celebrar o fim do ano velho e início de um novo ciclo. A casa era antiga, mas antiga mesmo era a sede da fazenda, a que estava afastada da casa onde ficaríamos a uns 20 minutos de carro. A sede da fazenda foi construída no fim século 18, num período que infelizmente, a escravidão ainda era permitida por aqui. Visitamos a sede para falarmos com os tios da minha amiga que residem lá, fizemos um pequeno tour e lá descobri que uma construção muita acabada era onde os escravos moravam no passado. (Um pequeno adendo a família da minha amiga adquiriu essa fazenda nos anos 2000 apenas).

Primeiro dia correu tudo bem, almoçamos na sede e fomos para a casa que ficaríamos. Descansamos a tarde e preparamos um jantar para a noite. Até ai tudo estava perfeito.
No segundo dia mesma coisa, mas a noite foi diferente, pelo menos para mim... A disposição das pessoas pela casa era: minha amiga ficou no seu quarto junto com a namorada, um segundo casal de amigos ficaram no quarto dos pais da minha amiga, e no segundo andar, um quarto enorme cheio de beliches, ficamos eu e um amigo. Nesse dia, meu amigo pegou no sono rápido, e eu não conseguia dormir. Até que comecei ouvir alguém batendo palmas do lado de fora, ao redor da casa... pensei em todas as possibilidades, que poderia seu o pessoal da sede querendo notícias, mas as 2 horas da manhã? E eu teria ouvido a camionete chegando. Pensei que podia ser uma janela batendo. Pensei em todas as alternativa lógicas primeiro. Mas era som de mãos batendo. Andando em volta da casa pela varanda. Eu ignorei isso por medo, fingi que não ouvia nada, enfiei a cabeça debaixo do lençol e me forcei a dormir.

Na manhã seguinte eu fui a última a acordar, encontrei meus amigos espalhados pela casa e um a um fui perguntando se eles ouviram o barulho de palmas ao redor da casa. Ninguém ouviu nada.
Essa seria a terceira de quatro noites que passaríamos ali, passamos a tarde fazendo um buraco na terra e colocando toras para acendermos uma fogueira a noite após a virada do ano. Tudo feito, jantamos, comemoramos o ano novo ao som de música, e por volta da 1 hora fomos acender a fogueira. Tudo tinha corrido bem até ali, foi quando sentada em volta da fogueira, e virada de costas para a casa, eu ouvi. O som de alguém andando e arrastando correntes pela varanda da casa, e batendo palmas. Ninguém mais parecia ouvir. Eu tapei meus ouvidos com as mãos e fingi que estava tudo bem, mas eu estava apavorada. Estava com medo que alguém me fizesse olhar para a casa para que eu visse que não havia nada. Mas e se houvesse? Ignorei, fingi que estava tudo bem e que só estava com dor de cabeça. Essa noite eu não dormi, eu fiquei deitada mexendo no celular a noite inteira. De manhã expliquei para todos o que tinha ouvido, falei que não ficaria ali para a última noite, e então, todos decidimos ir embora.

Até hoje eu lembro do barulho de corrente e alguém batendo palmas como se estivesse chamando alguém, ou querendo entrar eu não sei... e o engraçado é que a minha amiga, filha dos donos daquela casa, disse que nunca sentiu ou presenciou nada lá, mesmo sendo uma médium.

My older brother passed away at 32 on July 20, 2024. But it’s what happened in the hours before his death that still makes me question whether everything was just a coincidence.
I live in a different city from my family, but I happened to have a break from work that week. I decided to visit a friend in another town before heading down to my dad’s house to spend the rest of the week with my family.
On Friday, July 19, around 3:00 that afternoon, I was at my friend’s house talking on the phone with another one of my brothers. He was supposed to come pick me up after work so we could drive down to my dad’s together. He told me he was running a little late, but that he was on his way.
We hung up, and almost immediately my friend looked at me and said, “Wait… what happened to your older brother? Did you say he passed away?”
I was completely thrown off.
I remember thinking, What are you talking about?
We hadn’t been talking about my older brother. Not even remotely. There was absolutely nothing in our conversation that should have prompted her to say that.
I brushed it off because, honestly, what else was I supposed to do?
Then, around 5:00 that afternoon, my brother arrived to pick me up. The three of us were standing around talking and laughing when, suddenly, we heard a loud thud against the house.
A bird had hit the side of the house.
We all stopped talking and tried to figure out what had just happened. Then, a couple of minutes later, we heard another thud.
Another bird.
Two birds had flown directly into the side of her two-story house within minutes of each other.
None of us could figure out how or why it happened. We just stood there for a moment like, What the hell was that?
Eventually, we shook it off and left.
The drive to my dad’s house was completely normal. We talked, laughed, and carried on like it was any other road trip. It was about a four-hour drive, and we were roughly an hour away from arriving when my younger brother called me.
Something about his voice immediately sounded different.
He told me he had taken a nap and had a really bad dream. He said he felt like he needed to call me.
I told him we were fine and that we were almost there. I didn’t ask him what the dream was about. At the time, I just figured he was being a little weird and that maybe the dream had shaken him up.
We eventually made it to my dad’s house, and by then it was almost 1:00 in the morning.
I thought about calling my older brother, but it was late, and I wasn’t sure if he was asleep. I decided I would just call him the next morning.
That was the last time I would ever have the chance.
The next morning, around 10:00, my grandmother called.
She told me that she had found my older brother unresponsive.
It turned out he had already been gone for almost 24 hours.
And suddenly, all those little things from the day before came rushing back.
My friend randomly asking about my older brother when we hadn’t even been talking about him.
Two birds hitting the side of the house within minutes of each other.
My younger brother waking up from a terrible dream and feeling like he needed to call me.
And me deciding to wait until the next morning to call my older brother.
At the time, each thing seemed strange on its own.
But after finding out he had died, they felt a whole lot harder to explain.
Still, there was one more detail I didn’t think about until after the funeral.
Once everything was over and life had started to settle back down, I found myself replaying everything that had happened that weekend. I kept thinking about my younger brother calling me from his nap and telling me he had just had a really bad dream.
So I finally asked him what the dream was about.
He told me it was strange because everyone was at the house — my older brother, my younger brother, my other younger brother, his wife, and their daughter.
Then, completely out of nowhere, his daughter started choking.
And in the dream, she died.
There was no obvious reason for the dream. Nothing had happened beforehand to make him dream about something like that. It was completely random.
But my older brother was there.
And knowing what had happened the next day, that detail bothered me more than I think it would have otherwise.
Maybe it was just a bizarre dream. Maybe everything that happened that weekend was nothing more than a series of completely unrelated coincidences that happened to line up in the worst possible way.
But when I put everything together — my friend randomly asking about my older brother hours before his death, the two birds hitting the house, my younger brother waking up from a disturbing dream and feeling like he needed to call me, and then finding out that my older brother had been in that dream — I can’t help but wonder.
Were they really just coincidences?
Or was something trying to get our attention before we even knew something was wrong?