[SPEAKER_01]: So you're a normal teenager, so you think.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, you've seen a few things you think may be paranormal, and one day you're sat down and told, you won't remember, but when you were young, you had an imaginary friend.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, so did many people, but what do you do when as you grow older the paranormal things become more obvious, more obtrusive?

[SPEAKER_01]: And how do you react when later on, you're informed your imaginary friend was once a real person, [SPEAKER_01]: and your imaginary friend once lived there too, only long before you were born, and died in the closet of your fairy-owned bedroom, because those are the questions faced by today's submitter.

[SPEAKER_01]: Live from Liverpool, the Dark Paranormal Season 22.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello everyone and welcome back to episode 8 of Season 22.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, we only have two more episodes of Season 22 before we begin our break and then we're back for Season 23 in the new year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we come back from our season break, 4 season 23, although the show will feel exactly as the dark paranormal feels, you will notice the changes, with the soul intention of making your entire interaction and listening experience with the dark paranormal better.

[SPEAKER_01]: Our new teaser intro that we've added at the end of Season 22 was going to be left until Season 23, but we wanted to do a sort of A-B test, and by all accounts it's very well received.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the whole point of these changes is so that you can jump into the dark paranormal, sooner, with a better listening experience.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we're talking less ads before the show.

[SPEAKER_01]: a different ambiance when you listen to stories, but one that shifts you to a different place.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is your show and as housekeeper of your show, it is my duty to make sure I do everything I can to make sure your experience is the best it can be.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's why this show has always been and will always be driven by you and forever in a state of fluidity.

[SPEAKER_01]: A quick thank you to all of our patrons who keep our show afloat and to all of you who engage and listen if you haven't hit subscribe yet then please do and of course we are still giving away free week trials [SPEAKER_01]: Of Patreon and whatever you choose by clicking in the show notes below, or going direct to patreon.com forward slash the dark paranormal.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as I've mentioned before, and I'm not just saying this, as I do this myself, with the avalanche of ads you receive during Christmas and then the January sales.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now is a great time to sign up to our lowest tier and receive an ad-free feed.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then feel free to cancel in February.

[SPEAKER_01]: Safe in the knowledge that you will no longer be subjected to those adverts throughout the holiday period and depend on the tea you sign up to, you can gain access to weekly shows during our downtime in between seasons.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can find the links to our Patreon in the show note, along with how to submit your experience for Season 23.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as I've stated, we have those episodes already mapped out, but the right experience will always change our schedule.

[SPEAKER_01]: And also, we accept submissions of any size because we have obviously a multitude of shows that we want to experience as full.

[SPEAKER_01]: and speaking of Patreon and experiences, the following experience comes in from one of our Patrons, so now it's time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lower the lights, make yourself comfortable, and of course leave your disbelief at the door, as we listen to.

[SPEAKER_01]: Evil, notice.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hi Kevin, my name's Katlyn, and I've been a long time listener of your show since 2021 [SPEAKER_01]: and I want to say thank you for it.

[SPEAKER_01]: You make people like me feel heard and understood.

[SPEAKER_01]: I am a patron also, but there is a specific reason for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You see I have to listen to your show in short bursts, because paranormal activity in my life tends to flare up if I focus on it too much.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, after re-listening I've decided to send in my own experiences.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm mostly writing this so maybe I can see it laid out, gained some closure.

[SPEAKER_01]: I must say I'm a paranormal enthusiast, but I'm also a massive skeptic.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll be the first to say well it could have been the pipes, it's an old house.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not to discourage experiences, just because if I believe something, [SPEAKER_01]: So, the following are the experiences that I can not explain.

[SPEAKER_01]: Again, these may come across as slightly jumbled, but these are the experiences I've had in my life so far.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm currently 22.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you, or any of our listeners, have a rational explanation, then please let me know.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just want guidance or help if anyone has anything to offer.

[SPEAKER_01]: Ever since I was a child, I've had a paranormal fascination per se.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember being seven and walking around my grandparents' yard asking, does anything want to speak to me?

[SPEAKER_01]: To thin air.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't remember anyone explaining to me what spirits were.

[SPEAKER_01]: They've always been something I've just known.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the same way with death.

[SPEAKER_01]: My parents never sat me down and explained it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just have always remembered understanding it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Technically, my first paranormal experience is one that I don't remember.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, the rest of these are first hand accounts that I most certainly do.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I believe this is where my journey started.

[SPEAKER_01]: My parents and I lived in a trailer, and I was maybe three or four years old.

[SPEAKER_01]: My only real memories of this house are being too scared to be left alone.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just did not like it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I also remember hating my room.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, I have no memories of what my room actually looked like.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember the kitchen, the living room, the back porch, even my parents' room.

[SPEAKER_01]: but never mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, my mother didn't tell me this until I was about 15.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because she knew I like paranormal things and wanted my opinion.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I need you to understand that my mother is not want to believe in spirits.

[SPEAKER_01]: She does believe in heaven and hell, and believes that everyone either goes to one or the other.

[SPEAKER_01]: are strictly demons or angels.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's no in between.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, she says when we lived in that house, I had an imaginary friend named Tenea.

[SPEAKER_01]: One that no one else could see besides me.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says Tenea and I would play games.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'd have tea parties, etc.

[SPEAKER_01]: she doesn't like it when you call her that.

[SPEAKER_01]: My mum says one day I was at my grandmother's, and my dad was at work.

[SPEAKER_01]: She's at home alone, and a toy goes off in my room.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was a light-up fire truck that I'd already told her, Tenea loved to play with.

[SPEAKER_01]: It really creeped her out, so she walked over to take the batteries out of it and sat it back on the floor.

[SPEAKER_01]: She said that as soon as her foot stepped out of the door, [SPEAKER_01]: the toy went off again, and she stood there staring at the batteries in her hand.

[SPEAKER_01]: To this day she does not understand how that toy went off without any power.

[SPEAKER_01]: My skeptical self went, oh mom, maybe somehow a current was still in it, and I was ready to [SPEAKER_01]: She said one of her old friends came by, who she hadn't told anything about, my invisible friend too.

[SPEAKER_01]: This friend of hers looked around and said, Wow, I'm surprised you got this house.

[SPEAKER_01]: My mum was confused and asked what she meant.

[SPEAKER_01]: She went on to tell my mother that in the 90s a family lived in our house.

[SPEAKER_01]: A little girl lived in my room who was seven or eight years old.

[SPEAKER_01]: And a construction crew had been doing some jobs and overnight they left a crane out.

[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately a piece of that crane fell.

[SPEAKER_01]: It went straight through the ceiling and killed the little girl while she was in my closet.

[SPEAKER_01]: The friend goes on to tell my mom that that little girl's name was Tenaya.

[SPEAKER_01]: My mother says this prove to her that Teneo was not the innocent fake friend she thought I'd had.

[SPEAKER_01]: So she very quickly arranged for us to move, and that's why my memories are foggy.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember when I got the news I was so excited, new friends and new house and new room.

[SPEAKER_01]: But on my very last day in that house, I do have a memory of sitting on the back porch, [SPEAKER_01]: And I also remember thinking to myself, why am I so sad when I'm so happy?

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, as much as I wanted to tell you that, and I found proof of this, no I haven't.

[SPEAKER_01]: I've researched old papers, I've dug through that many Google searches I couldn't tell you, and I've never found a trace of an anywhere.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I don't remember her, either.

[SPEAKER_01]: but my mother swars up and down that every ounce of this is true.

[SPEAKER_01]: She also believes Taneo was a demon disguising herself as a little girl.

[SPEAKER_01]: As for me, I believe spirits are here in our realm.

[SPEAKER_01]: Every time I think of the name, I get a warm feeling.

[SPEAKER_01]: However, I also get the negative energy when I think of that house.

[SPEAKER_01]: so I personally believe there may have been multiple entities there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I also believe that spirits can push their emotions onto humans.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I believe that's why I have that memory of sitting on the back porch.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, as I've said before, I've had many experiences all throughout my life at different ages.

[SPEAKER_01]: But these are the ones I've not been able to find any rational explanation for.

[SPEAKER_01]: This one was at Christmas time, when I was maybe 11 or 12 years old.

[SPEAKER_01]: My parents had divorced, and I was staying with my mom.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was out as our shed with my brother.

[SPEAKER_01]: This was my grandparents' house technically.

[SPEAKER_01]: The same one I used to walk around and ask spirits to talk to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: They owned acres of land.

[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe about 500 feet away, they had this massive garden.

[SPEAKER_01]: One we'd long since stopped taking care of.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was genuinely overgrown, overridden by vines and grass and everything else.

[SPEAKER_01]: We were sent to get Christmas supplies.

[SPEAKER_01]: So while we're at the shed, I hear Catland.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was my mum shouting for me, but it sounded like it was from the [SPEAKER_01]: No reply.

[SPEAKER_01]: I figured if my mum needed us again, she'd call again.

[SPEAKER_01]: And yes, we hear it again.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I look at my brother to make sure he was hearing it too, so he gave me an annoyed face.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember making my way around the house.

[SPEAKER_01]: When our mum needed us, she always shouted with the door wide open.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember I went and saw that the door was closed.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I furrowed my eyebrows, but decided maybe she'd just given up.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I went back to my brother and said, The door was closed.

[SPEAKER_01]: I guess she's given up.

[SPEAKER_01]: But then we had CJ.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's my brother's name.

[SPEAKER_01]: This time the voice sounded closer.

[SPEAKER_01]: It still sounded like my mom.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it sounded like she was still traveling through the garden in a weird way, which was just not possible.

[SPEAKER_01]: that overgrown garden was literally 6 to 9 feet tall.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I make my way around the house again.

[SPEAKER_01]: This time I'm quite mad so I shout, WHAT?!

[SPEAKER_01]: Put again the doors closed and I remember the way my heart dropped.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I knew my mum wouldn't play around like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: She just wasn't that type of person.

[SPEAKER_01]: I taught my brother to just grab a box of random stuff and let's go back inside.

[SPEAKER_01]: This time we both here, Catlan, but this time it extremely close, like maybe 20 to 30 feet away close, out of the garden.

[SPEAKER_01]: My brother and I exchanged the look.

[SPEAKER_01]: We didn't even say anything.

[SPEAKER_01]: We just dropped our boxes and sprinted inside.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was hoping beyond hope, my mum would be stood angrily at the door, but she wasn't.

[SPEAKER_01]: Her and my grandparents were sat on the couch's laughing, so I asked, did you call us?

[SPEAKER_01]: Through me and my brother panting, she said, no, why, where's all the Christmas stuff?

[SPEAKER_01]: So my brother and I explained what we'd heard and what had happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: No one told us we were wrong, but we could both tell they didn't believe us.

[SPEAKER_01]: My grandfather ended up going outside to get the ornaments.

[SPEAKER_01]: I talked about this to my mum recently and she tells me that they all just thought my brother and I were being lazy and didn't want to go and get the ornaments.

[SPEAKER_01]: She says my grandfather went outside, looked around, saw no one, had no experiences, [SPEAKER_01]: I want to believe this was something like a hallucination, but my brother and I both experienced it at the same time.

[SPEAKER_01]: We were kids, we weren't on medication, we weren't sleep deprived or anything.

[SPEAKER_01]: My brother doesn't even like being reminded of it, he said it creeps him out.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to believe it was the neighbours, but we lived in the countryside and our next neighbour wasn't for three miles or so.

[SPEAKER_01]: Another time I was living with my dad.

[SPEAKER_01]: At this point I was constantly bounced between houses.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember walking out of my room for something and into the living room.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was really dark, like really dark.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I could see someone sitting in all living room chair.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, I call out, Dad, it looked like the silhouette of a man, but I couldn't figure out why my dad was just sat in the dark in all living room.

[SPEAKER_01]: But finally, my dad replied, Yes, from behind me, from his room.

[SPEAKER_01]: I ran to my dad's room.

[SPEAKER_01]: I thought there was an intruder, so I told him, someone in the living room he sat in a chair?

[SPEAKER_01]: My dad said, [SPEAKER_01]: got up from his bed, grabbed a baseball bat, and headed immediately for the living room.

[SPEAKER_01]: My dad went in first, and I could still see this silhouette, but as soon as my dad put the light on, it was gone.

[SPEAKER_01]: There was no one there.

[SPEAKER_01]: My dad put the light off again, but the silhouette I'd seen before now wasn't there.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was just an empty chair in the [SPEAKER_01]: My next unexplained experience was in another house with my dad and his new girlfriend.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's small, but I remember I was tying my shoes, and I hear a woman say, Catalan!

[SPEAKER_01]: Loudly right into my right ear.

[SPEAKER_01]: I turned instinctively, but I was alone in my room.

[SPEAKER_01]: No one was there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I still hear this voice sometimes.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's always in my right ear, always my name, always a woman.

[SPEAKER_01]: This next part is a bit dark.

[SPEAKER_01]: I moved in with my woman to her boyfriend, into a new house with my little brother.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how to explain this, but this house had a dark energy.

[SPEAKER_01]: In this house, many about things happened in my life.

[SPEAKER_01]: But these things led me into a very, very dark depression, laced with thought of very bad things.

[SPEAKER_01]: I believe this depression inside of me conjured something up, something dark.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember every night there would be a presence in my room that seemed to stand at the foot of my bed.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I believe this entity fed on my sadness and fear.

[SPEAKER_01]: In this house, I began having vivid nightmares.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would wake up with scratches and bruises on me that I knew weren't from me.

[SPEAKER_01]: There was always broken glass at the bottom of the fridge.

[SPEAKER_01]: No clue how.

[SPEAKER_01]: We didn't break dishes often, but it always happened to be there.

[SPEAKER_01]: one night I'm home with my little brother.

[SPEAKER_01]: My TV was updating so I wanted to make myself some water and as I was doing so I began to hear voices inside of my room.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I said, oh my TV must be back on.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in my excitement my barefoot stepped on a piece of glass.

[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't deep thankfully but I made my way back to my room to get a bandage.

[SPEAKER_01]: Closing up to here before enough where I couldn't make out what was said, kind of like a group chatter in a way.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, I step into my room and all the noises stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: I look at my TV, it's still updating.

[SPEAKER_01]: I look at my little brother who's completely fast asleep.

[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, this could just be the TV mess in go.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it had never done that before, and I do find it very coincidental that the noises that got me excited to rush to my room, cause me to step on the glass, and then there were no noises in my room at all.

[SPEAKER_01]: My next experience is living with my dad.

[SPEAKER_01]: I am 16 and I did what every 16-year-old girl loves to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: I played music in the shower extremely loud.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I was doing just that.

[SPEAKER_01]: We had a massive mirror that hung above the sink.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was about six feet or so, and went all the way to the ceiling.

[SPEAKER_01]: So for the past hour I'd been dancing in front of it, taking selfies before my shower, acting like I was my own celebrity.

[SPEAKER_01]: I decided it was finally time for me to get in the shower, so I picked up my phone and stepped away from the mirror.

[SPEAKER_01]: As soon as I did, the mirror fell.

[SPEAKER_01]: it shattered at the floor the second I'd stepped out of its way.

[SPEAKER_01]: The mirror cut my legs slightly, but, if I'd have been stood in front of it, I would have needed hospital treatment for very bad injuries.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now the owners of our apartment say that mirror was stuck with adhesive to the wall, so they say they heat from the shower running for such a long time, caused condensation, and [SPEAKER_01]: But once again, I'd been stood in front of that mirror for an hour.

[SPEAKER_01]: It fell as soon as I walked from in front of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Very coincidental yet again, but it could just be a coincidence.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll never know.

[SPEAKER_01]: My father told me he believed it was something dark that tried to kill me.

[SPEAKER_01]: My mother believes I'd been saved by an angel, one who held it until I stepped back.

[SPEAKER_01]: Me personally, I don't know.

[SPEAKER_01]: Over the years I've had plenty of other experiences, but my next major ones take place at the house I now currently live in and have lived for the past five years.

[SPEAKER_01]: One night a couple of years ago around 1 a.m., my dad comes bursting into my room saying, have you been downstairs?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I say, no, why?

[SPEAKER_01]: He's freaking out.

[SPEAKER_01]: He goes, don't bullshit me, Katman, please think, have you been downstairs since you and I came upstairs?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I say, no, I haven't to swear.

[SPEAKER_01]: What happened?

[SPEAKER_01]: So he leads me downstairs and every light is on.

[SPEAKER_01]: The living room light, the living room's lamp light, the kitchen, even the porch light that we never leave on.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's adamant he didn't turn them on, [SPEAKER_01]: Now, that experience was weird.

[SPEAKER_01]: My dad to this day has no clue who turned all of those lights on, or how.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe a power search?

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm no technician, but that's what I choose to believe for my peace of mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: The next one, around the same time, I'm getting ready for work in the bathroom.

[SPEAKER_01]: and I hear that voice again, Catalan in my right ear, same woman, same ear, but this time she sounds like she was coming from my dad's room, which was just down the hall, and her voice wasn't friendly.

[SPEAKER_01]: It never really is, but this time it seemed angrier, like a mother scolding a child [SPEAKER_01]: A bit louder.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe I'd miss her to female voice, maybe it was my dad.

[SPEAKER_01]: But from the bathroom his room was dark and I couldn't see him.

[SPEAKER_00]: What?

[SPEAKER_01]: I heard my dad yell.

[SPEAKER_01]: From downstairs.

[SPEAKER_01]: His voice even echoed a bit from how far away he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember looking at that room and feeling [SPEAKER_01]: I never told my dad about that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want him to think we had a ghost or anything.

[SPEAKER_01]: He does actually get scared of things like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: As much as I'd like to say, I get used to this voice, I don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even though I only hear it periodically, it still scares me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, this experience is my scariest experience that I've ever had to date.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that [SPEAKER_01]: This was maybe a year or so ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was sat in my room in silence.

[SPEAKER_01]: At this time I'd been growing more religious, so I was reading from the Bible on my phone.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I started hearing what sounds like music from the neighbours house next door.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it sounded faint.

[SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't make any of it out.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't explain why, but I decided to lean closer to the wall separating us.

[SPEAKER_01]: to see if I could hear them music.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then, in my right ear, I heard the most demonic laughter I've ever heard.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know how to explain it, but this laughter wasn't jolly, it was maniacal, evil, mocking, horrid.

[SPEAKER_01]: It sounded what I imagined hell to be like.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was so loud in contrast to the quiet.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember flinching, shaking, moving away from the sound because of how loud it was.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the positive bubble I'd had around me from reading the Bible was now gone.

[SPEAKER_01]: Instead it was filled with terror, dread, and now evil.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I began to pray, but it wasn't working.

[SPEAKER_01]: The laughing was still happening in my ear.

[SPEAKER_01]: I reached a clutch my physical Bible that was next to me on my dresser, and I began to pray louder, aloud, or be it terrified.

[SPEAKER_01]: Slowly the laughter faded like distance in itself and then went back to science.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just kept praying for about an hour or so, and I didn't sleep that night.

[SPEAKER_01]: My next experience I was in my room, I was playing payday 2 on my Xbox.

[SPEAKER_01]: It an old game I know, but this time my friend and I were playing as the bank robbers in the game at all that jazz.

[SPEAKER_01]: My dad came in and was like, oh wow, that's a crazy game, and I agreed.

[SPEAKER_01]: After about an hour or so, I left our online party and pulled off my headset to text some friends.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was in silence sitting on my beanbag in front of my bed.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then, right next to me on my left side, on my bed, I had an audible female sigh.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was loud.

[SPEAKER_01]: I snapped my head over, but nothing was there.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was though someone had been sitting right next to me and it sighed loudly.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then I felt no fear, but a wave of calmness washed over me, like something positive [SPEAKER_01]: I called my dad into my room, wanting him to give me a rational explanation.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't have one.

[SPEAKER_01]: We wanted to say pipes, but were I'd heard of from, well, that wall didn't have pipes.

[SPEAKER_01]: It led straight outside, and it was a female sigh right next to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: My dad started to joke that maybe it was my great grandmother who had recently passed away, saying [SPEAKER_01]: This felt plausible and calmed me.

[SPEAKER_01]: At least if it was a spirit, it was my great grandmother, and that made me feel positive, so it had to be good, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: But just then, as we were joking about it, from the corner of my room came a crash.

[SPEAKER_01]: I had a heavy whiteboard that had been on my dresser, while also leaning on the wall, and as we were talking about her, [SPEAKER_01]: it had fallen and made a big noise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Once again, it could just be a coincidence.

[SPEAKER_01]: But once again, a strange one if so.

[SPEAKER_01]: I still can't explain the side, though.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: My most recent experience was only a few weeks ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: I work in the online grocery at Walmart, [SPEAKER_01]: If you've never seen one, believe me their tall.

[SPEAKER_01]: It comes to about my chest, and I can't see for about three feet in front of me below my chest line.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm working and eager to get my orders done, and I see this little boy walk up to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: I remember him being in these really colorful socks and having suspenders.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just thought that's strange, but maybe his parents just dressed him up like that first [SPEAKER_01]: He looked to be about 6 or 7.

[SPEAKER_01]: His skin was a caramel colour, and he looked at me with those wide brown eyes, happy and excited, like he was eager, extremely happy about something.

[SPEAKER_01]: His her was dark, his eyes were brown, and he seemed fascinated by my cart, and I watched him go in front of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I watched him wait if him to come out the other side, because I [SPEAKER_01]: so I walked round the cart and there's no little boy.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was in the middle of an aisle and looked around, but no, there's no one.

[SPEAKER_01]: I hadn't taken my eyes off him, he'd just vanished.

[SPEAKER_01]: I even checked my totes to make sure he hadn't somehow climbed into the moron top of them but nope.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then, last week, I'm on a different tile.

[SPEAKER_01]: Once again, a clear vision of everywhere, [SPEAKER_01]: I went to grab some bread and I saw this little boy peek his face from the front of my cart and dart back behind it, as if playing hide and seek or pick a boot.

[SPEAKER_01]: My mind instantly went back to two weeks ago, so I rationalized this was just another kid.

[SPEAKER_01]: This kid was a bit younger, he was blonde, pale skin, but nothing out of the ordinary.

[SPEAKER_01]: it was so quick in my vision of seeing him that I don't know what color eyes he had.

[SPEAKER_01]: I waited again and again he didn't come out.

[SPEAKER_01]: I checked and once more no little boy.

[SPEAKER_01]: For these experiences I honestly don't know what to think.

[SPEAKER_01]: Am I crazy?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

[SPEAKER_01]: I choose to believe maybe my eyes played with me on the second board.

[SPEAKER_01]: That first boy I saw was clear as day.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when I tell you they both looked as real as anyone else, I mean it.

[SPEAKER_01]: For full disclosure, I'll mention I am not schizophrenic in any way and I have been tested.

[SPEAKER_01]: None of these experiences happened when I was drinking.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do have OCD, anxiety and depression.

[SPEAKER_01]: But these are all manageable.

[SPEAKER_01]: And even if it was me, some of these things have happened with my brother or my father, so we can't just all be in my head.

[SPEAKER_01]: I still feel energies constantly, both positive and negative.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I've worked my way into closing my eyes and picturing a bubble of lights surrounding me, a protective shield, and that makes me feel positive energies.

[SPEAKER_01]: I always feel a negative energy around [SPEAKER_01]: It's always in the back of my bubble, and I think it's that thing that came when I suffered my worst depression years ago.

[SPEAKER_01]: That same thing that almost made me on a life myself.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if it's an attachment or something else, but I've somehow learned to live with it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Paranormal things flare up in my life whenever I get really interested in researching anything [SPEAKER_01]: which my great grandmother used to tell me, if you look for evil, it will come right back to stare at you.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, I think that's why these things happen.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I show interest they want attention.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist, things don't happen.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are many other experiences, smaller ones, that I didn't include in this email for [SPEAKER_01]: If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for reading this, if you do.

[SPEAKER_01]: I appreciate all you do Kevin and I love the show.

[SPEAKER_01]: Please never stop, sincerely, Catlin.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, Catlin, thank you so much for an experience that has literally been with me for the bulk of this week, replaying over in my mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: And mainly because we all know I like the term validators, this experience, on one of my many thoughts about this episode, is filled with so many idlost count.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you're on due to the term, it basically means if you're inventing a story, things you wouldn't put in.

[SPEAKER_01]: Things that wouldn't feel normal or natural to fit in, they don't fit in, like the paranormal [SPEAKER_01]: things don't fit in.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this experience is a unique, very rare experience or series of experiences.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the fact there are so many validating factors about it, it's a one in a million.

[SPEAKER_01]: An interesting point you make is how you believe during your lowest depths of depression, which I'm so relieved to hear that you manage to get some help with.

[SPEAKER_01]: You believe some form of dark entity, manage to somehow come through that state of depression.

[SPEAKER_01]: And attach itself maybe to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: or at least use your depression as a gateway to get to you, and we discussed a very similar thing recently on a Patreon episode about maybe grief being a portal.

[SPEAKER_01]: Very quickly, the idea being we say astronomically, for example, that's Halloween we all know the veil allegedly thinned between the living and the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if we're all made of stardust, [SPEAKER_01]: Then, possibly within us, there are certain conditions of being that within us, thin, the veil.

[SPEAKER_01]: And maybe grief, depression, the places we don't want to emotionally go, are those places that thin, the veil.

[SPEAKER_01]: But either way, Catlin, this was such a fascinating series of emails, you mentioned at the end, there were others you left out, [SPEAKER_01]: Please send them through no matter how small I will find an audience for them somewhere, but I just want to thank you again for one fantastic episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: And of course, a huge thank you to each and every one of you out there for joining me for Catland Experience.

[SPEAKER_01]: Don't forget, if you'd like to sign up for your week free trial of Patreon at any tier, the links are in the show notes, as is the link to submit your own experience to the show.

[SPEAKER_01]: Remember, whenever you're discussing the paranormal, always try and leave some of your disbelief at the door.

[SPEAKER_01]: And until next time, the episode 9, please stay safe and take care.