A Personal Experience By Salix

have always been very sensitive to other energies and presences. This story is one of the first paranormal experiences that ever happened to me.

Several years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school, I was living with my father and step-mother. It was just past 9 p.m., and I was in bed, beginning to drift off to sleep. Suddenly, I became paralyzed; I could not move a toe or a finger or even turn my head. I felt weighed down to an extreme. I was awake in my mind, and turned my eyes to look to my right. By the door was a rocking chair. In it, a woman was rocking very, very quickly, as if she were in high anticipation, expecting something important. She was elderly. Her face was white pearl. Her hair was grey and was tied back very tightly in a bun. Instead of eyes and a mouth, there were empty black holes. At first, she did not notice that I was watching her. But then, in a split second, she looked at me, and it seemed like it was at the speed of light that her hands suddenly had a tight grip around my neck. I was still paralyzed, and I was feeling a great amount of fear. I knew from looking at her, she was hostile. And somehow I knew she was from the civil war. It wasn't just the way she was dressed. Her dress did look old, and it came up to the top of her neck, and it was very tight, with many buttons.

It seemed to last forever, and then I finally snapped out of it. The rocking chair was empty. I ran out of my room, straight to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. My step-mother had no idea what had happened. It's been about 9 years since this happened, but each time I think of it, it's like it only happened minutes ago. I have never seen the woman again, nor do I ever hope to.