Open Your Eyes

The “Under the Mask” Blog is an online outlet for the “Dont Go Out There” podcast hosts to further add creative content into the horror community.

Fan Submission by: Sonia Shamoka

I was about ten years old and just had moved to Ontario from my hometown of Edmonton, AB. As a child I always had an invisible friend that nobody could see, an older man. He always watched me sleep. Creepy, I know. It gets more interesting. When we moved into our home in Ontario, I always felt a dark erie feeling. My parents would tell me it was in my head or I was "dreaming". I went to sleep one night, and I felt a presence come into my bed to sleep next to me. I felt that the presence was of a female, as it was very light when it got into the bed.  

Then I felt these dainty cold fingers caress my face very soft and slowly. She then put her arms around my body as she was hugging me from behind or spooning me and said, "It's ok it's Grandma, open your eyes and look at me.” She said it in my second language, Assyrian “toukh aynakh, nana’la”.  She kept repeating the same words over and over.  

I was too scared and said “you aren't my Grandma, she died before I was even born" My other grandma doesn’t even live in this country, so there is no way this is an actual person, and especially not my grandma. I then shouted, “Just leave me alone!” She went silent and I felt the weight of the bed get lighter, and I couldn’t feel her dainty hands on my face and my body any longer. I kept my eyes shut very tight, and I didn't open them until morning. When I woke up, I was completely mortified from the previous night. When I opened my eyes, and saw it was daytime. The sun was beaming into my bedroom.  

I ripped my bedsheets off, rubbed my eyes, dragged my legs out of bed, and put my slippers on and opened my bedroom door as hard as I could. I ran to my mother’s bedroom so I could explain what happened the night before. I was just filled with emotion and could not control the stream of tears rushing down my face. I could barely make sense and get the words out of my mouth to make actual complete sentences. My mother just smiled and giggled at me and told me not to worry it was “just a dream” and then I thought to myself, great, she doesn’t believe me, and now I feel crazy. Was it a dream?  Was it all in my head? Or will I be visited again tonight? 

Later that week I woke up to my door closed shut, I looked up, but nobody was there. I tried to fall asleep and had the sheets over my head. It was a bad habit I had, due to continuous night terrors. Then I heard little children whispering and laughing in the corner of my room, near my dresser. I didn’t dare look up, because who in their right mind would? Right? I was still as still a statue, not even breathing.  I kept as still as possible, while catching my breath under my heavy sheets, which felt like they were suffocating me.  

The next morning, my mother came into my room to wake me up and asked what I was doing 

standing in the hallway looking over the railing of the second floor. I reassured her I didn’t’ get out of bed because I was hearing noises and voices from inside my room. It couldn’t have been me. My mother mentioned she called out my name to who she thought was me the “girl” who was wearing a mid-length nightie, just like the one I wear to bed. Looked over at my mother and rushed down the hall loudly running into my bedroom, slamming the door shut. I am guessing when she slammed the door shut, it must have woken me up. 

 It must have been around 3:00 am, it’s always around 2:00 am or 3:00 am when these creepy things occur at night. I can tell it’s around the same time, because it’s dark outside, and quiet. I got up slowly out of bed and noticed my dad’s car was parked out front. Which means he is back from work, and that would make it precisely after 3:00 am. That was the exact time I woke up to hearing the children giggling and laughing by my dresser. I had even heard what sounded like a tennis ball dropping in my bedroom. I thought they were just passing the ball back and forth like a game. I wouldn’t really know I was too petrified to take the sheets off from over my head to look, I wouldn’t dare!  

The same week my sister's room had some paranormal activity as well. She was at work one night and my mother and I kept hearing noises in the house. 

 They were coming directly from above us. We were in the living room at the time, the noise seemed to have been coming from my sister’s bedroom. We decided to go upstairs together to see what was going on. As we made our way up the wooden stairs, slowly, step by step, and clinging each other’s arms rather tightly with fear of what lies above us. I walked in front of my mom guarding her with one arm over her chest, and said “Shhhh, stay behind me.” She looked at me nervously but still smiling through her nerves, she never wanted to appear frightened around me or my sister. 

 Especially in this situation, and not to mention I was just a kid at the time, and acting all grown up and brave, ready to fight a possible ghost or intruder. As I slowly began to walk towards my sister’s bedroom door, I heard the computer chair rolling around, as if someone had pulled it out from under the desk to take a seat. Keep in mind, my sister was at work all night, and not expected back home for at least another four hours. There is no way it would have been my sister. Or anyone else for that matter. We lived in a three-bedroom home, not too big, just your typical town house. The complex was located on Queenston and Reid, in the East end of the City. My father was also at work for the night and wouldn’t be home until at least 2:00 am. He worked at a restaurant, and they close late. It was just me and my mom, like every other night.  

I was now standing in front of my sister’s bedroom and realized the door was shut. We never normally shut the doors, so the concern in my mother’s eyes grew much stronger, and I was pretty freaked out myself. I took a deep breath and had a burst of emotions coursing through my mind and body. I was nervous, my hands were clammy, my chest was pounding. I could feel my heart beating in my throat. I slowly opened the doorknob. The lights were turned on, which was also strange for my family, we firmly believed in always shutting off the lights. There’s a small wall that blocks you from seeing my sister’s computer station and bed.  

As we stood behind the wall, I heard rapid typing on the keyboard as if someone was writing up an angry message to someone in warp speed. I turned and looked at my mom with tears in my eyes and her eyes were as big as I have ever seen, filled a mix emotion.  

I walked quickly pass the wall that was blocking our vision of what we were about to see, of the mysterious being who was angrily typing out a message on my sisters’ computer. Just as I walked passed the wall, the typing stopped instantly, and all I had seen before me was my sisters computer turned on to an empty word document with nothing typed out, and her computer chair spinning in rapid circles as if someone was right there spinning it, or ran off as fast as possible.  

My mother and I looked at one another and just screamed in utter terror. I pushed my mom out of the room. I closed the lights and the door, because I was so scared. We both ran down the stairs and sat next to one another on the couch in the living room starring blankly at the TV screen, not knowing what to think of what we just witnessed. We promised we wouldn’t tell my sister till the next day, and needless to say I slept in my mom’s bed that night.  

The morning came and I was woken by my sister yelling “wake up sleepy head!” I thought to myself…sleepy head? I barely got any sleep at all. My mind wouldn’t shut off till morning came. It was time to start the day and let me sister know she has a visitor staying in her room, rent free. I got out of bed, stretched my body from head to toe, and made my way to the washroom to wash up. 

 I grabbed my robe from my closet and took a suspicious peak around my room and quickly ran by my sister’s still creeped out from the night before. I made my way downstairs and everyone was eating breakfast. The smell of bacon and eggs just made my stomach growl of hunger. My mom yelled “what was that?!” I laughed and said “me, my stomach is just yelling…relax”. She laughed and rubbed the back of my back and told me to go sit down at the table. My mom brought me over some breakfast, and I glanced at my sister with quite the devilish look on my face, I took joy in annoying her, but I especially liked scaring her. 

 I said to her “so you hear anything weird lately in the house or maybe notice anything missing maybe?” My sister looked over at me rather confused and said “not recently no, but I did have a strange encounter last week. I was sleeping and felt something get into bed with me and cuddle me from behind, it was super freaky, but I just laid there for a few moments. 

 I felt a cold soft pinch on my face after a moment or two, I almost felt like the wind kissing my cheek.” I looked at my mom and dad, who were also at the breakfast table, looked back at my sister with an annoyed look on my face and said “you are telling me this now?!” she said to me  “I didn’t want to talk about it, it was weird. 

 I thought I could have been asleep, but it felt real.” I looked at her and said, “oh it was real!” I told her what my mom and I witnessed last night and now after hearing her story at least I am convinced that we have a ghost in the house.  

She looked at me shocked but grinning at the same time, she has this nervous smile and laugh she does. I asked her if she was ok, she answered “well I guess…but how am I supposed to sleep tonight knowing there’s a ghost in my room?” I assured her I would sleep in the room too, and we will be brave together! I was a bit nervous for the night to come but at least it would be me, my sister, and my mom. I didn’t think the ghost would come around with many people in the house. I noticed that a lot…we all experienced visits on our own, or at most with two of us together. 

 Later that day; my dad had the remote control in the living room, where it should be, and he screamed out “who took the remote?” I took a walk around the main floor, I said “you left it in the kitchen” he laughed and said “I may be getting old, but I’m not that old…stop playing tricks”. 

 At this point I didn’t even know what to think, now things are being moved around? I asked my dad if he ever noticed things being moved or misplaced. My dad was a very strict Middle Eastern father, who never showed any emotion, and fear was absolutely one emotion he did not show. He smiled and said, “I never want to scare you girls, but things are always going missing in this house”.  

 I looked over at my mom and said, “do you believe me now, or am I still dreaming?” She looked at me a with what would look like sadness in her eyes, I suppose she felt bad, and said “you aren’t dreaming, and yes I believe you now” she smiled and said “let’s not think about ghosts right now, go draw or play on the computer in your room”.  

 I went upstairs to see what my sister was up to and she was in her room reading a magazine. I jumped on her bed and obnoxiously said “what are you doing?!” she replied to me “Clearly you see I am trying to read…” I laughed and said, “ok so do you remember….” Before I even tried finishing the sentence, she covered my mouth with her hand and said, “God help you if this is another ghost story”. 

 It most definitely was… I continued with my sentence “do you remember my classmate who lived in this house before us? You do know his dad was really sick and did pass away in the basement”. She looked at me and said “really? Just drop it for now and go draw something”. I smiled and walked over to my room and indeed started drawing, as it is something I normally did as a hobby growing up. The rest of the day went by and it was calm, even in the evening, no noises, nothing went missing, and no late-night visitors. It was quiet.  

I thought a little too quiet. We didn’t have a ghostly visit for quite some time, and I always wondered why that was. I thought about the visits a lot and from then on suffered with intense sleep paralysis, sleep walking, and sleep talking. 

Till today in fact, and as I tell people I have met throughout my life “people say places and objects are haunted, well I believe I am...” That was one of the few hauntings I had in my childhood home. As the years went on the hauntings of the spirit(s) came back, we would notice things being misplaced, TVs turning on and off, lights flickering, but at a certain point…you get used to it, at least I did.