This is a true story. This happened to me when I was 8 years old. I'm now 28 with 3 kids of my own.

It happened in my home town of Sauk Village, IL. Which is known to be a place that Indians passed through using Sauk Trail to get to other destinations. At least that's what the *offical* story is. There are others, like myself, who believe more. We believe that Indians actually settled there ..if only for brief periods of time. There's always been talk of bones being found when a pool was dug up or a garden was put it in. But most say it's just that ...talk. Not me. I believe it. I also, not only believe, but KNOW, that the ground that Sauk Village is residing on is ...SOUR. Cursed. Beyond anybody's wildest dreams. And I have many stories to support that belief. But, for now, I will start with my first story of *proof*.

It was a cold *normal* night in the season of Autumn. Cold enough to keep you inside your house and snuggled under a blanket. I was doing exactly that. An eight year old can only do so much during these times and I chose to do my homework so I could read later. I had been listening to a Rick Springfield album on 8 track. I was playing it on my 2XL robot toy. This was a toy that you could put 8 track cartridges is that was made by the company to be a sort of trivia game. You'd play the cartridge and it would ask you questions and tell you jokes. It had two big red robot eyes that flashed red when you were correct. It had 3 buttons you could push to answer your questions. 2XL could also play normal 8 track music. And of course it's red robot eyes flashed in time with the music. So it was doing exactly just that, on that cold autumn night, flashing it's eyes to Rick Springfield. And I was quite contented.

My bedroom was on the second floor of my house and faced north. Along with my bed. I had a window north of me and east of me. Of course it was dark outside but it was so warm inside and so very comforting. Every now and again I'd look up from my homework and just look out into the darkness. No reason. It was just something I did. Well, this was the last time I ever did that again in that house.

As I was sitting there ...all of a sudden ...I felt instantly cold. And every single hair on my body was raised. My blood felt like it had ran cold and decided to just stop pumping through my body. My heart was racing. I was perfectly terrified. And I didn't even know why.....yet. My 2XL was suddenly stuck and it kept playing the same verse from Rick over and over : "Hole in my heart...hole in my heart ..hole in my heart.." and it's eyes weren't flashing anymore. No, they were just burning bright red. Blood red. Then I felt this magnetic pull. Like something was pulling me to my right. I turned my head right and looked out the East window and saw *something* that has haunted me for the rest of my life.

Sitting just barely outside my window, levitating, was the most horrifying image I will ever see in my life. A creature. About 2 feet tall ..but sitting Indian style. His skin was snowy white and you could see the outlines of his bones because he was that skinny. He wore some sort of white cloth draped sideways on his body. (This is why I later named him the Ghandi Monster. My young mind thought his skinny body and his white cloth looked like the real Ghandi's did.) This *creature's* head was too big for his body. But he was completely bald. His two horrible big dark eyes were piercing my soul as he stared at me. He opened his mouth and grinned a grin at me that haunted my dreams for years. His mouth was full of long snarly razor sharp looking teeth. Dripping with blood. I don't know how a mouth could fit so many nasty teeth into it. But it did. I watched as the blood dripped from his teeth and slid down his chin and onto his white cloth "diaper" shorts. He raised his hands and reached for me. The fingernails were at least 4 inches long, gnarled looking and sharpened to points. Also dripping with blood.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. But I was locked into place by his piercing eyes. I couldn't breathe. I felt as if my brain was being scrambled and my soul was being raped. His grin became larger and he opened his mouth wider. He kept looking at me. As if he knew me. As if he had been waiting for me. He started to lift his arms more and it looked as if in seconds he would actually be INSIDE my room and not just outside my window.

All traces of reason disappeared and my mind snapped. I still don't know how I did it but I managed to tear my gaze away and leap off the bed and out my bedroom door. Screaming with every inch of my soul! All in like 2 seconds. I could feel him pulling me. I could feel that horrible stare penetrating my back as I screamed down the hallway to my mother.

Of course when her and my father and younger brother came back ..IT was gone. But they knew I saw something and they did not try to tell me it was imagination. They comforted me and taped up all the windows in my room. They actually had to pull down all the shades and seal all sides with duck tape. I couldn't sleep in that room for almost a year. The whole family, Mom, dad, and my brother and sister know about this experience. My brother even remembers coming into the room with my parents afterwards. The Ghandi monster was a story we didn't tell often. But it always brought fear to speak of it. To us and to others. My parents never spoke of it again either.

As I grew up I tried to face my fear and sleep in that room. But never did I sleep with my back to a window. Never.

18 years later I moved to Florida with my own little family and have found peace within myself. But I will never forget that creature. And I will never sleep or sit with my back to a window. And I will never forget the one thing I "heard" it say to me in my mind as I was running out of my bedroom door.
"Someday, I'm coming back...."