Lullaby

Ihad an experience when I was 10 years old. I am now 27...it has been 17 years since I have recounted this story to anyone, other than my family. I was afraid that people would look on me as though I was making the whole thing up. However, it was real and non-illusional. I wrote out the story in my journal...I tried to get every detail that I could.

It has been seventeen years since I have told this story or have even written it out in writing. To this day, I feel that if I would have told others of the story, they may have thought I was fabricating the entire experience in my mind. I testify to you, it was real.

My mom was big on garage sales and wouldn't miss a Saturday morning to get me out of my deep slumber to go along with her. My neighbours were having their annual garage sale along with three other families. My mom caught a glimpse of the 3 foot porcelain doll before I did. She decided to purchase it for me, since at the time, I was a doll collector. I had never owned such a beautiful masterpiece.

She stood tall, showing an air of confidence. Her dark, human like hair, hung in loose curls around her almost angelic face. The attire consisted of a formal evening gown, immaculate in detail. The dark material formed nicely around the torso, and then flared out from the waist down into a full skirt of deep green velvet trimmed with fine lace. I was ecstatic with the new edition to my collection and spent the remainder of the day showing her off to my friends.

I went to bed that night feeling contentment. I set the doll, which I had named Sarah, onto the shelf alongside of my other possessions. I turned off the light, and fell asleep almost instantly. It seemed only a couple of minutes, when I was awakened by a voice singing. It was a high soprano voice, almost like a voice of an angel. It was singing some kind of a lullaby...a lullaby that a mother would sing to her new born child. I sat up straight in my bed, not sure where the voice was coming from. I ran over to the light switch and turned it on. The singing stopped immediately. I remember catching a glimpse of my clock on my bedstand...it read in large, red numbers 12:00. I stood, frozen in my stance. I thought for a minute that I must have imagined the singing. So I turned off the light, and went back to my bed. Within another minute, the singing began once again. That was it. I flung the blankets off of me, and ran to turn on the light switch once again. Before I did, I tried to listen more closely as to where the voice was coming from. It was coming from the doll. I turned on the light, and as predicted the singing stopped. I picked up the doll and at first thought, "Wow! A singing doll...how cool!!" I then turned the doll over onto it's front, and undid the back of the dress. I checked to see if there was some kind of battery station or switch. There was none to be found. The fear once again took over my body. I took the doll into my mom's room, and shook her awake, explaining what I had witnessed. She didn't believe me and sent me back to my bedroom. I kept the light on and I didn't hear the lullaby again that night.

I went to school the following day, but did not recount a single detail, in fear that they would laugh at me. Again that night, it happened. I looked at my clock and it read 12:00. This time, I didn't feel as frightened over it. I sat and listened. I don't remember the lyrics, but it was very calm and peaceful to listen to. After a week or so, I finally told my mom again. I told her that she should sleep in my room with me, and then she would know what I was telling her was true. She agreed, and wasn't completely prepared for what she heard. It didn't take her long to believe.

The next morning, she took the doll to the garbage can outside, telling me that the doll was possessed with some kind of spirit. When I returned home from school, the doll was back in my room on the shelf. I asked her if she had changed her mind about the doll and replaced it back into my room. By the look on her face, I took it as a definite no. She asked my brothers if they had removed the doll, and they all swore that they hadn't. When my dad got home, my mom described the experience to him. He took the doll, and for some reason or another, he detached the head from the body, in his own way thinking that it would help the situation. He put it out in the garbage once again.

While leaving the house to go to school, I glanced at the garbage can. The head of the doll was peering out of the top, exposing her face. A chill came over me, and I quickened my pace.

When I came home from school, I again had to pass the garbage can. I glanced towards it once more. The eyes followed me while I was walking by her. I thought that I was seeing things, so I repeated it. No, I was not seeing things. I ran into the house in hysterics. My dad happened to be home, and hardly being able to get the words out, I told him what had just happened. My dad immediately called the Bishop and he came over and got the doll.

To this day, I do not know what came of the doll. I don't know what type of spirit possessed the doll, but I feel that it wasn't out to hurt me in any way. From time to time, I think about the lullaby, but can't remember the lyrics that were sung...no matter how hard I concentrate. I never questioned my neighbours about the doll, so whether they experienced the same thing, I will never know. I've spoken with others since I related the story, those who actually make porcelain dolls. They also believe that there is something inside those dolls...something uncomprehendable, but that they are of good spirits and nothing to be frightened of. Since that day, I let go of collecting dolls.