Old Hag

As a long-time lover of the paranormal and truly strange, I have had a variety of experiences and I've done a lot of reading. I've read of a phenomenon called "Old Hag", which basically involves sleep paralysis and sensory misperceptions (hallucinations). This story may be a prime example of the "Old Hag" phenomenon instead of a paranormal occurrence, but I'm not sure. I'd love to talk to someone who has had a similar experience.

This past Thursday night I opted to sleep on the den sofa as I was experiencing a bit of insomnia, compounded by my mate's snoring. Around 3:00 in the morning I was awakened by my sister-in-law's voice. She lives several hours away in another state, so for obvious reasons, I was very frightened. I felt absolutely frozen and did not even attempt movement. I don't remember what she said that woke me up, but she continued to talk. It sounded like I was listening to her talk on the telephone to a friend, like I could only hear one side of the conversation. She said, "You are walking good and talking good, too", "As a matter-of-fact, you are also looking good, Wildflower"...she went on to say more, but my fear had me concentrating on staying coherent so I don't remember the rest of the conversation. Then I felt her leave the room.

A minute or so later I heard my brother's voice (who, I presume was at home in the bed with my sister-in-law at the time). He asked me, "What did you do with my jacket, Elizabeth? I know it must be here somewhere. Is it under the couch?". Then I felt the edges of the sofa that I was sleeping on being pushed down as if he was propping himself up in it while he looked underneath.

I thought to myself, "Well, I've heard my sister-in-law and my brother. Will I also hear their daughter?". I adore my niece and I truly believe that hearing her voice at that moment would've comforted me greatly. To my thought, my brother replied, "Oh no, you wont hear her but if you want to hear children, I will make them sing" and he let out this horrible, evil cackle. I thought back to him, "You are NOT my brother...now leave me alone!". (My brother is a wonderful, loving guy and I've never known him to be evil or to cackle).

It sounded as if the stereo that I was lying directly underneath clicked on and I heard a choir of children singing an unearthly lullaby. I turned my head slightly and opened my eyes to see if the stereo was really on...it wasn't. I bolted off the sofa and turned on the table lamp. Needless to say, it was quite a while before I got back to sleep!

Now, while I am fairly sane and rational and I've had a couple of experiences with the paranormal, nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I am still creeped out about it and it will be a long time before I sleep alone again.