The Old Man and Old Woman

This experience (or experiences) occurred when I was about 9 or 10 years old, and though I am 21 now, I remember it as vividly as if it happened yesterday. It took place in the house where I spent most of my childhood, in the bedroom that I shared with my sister.

It was the middle of the night, and I woke up, coughing and feeling as though I couldn't breathe. It felt like someone (or something) had their hands around my neck and was trying to choke me to death. I had asthma as a child, so I was accustomed to not being able to breathe at times, but I had never experienced anything like that! I might have just chalked it up to a really bad asthma attack...if it wasn't for what I saw when I opened my eyes...

I remember it being pitch black dark, even though there was a streetlight right outside my window, usually giving my room a bit of light. But when I woke up, I was able to make out the distinct figure of an old woman standing right at my bed, and who was wearing what looked to me like a witch's hat...I don't know how else to describe it. And the second I woke up, I felt her long, bony fingers slide off of my neck. I got the distinct impression that if I had not of woken up at that exact moment, this "thing" would have succeeded in choking me. I was terrified, but shortly after I woke up, she vanished into the darkness.

I know what you're thinking...that I probably dreamed it, because dreams can feel that real at times. I would think so too, except that my mom commented on the red welts on my neck when she was braiding my hair the next morning. I told her what happened, but she didn't believe me...she thought my brother and I had been fighting.

Luckily, I have never seen that old woman again. But a few nights later, I awoke to something almost as frightening. My desk was at the foot of my bed, facing my bed along with the desk chair. I woke up one night and saw an old man, dressed in a suit, sitting in my chair with his hands folded on top of my desk. If that wasn't scary enough, he had two red eyes that were glaring at me from the darkness. I was terrified, and too scared to move or say anything. Eventually, he vanished, but I never did get back to sleep that night.

These are the only two ghostly experiences I've ever had. And they are quite enough for me. My sister is still in that very same bedroom, but she hasn't experienced anything out of the ordinary. I've since moved out of that house, but when I come home from college, I still get uneasy being in our old room. To this day, I still wonder what that old man and woman wanted with me. I don't know, but I hope that I never experience anything like that again.