NIGHT TERRORS 

DECEMBER 8, 2018 

Story by: Connie

This story is about event that occurred when my daughter was about eight or nine years old.   

Our second home was a new build in an area near the outskirts of the city in which we lived.  It was a young neighbourhood close to parks and schools with plenty of playmates and playtime for our kids.  My daughter whom I will call Rachel (not her real name) was a beautiful, happy little girl who loved to play outdoors with her many friends; our yard at times was nothing short of playground central! 

This was the perfect place to raise a family.

Bedtime for the kids was around 8:00 on most nights and they were usually asleep by 9:00 PM, which allowed a bit of quiet time for Mom and Dad. 

One night I was alone in the house as my husband was away on business. It was around 10:00 PM when I could hear quiet talking upstairs. I stood at the bottom of the stairs listening, wondering if the children were still awake. The talking became whimpers and became more distressed so I quietly ascended the stairs.  Peeking in the bedrooms I found my son sound fast asleep but my daughter Rachel was sitting up in bed weeping and whispering incoherently.  After turning on the bedside lamp I could clearly see she was terrified!  She was looking at the end of the bed and wringing her hands uncontrollably, almost in a jerky manner like she was trying to get something off them. My first thought was that she was having a nightmare and that I need to wake her up. Big mistake. The more I tried to bring her out of her sleep state the more agitated she became. I could see her eyes were blankly staring at the foot of the bed, not focusing at all but she had this look of terror on her face.  As a parent this is a horrifying thing to see.  Eventually I was able to calm her down with loving reassurances that everything was okay.  She slept soundly the rest of the night. The next morning over breakfast, I asked her about her nightmare but she had no memory of it at all.

After a bit of research I determined that Rachel might be having night terrors and calming her down by making her feel safe was the best way to handle it.  Night after night for about two weeks, just like clockwork at 10:00 PM, my daughter would awaken terrified.  One of the final episodes was the worst yet. I found her standing up on her bed facing the wall with her hands sweeping across its surface as though she were looking for a way out. This night it took quite a bit to calm her down and it left me scared to say the least.  Thankfully, not too soon afterward the terrors stopped.  She could never remember any of this the next morning and for this I am glad. 

Rachel is grown up now and is happily married to a wonderful young man.  I do think she is sensitive to the paranormal as she has seen and felt things all her life. I often wonder if these were in fact night terrors or was she perhaps seeing things on the other side of the veil. I guess I will never know.

  

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