September 19, 2007

Gliding Down the Steps

Rate this encounter:[an error occurred while processing this directive] Jen Howard, Barre, Massachusetts, December 1982

My father passed away when I was three years old. My Mom got remarried when I was six years old, and we moved into my new step dad's house in the country on Powdermill Pond. I had nightmares from the day we moved in and never felt comfortable there.

The house was built on the foundation of an old gunpowder mill which had two explosions, killing a total of twenty people. After the second tragedy the place was rebuilt as a duplex, maybe around 1900.

The long staircase that led to the second floor was usually at the heart of my nightmares: being chased up or down the stairs by ghosts was a very common theme in my dreams.

One night when I was twelve years old, my mom and I were throwing laundry over the railing onto the landing near the top of the stairs to bring it down to the washer.

I picked up a pile of laundry and started down the stairs. The first step I took, I stepped on a small knitted blanket and for a brief second I thought I was in serious trouble because there were fourteen steps and it was a long, steep drop to the first floor. Before I really had a chance to panic, I just had a strange sensation of being lifted slightly and I glided down the stairs landing safely at the bottom on my feet. I turned around to see if my Mom saw what just happened, and she was looking down over the railing with a look of disbelief and horror on her face. I know this was a supernatural experience because there is no way I could have done that without feeling the impact of each step I hit on the way down. I was literally gliding down the stairs in one smooth motion, as if being carried. I always had a feeling that my father was looking out for me from the other side as a child, was this him saving me from a fall?