A Sleeper's Disembodied Hands
Witness: V Smith
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Date of Encounter: July 1988, and August 1996
I awoke in my basement one hot July morning in 1988 after seeking refuge there because my parents did not have central air at that time and it was the coolest place to sleep. I awoke because I could hear my father upstairs jogging in the house and making coffee. I looked at my watch and it read 7:00 AM. My other hand was curled in the sheet and behind my head. As I sat up on the cot, I pulled my right hand from over my shoulder and realized that I wasn't holding a sheet, but rather I was holding another hand. I could see the hand and the arm reaching behind me. I quickly "tossed" the hand backward while releasing my grip, and quite literally flew upstairs. My father was shaving in the bathroom and I matter-of-factly relayed the incident to him as I was in a state of shock — he replied (and I quote) "Hmmm…weird." We had many bizarre encounters in this house and this one was just one of many that had taken place at the time. (One such encounter involved a friend of my older brother who slept in the basement years before and complained that he kept seeing hands reaching out from behind a chair. While it terrified me to hear this at the time — I was quite young — it was since revealed that he was a heavy drug user. Also, if any sane person saw disembodied hands reaching out from behind a chair, would they stay in the damn house?)
Anyway, after a few minutes I decided that it couldn't have happened and actually returned to the basement to lay on the cot. As I laid there, I realized that indeed, I was awake at the time and something was holding my hand. I got creeped out again and went back upstairs. I went to work, and all day long I was nervous and almost sick to my stomach. I had never experienced anything like that before. At least it was holding my hand and not grabbing my neck! Silver lining alert!
The next story is related. Fast forward to 1996, now happily married and a few months after our daughter was born. We awoke to her crying and being a little selfish, I allowed my wife to be the first to get out of bed. As I made an effort to "look busy" at 3:00 AM, I got out of bed, looked at the sheets on our bed and called for my wife to return to the bedroom immediately. There was something under our sheets kicking or writhing around in them. I wasn't exactly scared, just dumbfounded… Just as I was about to toss back the sheets and look, my wife came into the room and turned on the light and the sheets stopped instantly. At that moment I had an epiphany and everything made sense and a sense of relief washed over me.
Although many of you will be quick to suggest that I had a couple of terrifying encounters with the unknown, I beg to differ. I now realize that these two incidents were the result of my brain still being partially asleep. While I have had encounters in my childhood home while being fully awake, nothing could really compare to these two "encounters"….which ultimately didn't really happen.
Now when I wake up in the middle of the night for a quick bathroom trip, I'm not frightened of meeting the undead, but rather, I'm afraid I'm not fully awake. I would rather not bump into something from my imagination. A few good pinches does the trick.
