"They had come for me", I thought to myself as I shuddered with fear laying frozen on the bed. I could not move an inch though I was awake. I tried to turn my head but it was as stiff as wood. I tried to shout so someone could hear me. Of course I knew I wouldn't be able to speak. But I had to try as the incoherent mumblings that came out could not even wake a sleeping chicken.

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I was in a state of complete shock and fright. The suffocation seemed to get worse as I struggled against my unseen force, pushing hard upwards against nothing. "Death had come for me" I thought.
The harder I tried to fight it, the weaker I felt.
When was this going to end? I had given up.

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I stop struggling and quietly laying down back, I tried to go back to sleep. I thought when I woke up, I would be somewhere else since I would be probably dead by then.

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I had heard stories about similar incidences from my grandmother. She had said evil spirits came to press you down at night. Each time I remember the story, I laugh out the living daylight out of myself, but of course I believed every part of it as a child and thought the end had come for me.

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According to her, the spirits came in two pairs, a male and a female. They were really short dwarf-like spirits (as if she had seen them before). Well, the male would hold you down while the female goes to bring a knife which they'll use to kill you.

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As I lay back down to sleep, all I could think of was when the female would come back with the knife and end me. Well I was done being scared and just wanted them to get it done with. "Why did I forget to put a broom stick under my pillow" I thought regretfully.

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My grandmother had said putting a broom by your door or a broom stick under your pillow would repel the spirits

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Well that was too late now. Lying there and waiting for "the time", I slept off I guess. I woke up in the morning alive and glad. I thought the female had not found a knife probably, or the male was holding me down.

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Source: Pixababy

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That wasn't the last experience, it kept happening and well, I started to have less believe in the story.

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Some times I would struggle more than before and break free, I would quickly turn on the light to see the spirit.

Some times I would sleep with the light on expecting to see when these horrible dwarfs would come.

Broomsticks never left my pillow or my door, but that didn't stop them from coming.

Other times I would summon all the strength in me and try to scream, most times no one hears the mumblings that try to come out. Or they'll think I'm just having a dream and sleeps talking.

At a point, I had gotten scared of going to bed. Each night, I would pray for sleep not to come so I'll stay awake all night and see when the spirits come. And most likely kill them.

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Years later, I found out it was sleep paralysis and I had been having night terrors all these while. Well I guess it was a relief because even though I did not believe in the story anymore, I am scared to death each time it happens. I still am

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Sleep paralysis apparently was what everyone thought to be the dwarf spirit. I learnt that there about 1.5 million cases per year in my country and somehow, I just managed to be one of them. It occurs mostly in people who have narcolepsy or sleep apnea. I had none of those conditions so I was just one of the few exceptions.

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Usually the victim would not be able to speak or move for a few minutes while falling asleep or upon waking. Its kind of like a state when your mind is awake but your body is asleep so you'll be conscious of your surrounding with your eyes open but unable to perform any motor function.
This episodes are usually very frightening and traumatic.

One might also experience hallucinations, seeing figures or shapes moving around. Most describe them as ghosts. Well apparently, I didn't have those or I guess I would have peed my pants every day it happened and probably died long ago from fear and a juvenile heart attack.

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This is an entry to the Onstellar Writing Contest HERE

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All images used for this post are sourced from pixababy

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