I had a friend who could see objects from the other plane…if you know what I mean. I heard stories too that children have these abilities as well - (and I have witness those on a few occasions), until they reach a certain age. Anyway, my experiences with the supernatural have been very rare. I have had the sense of being pushed down on my bed as I lay asleep – that honestly was the extent of my brush with the spirit world. And I am glad for my limited sixth sense.

That said, I believe my room is occupied. I prefer saying this rather than the H word because “haunted” makes it sound soooooo scary. And I’m nervous with this stuff. I believe it more and more. I don’t feel fearful or threatened so I suppose this is a good sign. But still, the idea of having something in your room – your private space, is still pretty hard to swallow.

It began I guess with my IPOD suddenly playing by itself – playing loud ROCK music that it disturbed my housemates watching their DVD in the lounge. I  - was out for the night that evening. And then there were the times when I was lying in bed reading or busy falling asleep and I would feel and hear a sigh or whisper on my exposed ear. I thought it was just the wind escaping from the geyser or perhaps from a tiny slit on the window pane. And then there was that morning when I felt the perceptible dent forming on the edges of my bed as if someone was pushing down the mattress edge or sitting on it. I, was lying on the bed – pretending to still be asleep. And most recently – my body being locked in position (on my side) while a decent breeze blew over my head for a good 3 – 4 minutes. And guess what? the window above my head was shut and my fan was switched off.

Last night, though this one I cannot confirm ( and there could be a chance I was dreaming it), I heard a whoop sound over my head again. It was a deep “whoop” sound. Not mine. Male. And it woke me up. And for the first time, I did ask for divine protection. Even if I did not feel threatened. I wonder if it is a friend that I should know about. I cannot help but think of that.

I come from the east. Westerner may not be easily susceptible to believing stories of the supernatural kind, and even though I live in what you may call a progressive western country I am no westerner. My own culture is rich with tales of the supernatural. My great grandmother was, according to my ma, a white witchdoctor. My grandaunt practices “bomohism” ( if such a word exists). She used to see into egg yolks to check if someone put a spell on someone and things like that. I know this because I watched her a few times when I was much younger. In Malay folklore, there are these beings called “toyols” – little naughty djinns of dead kids or babies who according to old wives tales – are kept to do some evil person’s bidding to steal wealth from another. Freaky hey? Here in South Africa, the Africans have a similar folktale – theirs is called the tikolosh. Not too sure what these things do really but I have heard that it spikes much fear among the Africans, that they put their beds atop bricks so the tikolosh cannot harm them when they sleep. Somehow it reminds me of a Kadazan “spirit” in my childhood – what we called Lima Lima Sen.

I woke up this morning unable to sleep. My leg is constantly in pain these days. And a sinister ( okay maybe not) thought has crept into my mind. What if there is really something …and that something has decided to follow me around? Should I be scared of that? That’s kind of freaky isn’t it? Suddenly I want my friend to be here to tell me otherwise.

I’m hoping its just my wild imagination again. Despite the fact that I’m too old to have wild imaginations now…