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sending-the-message · 7 years

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Why I Sleep Facing the Wall Now by Accurate_Vision

Ever since I had my own bed - no, even when I shared a bed with my mother, I've slept in a bed against a wall. I developed a tendency to sleep with my back to the wall, as that way I could keep an eye on the room. It was more of a silly quirk than for any real reason.

When I was around 8 years old, I read a book about fictional creatures - monsters of the night, sirens who lured men to their deaths, zombies and goblins that trapped unsuspecting hikers. My young self was unable to realize that the book was about movie monsters and urban legends. I believed this book contained true stories. I was petrified by the thought that an old hag would perch on my chest in my sleep or that a witch would suck my soul out of my lungs. These fears strengthened my habit of sleeping with my eyes facing my small room. It brought me comfort that if anything tried to get me, I'd see it coming and scare it away.

Eventually I re-read the book and realized that it was completely fictional. I chuckled at my childish fears and this was the point where I tried to stop giving a damn about my sleeping position. If I was comfortable, I would sleep. Although most nights I would feel uneasy if I slept facing the wall, so I'd turn around no matter how uncomfortable it was. For weeks I'd sleep like that every night, my blue blankets up to my chin and my eyes popping open every few minutes to survey the room. Of course, I never saw anything.

That is until one night when I was 12.

I had a room directly across from my parents' bedroom. This was fine with me, except for the occasional night when they had their television turned up far too loud. Although I suppose I preferred this to the alternative of them not having it on at all during their sporadic sessions of love. Anyways, my furniture was set up so that my bed was perpendicular to my closet door, which was right next to my bedroom door. I could see both if I slept on my back, which I rarely did due to my odd quirk. I also had a lava lamp night light to ward off the darkness.

On a night I now remember clearly, I accidentally drifted off while laying on my back. I woke up to my night light off, which has was odd as my parents never touched my night light. I couldn't move, so I began to panic. That's when I observed a cloaked figure come out of my parents' bedroom. It was about to walk down the hall when it peered into my bedroom and commenced to walk inside. It had seem me with my eyes open. I couldn't scream, I couldn't wiggle my toes or even whisper for help. It got closer to me until it was right next to my head, outside of my field of view. I swear to this day that I could feel its humid breath against my ear. I felt a hand running down the side of my face. I bolted up and shrieked, but the figure had disappeared. My mother ran to check on me and when I explained it to her, she said it was sleep paralysis. I believed her and for years this was the story I held as the truth.

Fast-forward to when I was 16. My room was now downstairs, my bed against the wall just how I liked it. I had a full view of my room, including the door and my doorless closet. I had grown out of my habit of sleeping with a light on. I loved scaring myself, and I was (and still am) an avid reader of Stephen King, creepypastas, and this very nosleep subreddit. Just like many of you are.

The sleep paralysis incident was forgotten, replaced by studies and video game knowledge and, of course, my teenage fantasies. Every night I faithfully slept with my back to the wall and I would survey the room with a flashlight before laying down, assured that my room was free of evil, and proceeding to sleep like a dead person. Even the trumpets of God's marching band wouldn't have woken me from my slumbers. However one night I was unable to fall asleep. I tossed and turned, but I refused to sleep facing the wall or on my back because I could not keep an eye on my surroundings that way. I surrendered to my hyper brain and opened Reddit on my phone, the nosleep subreddit. I browsed several stories, becoming increasingly paranoid, before I thought I saw a silhouette behind my phone. I quickly turned on the flashlight, grabbing the pocket knife I kept for self-defense, and saw nothing there. I breathed a sigh of relief, returned my knife to its resting place behind my headboard, and shut off my light. I chewed myself out for being an idiot and reading horror stories so late at night and making it even harder to sleep. As the adrenaline wore off, I became tired and once again shut my eyes and tried to sleep

At one point I became uneasy and felt like I was being observed. This was incredibly common and happened every night for me, so I knew when I opened my eyes there would be no shapes out of place. I was right.

I couldn't see any shapes out of place because of the pale face blocking my view and staring into my eyes.

Perhaps you're expecting me to go into details about how it had black eyes and sharp teeth shown off in a sadistic grin surrounded by rotting flesh, but no. The face was boring and plain. Like any average person you don't give a second glance when you see them. What made it so horrific was that it looked angry. More than angry. It looked infuriated. I hastily shut my eyes, hoping it didn't notice me open them in the darkness. A futile hope, as it was mere centimeters away from my face. What felt like every hour I would open my eyes to a squint and see it still staring at me, tremendously pissed off.

I must have fallen asleep, as the next thing I knew I was laying on my back and immobilized. I immediately thought the whole thing was merely a case of sleep paralysis and my terror subsided. I tried to calmly wiggle my fingers and toes. That's when I felt an immense weight on my chest, like the old tale about a hag sitting on your chest at night. I couldn't breathe, which made the panic worse as I watched spiders crawl from my ceiling. I saw figures coming from my doorway and come from under my bed. I watched a Grudge-like girl crawling across my ceiling towards me. I tried to scream but spiders crawled down my throat and the weight made my lungs unable to work.

I passed out and awoke with a start some time later. It was just sleep paralysis, I told myself. Nothing to be scared of. But after that night, I started sleeping facing the wall. I didn't want to see what's lurking in my room. What I can't see doesn't exist, it isn't there, nothing to be scared of. It's been nearly a decade and I have experienced "sleep paralysis" at least four times a week since then. Every time I just kept my eyes closed and pretended I was fast asleep. If I don't see it watching me, if I don't see it moving around my dwelling, then I don't have to pretend I didn't see it. Because it doesn't like being seen.

Please, I'm begging you, heed my words. If you're on your phone in the dark and you think you see something, just shut your eyes and fall asleep. Don't let it know you've seen it. If you wake up and experience sleep paralysis, for the love of God DON'T OPEN YOUR EYES!! It shouldn't feel the need to paralyze you if it thinks you don't know it exists. If you wake up and can't move, it was just taking precautions and it doesn't know that you know. It'll only do this when it has to do something besides watch you. But if you see it, it'll know. It'll always know. Then it'll torture you to the brink of insanity. So I sleep facing the wall now, despite the breath I feel on my neck. Despite the caress on my back once a night. Despite the eyes boring into the rear of my skull. It knows I know now. But if I just pretend I don't notice, maybe it'll stop. If I just pretend I'm suffering from sleep paralysis, maybe it'll eventually leave me alone. Maybe I won't need to be afraid of it killing me. I don't know for certain. There's only one thing I know for certain...

I pity those of you who sleep on a bed that's not against the wall. You have two of them to ignore and nowhere to hide your eyes.

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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