The following is a former winner of the Amazing but Incredibly True Story Contest.
Copyright Bobbie Hafner, 1996
Hello, my name is Bobbie Haffner. I don't know if this is an amazing story to you or your readers but it was incredible enough to me to remember all these years later.
When I was around six years old, I began a journey that no child should ever have to endure. I was being molested by my uncle, and even at this young age I knew this was not right or " normal," so I began to enclose myself in a shell that I hoped no one would be able to penetrate to hurt me anymore. I began spending more and more time alone in my room as the years progressed.
By the time I was nine I guess I was too "old" for my uncle so he left me alone, thankfully, yet the damage was done. I began reading the Bible and wondering if there was a God how God could let things like this happen to children he supposedly loved so much. I was losing any faith I had clung to in the past. I felt I could not believe in people in my own family, much less something I could not see.
I am a twin. We were born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. It's a God awful place, very cold extreme winters and summers that were stifling with heat and humidity. My sister and I shared a bed the whole time we were growing up. On one of these heat scorched evenings, an evening so hot you could hear the heat escaping from the ground, I was having great difficulty sleeping as we had no fans or air conditioners, only an open window. I lay there in the dark thinking of this "being" called God, and of Jesus, and wondering how and why, etc... I happened to look over at my sister, who was sleeping facing me, and all of a sudden her face started to change into the most hideous features I had ever seen. Her face was twisted so horribly that I could not believe any living thing could look that way. I could not even conjure up an image like this in my dreams.
To say I was afraid is an understatement! My heart began to beat so hard from fear I felt it would come out of my chest. I wanted to call out but knew no one would hear me, just like they never heard me when my uncle began to do what he did. The screem stuck in my throat was like sand paper.
I turned my head away wanting to run, but at the same time not wanting to let whatever this was to have my sister. My mind was going a million miles a second trying to figure out what to do. My fight or flight instinct had taken over but my body could not move anyway. It was as if I had been frozen in this sitting position. The tears started to well in my eyes but I could not move my eyes to help them come out. I have never been so fightened as I was then. I moved my eyes to the bottom of the bed because I glimpsed out the corner of my eyes some movement.
My head turned and I saw the most beautiful white light I had ever seen. It filled the whole room, yet it did not hurt to look at this light. It was soft, the way the moon casts its light on an open meadow, just a fine silken glow, and I thought, "Oh my God, what has come now???"
There was a yellow dresser at the far end of the room. I remember I had a bridal doll my Gram had given me one year sitting on top of this dresser. This cloud moved to the front of this dresser and to my horror it began taking shape. I knew I was going to die. I looked over at my sister for help and all the ugliness I had seen in her face before was gone. She was sleeping soundly, with the most peaceful look on her face. I could not believe the horror I had seen just minutes before was gone as if it never happened.
I looked up and at the bottom of the bed stood the figure of a man. I could see an outline to his face but I could not see the face clearly as I would see a person's face, it was more like a faint image of a worn photgraph. Yet there was something so peaceful about this face. The eyes were gentle, soothing. He had shoulder length hair, perfect porcelain features, and there was something I could not put my fingers on yet I knew I did not need to fear this apparition, and the fact that I could see my bride doll through this man did not bother me at all, it seemed quite natural.
Then his perfect mouth turned into a faint smile and he opened up his arms to me, and I remember thinking this is it, I am going to die, but yet I was not afraid. I looked forward to it. This man moved around the bed and I felt myself sliding down and pulling the covers over my head. If I were going to die I did not want to see it coming. All of a sudden my heart stopped pounding. The fear and the sweat that had been covering my brow was gone. My heart, my mind, and my soul felt at peace. I pulled the covers down and saw this man up close, placing his hand on my forehead, and I heard him say, "Fear not, I have never forgotten you."
I looked up and all the tears that had been welling inside my heart for three years began to flow freely. I cried for two hours, and when the last tear was shed, all the hate, fear and loneliness was gone out of my soul. I forgave my uncle (I still won't trust him though, even to this day). I was able to put all that had happened behind me, because I knew in my soul that these words spoken to me on a hot Nebraska night, were the beginning of a life that was going to be full of wonder and excitement, love and giving. I have never looked back since that day except to tell this story. And when things look down or I think I can't make it, I remember the touch and the words of a man I will never see again until I die, and know that I am never alone, never.
Well that is my story. I hope it can bring some peace to someone who may need it.
To contact the author, write to Bobbie Hafner.
E-mail me your comments/questions/suggestions!
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