The Ghost in the Mirror

I was six years old when I first started to become afraid of something creepy or unsettling. Before that I was just a happy child that could be left alone in her room, or could walk in the dark. I was not scared of anything. I didn't know what fear meant.

This fear started one afternoon, probably around 1 to 2 PM. I remember we had this antique cabinet, a piece of furniture that was made of narra wood, and its door had a whole body mirror attached to the front, and I was dancing in front of it. Our house had three storeys and my bedroom was on the second floor. That wardrobe or cabinet was in the hallway leading to my bedroom. Next to it was a long table and a chair pushed in under it.

So, anyway, there I was, happily dancing in front of the mirror, all by myself. My sister and my three brothers, together with our house helper, were all downstairs. I thought I just wanted to be alone and wanted to dance on my own. I have always been too insecure about my dancing. As a young child, I also didn't know what insecurity meant, but I knew that was how I felt. I didn't want my siblings to laugh at me or mock me when I danced.

As I said, I was dancing. I can't remember what song it was I was dancing to, but I was having so much fun. All of a sudden, an apparition or an image appeared in the mirror, floating on the floorboard next to my reflection. It was an image of a person's face, smiling at me. I stopped dancing, then looked behind me and looked to my side if that image was there. Nothing. I looked again at the mirror, and the image had not left. I looked back and forth the mirror and my side or behind me. But every time I looked back on the mirror, the apparition was still there. It didn't go away.

It was for the first time that I felt extreme fear to the point that my legs and feet froze and I could not run quickly downstairs. I managed to sit on the chair and buried my face on my crossed arms placed on the table. I could not open my eyes. I could not scream for help. My ears started to hear some buzzing noise that sounded like bees or ladybugs fluttering in my ears. I was sweating profusely. But I stayed there and did not dare to move. I didn't realise I fell asleep in that position.

I was awakened by the sound of my father's voice telling my sister, "Look at your sister, she's taking a nap in the afternoon. You should also do that." I was really happy and relieved that finally, I had some company and I was not alone anymore. I couldn't tell my father or anyone what I had seen for fear that no one would believe me.

Later that night, I couldn't sleep at all. I kept on thinking about what I saw that afternoon, how scared I really was. Was it real or was it something I just had imagined? My father checked on us whether we were already asleep in our bed. My brothers and my sister were, but not me. I was wide awake. He told me to go to sleep as it was already late.

Then, I started to cry. I told him about what I saw and that the image looked like my grandfather, his dad, whom I had seen only in the photos. He told me that it was not real, but he said that he did believe me. My father, being a Christian, always held his beliefs that were Biblical based. He said that it was one of the ways of the "enemy" to put fear in my head, because this enemy wanted to scare me by impersonating dead people so that I would be directed away from God. I listened to my father intently trying to understand what he meant by all of this. After he tucked me in bed, he prayed for me and after that, I felt so much better and I was able to sleep all through the night.

Now, that I'm already grown-up, and as a Christian, I don't believe that dead people can visit their relatives. I am basing this belief in biblical concept. I cannot argue with anyone's experiences because I experienced it myself when I was a child. But what the Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 is that after death, we go immediately to either heaven or hell, which leaves no room for the souls of dead people to roam on earth, visiting loved ones and relatives.

Therefore, what I saw or experienced when I was 6 years old were demons disguising themselves as seemingly like my grandfather. Their goal was for me to turn away from God. Invade my thoughts of things that were not from God. But the Bible tells me that the only spirit that I should be seeking out is the Holy Spirit and the only One to commune with.