Here is a scary story I like to tell…

     When I was in high school (10th grade) this new kid moved into the townhouse complex that I lived in- his name was Jerry.  Jerry had the same bus stop that I did.  Jerry was odd, and one of those personalities that seemed like he was trying too hard.  Jerry made a lot of claims, he claimed he was a karate expert, he was rich, he played in a band…you know the type.  He came across as a know-it-all jerk, and quickly un-made friends.  For Halloween that year, Jerry dressed up as a ninja and spent the whole day with his hood on and not talking.  Kind of creepy.  Soon after that, Jerry stopped showing up at the bus stop.  A week went by, and no Jerry.  I passed his townhouse on the way to the bus stop, and every day the shades were drawn. 

     I have never been the best of sleepers, and one night during Jerry's absence I opened my eyes to Jerry leaning over me emitting some type of silent groan.  He was deformed in some way, and a grey-purple color.  It freaked me out, and I quickly scrambled to turn on the light- to nothing.  The next morning at school everyone was a buzz.  Jerry had gone out to the railroad tracks near where we lived (which I could see from my bedroom window) and hung himself from a tressle.  He hung there for a week before being found by some kids riding dirtbikes. 

   I was raised with an interest in the paranormal (monsters and ghosts), but from early on I could spot the fakes.  I developed a skeptical mind, and this was a true test.  My mind had rearranged and altered these events and here's how:

1. There was a "Jerry", he was a bit of a creepy jerk, and he did hang himself from a train tressle which I could actually see from my bedroom.

2. I did wake up and turn on my light- but the ghost of Jerry was likely a dream.  One of those "waking" dreams.

3. But how did you dream of him BEFORE you knew he was dead?  I didn't.  In many conversations afterwards, the timeline slowly shifted.  The discovery of Jerry's body occurred BEFORE my dream.  In fact, it had been the topic of school whispers all week, and likely influenced the way Jerry appeared in my dream.  Yes, his body was hanging for a week- but in remembering I combined two/three weeks into one.  My mind made the story more intriguing and scary.  

     The real story is not the re-arranged ghost, but the sadness of a teen suicide.  Jerry's father kept all of his shades drawn for the rest of the year.  Every day I passed his townhouse with all the shades drawn.  The knowledge of what happened to Jerry, and passing this sad house every morning must have built up to a point where it became something in my dream.  The mind tends to recall events in a way that makes them more exciting.  It is like the magicians trick- the memory of the trick is much better than the actual trick it self.  Memory edits out all the mundane details. 

     This is the way that I see a LOT of the first hand accounts of ghosts and monsters.  Creaks become ghosts, shadows become monsters.  Wood grain becomes the face of a demon.  Losing your car keys (and swearing that they were on the counter) becomes a poltergeist.  That's the way the mind is wired- to fill in blanks.