I have always had a feeling about ghosts and have always been interested in other people's stories. I had never experienced anything myself until about 4 months ago.

I regularly stay at my boyfriend's house and it was the same this night. We would get in from going out with our friends, have a drink and a chat and then go to sleep.

During the night I woke up and saw a figure walking or moving across the room. Thinking that it was just Martin and that he had got up to get a drink, I rolled over to his side of the bed, only to find him next to me fast asleep. I felt a bit freaked out but thought that I would look up and see if the 'figure' was still there and it was. It was sitting at the top of the bed, right by Martin's head. I thought I was imagining it but the strange thing was that as you sit on the far side of his bed when the curtains are closed, there is a gap and you can see the light from the street lamps coming through. At this moment in time though I could see the shadow of someone sitting there. I was terrified so rolled over and forced myself back to sleep.

I explained to Martin what had happened in the morning but he just told me that I was being silly so I just dismissed it as my imagination and tried to forget about it.

About a month ago though Martin and I went out with our friends and decided it would be easier if we stayed at their house that night so after we had turned the television and lights off we went to sleep. As there wasn't enough room on the sofa for both of us, Martin decided to sleep in the armchair opposite me.

I woke up about 3 hours later and looked over at Martin, only to see the same thing again, a figure sitting by his head. This time I got a better look, it was the shadow of a man with a bald head. I thought I was imagining it so I closed my eyes and thought that if I closed my eyes it would be gone, but it was still there. I called for Martin, without looking over, and asked him to come over and sleep with me so he did, but told me that I was being stupid and to just go back to sleep.

I thought I would take one last look over there and it was gone. I felt relieved and thought that it must have been my imagination, but I closed my eyes, opened them again and it was there again, staring at me. By now Martin was asleep and I didn't know what to do, so I just closed my eyes tight and hid until I fell asleep.

I knew this time it couldn't have been my imagination again but our friend told us I was silly and to forget it, but this time I couldn't. I tried to explain it but this time there was no easy explanation. I asked Martin if any of the members of his family that were dead had a bald head. He told me yes and that it was his grandad. His grandad who had died just before he was born and didn't get to see him.

Now I can't explain this and I don't know if anyone has had the same experience but I feel that maybe it was Martin's guardian angel. I am too afraid to look at a picture of Martin's grandad just in case it was him, but I will one day when I have a bit more courage.

Just to finish I have another little story I would like to share which is about my dad.

My dad is very skeptical about ghosts and doesn't believe at all but when he was younger him and my grandad were walking through the graveyard in Hawkinge which is nearby and where a lot of my relatives are buried. It was about 9am on a Sunday morning and they were just walking along the path when all of a sudden they looked around them to see bare fields and no graves. My dad says that as quickly as the scenery had disappeared it came back. He said the birds all flew and they were back in todays age. They both saw it and this is the only thing that my dad now believes in, being able to go back in time for just a second. Does anyone have any explanation for this or had anyone had a similar experience to this?

If anyone wants to ask any questions please feel free to contact me, also I would be interested to hear any similar experiences to these.

contact me here:chellem@talk21.com

SHE WANTED TO BE REMEMBERED

I suppose I could start this story with the generic beginning, "I never believed in ghosts before this experience," but that would be a lie... and boring. I always have believed in the paranormal to some extent, and always found ways to freak myself out in the wee hours of the night.

So here goes.......................

The most recent of my scares is one of the most vivid.

It was another sleepless night, nothing to keep me company other than the History Channel, or the Travel Channel, either them or infomercials. The air was thick and suffocating, so I debated on running in the basement for a fan. More fearful of spiders then the dead, I ventured down the two flights of stairs to the musty damp basement. Nothing unusual... but why is it that when you are walking upstairs from a basement, you get the most frightening urge to run? Like your being chased? Well, I wasn't being chased, but I ran like a 20 year old baby.

Back in the bedroom, I settled down in my cool cotton sheets, rolled around, letting my skin soak in the breezy comfort. My eyes finally got heavy, and the blue glow of my room faded into sleep.

A half hour must have only gone by, I wasn't dreaming yet, but I awoke and looked at the TV screen. My mind played an odd trick on me, because for 3 whole seconds, I swear I saw my sister's leopard print tank top floating across my room. When my eyes adjusted, there was no shirt, but my heart was beating deep in my throat. I closed my eyes, and listened to the sophisticated British accent coming from the speakers of my small TV. It sang on for a minute or two along with the silent hum of the box fan before a metal tapping began to interrupt. Tap tap tap.. faster and faster. I thought to myself, is it the fan? It wasn't. It was the dangling chain lock on my door swinging not side to side but up and then crashing back down against the chipping white wood. I watched in complete confusion, wondering if my eyes were again making the fool of me. It didn't stop. It rose higher and higher, tap tap tap.. different beats at different paces. I shut my eyes tight and hid under my sheet, suffocating in the heat but not giving up the little safety that my covers provided.

"SHUTTUP!" I barked, half humoring myself to believe the clanking would stop. But it did, and I laid still listening to the muted voice from the show and the quickened sound of my breath. Whatever was making the room tap before was not gone, I could tell.

My stomach still felt like it was squeezing its way up my esophagus. All I wanted was to breathe cool air, but the only air I sucked down was the pocket of baking moisture under the sheets. Please go away, please go away, I thought over and over, my lips mouthing the words. In seconds I felt a tug at the sheets toward the foot of my bed, and I became so frightened that not even a scream came out. It was more of a sucking-inward gurgle that comes straight from the back of the throat, steady and strangled. Not a pretty scream like the kind naked chicks make in movies, but a wheezing crackle that you'd expect your grandparents to make as the took their last breath.

My legs shot up toward my chest as I lay in a fetal position. Dammit dammit dammit.. I repeated in my head after my vomiting heart slowed down. I tucked my sheet under my head, the protection of a sheet is like armor *rolling eyes*, but within moments, a second tug loosened it and my forehead peeked out. Nothing to do but cling tightly to the sheets with tense fingers until the blood drains out, loosening my grip.

Then, just as quickly as the feeling came, the feeling of fear went, and nothing happened. I settled down enough to regain relaxation. 15-20 minutes go by, the show is over and a the song of a new one chimes in.. "Welcome to Histories Mysteri..." I held my eyes shut regardless.. The heat from my blankets unbearable now. 'It was probably my stupid cat' I say, in reassurance, and am able to believe it. The little black sucker does get awful playful at night, and it wouldn't be the first time she's attacked me. Silly cat. I'm such a big baby. She's probably sitting there at the base of my bed, licking her clawless paw, every now and then getting really alert, with her enormous wild eyes.

After some time, I was totally convinced it was her, thinking about her made me even feel like laughing. I decided she was probably watching me, like she does when prepared to attack my head and chew on my nose, the bitch. Well, I'll show her, I thought. On the count of three I prepared to leap from my sheets and holler, BAH!!!!
One....Two....three!
I flung my covers open and hopped, but froze midair. My right leg hanging off the side of the bed, left hand still clasping tightly around the flimsy flowered sheet, I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at the ceiling directly above me. My mouth screamed hollow and noiseless. Every pore on my clammy body squeezed out cold sweat, and I felt like someone had just woken me with a foghorn.

Last month I was staying in a friends house on a usual cold January night. I remembered that my mum had asked me to go home and walk the dog with her at half seven. Obviously, I obliged. She doesn't really like walking my dog when my dad works the night shift and it's dark in case any other dogs are about.

My friend and I were in the middle of telling each other stories about what we had been doing over the past couple of weeks, when I looked at my watch and realised that it was half past seven. I only live literally a five minute walk away from her so I quickly got up, grabbed my coat and told her I would be back soon.

Once I got to the house, I entered through the front door and proceeded into the living room. Mum wasn't anywhere around. I back tracked a little and shouted upstairs to see if she was getting ready, no reply. I then proceeded back into the living room and through to the kitchen to see if she was putting the lead on the dog, shouting her the whole time, in case she left without me.

As I reached the kitchen, I realised that that too was empty, and the light was on. Normal for my mum when she goes out because she likes to make it look like someone's home. I decided to give up and go watch TV until she decided to turn up again. As I was about to leave the kitchen, I heard footsteps at the side of the house. 'Of course!' I thought. Whenever she walked the dog and was waiting for me to hurry up and get my shoes on or something, she would wait outside at the side of the house so the dog didn't start getting impatient.

I opened my back door (I'll just explain the scene to you here.) As you walk out of my back door, you are facing my back garden. Then if you turn left, it takes you to the side of my house. Now, in the winter, it is REALLY dark down here, I mean, you put your hand in front of your face, you wont see a thing! That's basically because dad had two huge wooden gates attached to the front of the house to make the driveway smaller. That way, anything behind them is just covered in blackness. I then proceeded to walk to the side of the house talking to my mum as I was approaching the turn to get to her. Just the usual 'why didn't you wait in the house, I thought you'd gone'. Well, I got half way through that sentence anyway. As I turned the corner, I saw a young girl, around the age of about 20-21, but she was white, I mean EVERYTHING was white. The hair, the face, the clothes, EVERYTHING. I was routed to the spot and the tears were literally streaming out of my eyes. I could see directly through her to the gate that was behind her. That wasn't all though, I was about to get another shock. Remember me mentioning I could here footsteps which made me proceed outside? I managed to look at her feet, she didn't have any. She was about five inches off the floor. The dress that she wore stopped at the knees and her feet just weren't there. From the ankles down, nothing! I couldn't move, I was terrified. That was until she started to float towards me, staring me directly in the eyes. I then noticed that her eyes were just a white pupil with pin point green in the middle. That was enough for me to get my ass back in the house.

I ran straight back round the house and as soon as I had my back to her I could hear the footsteps again! I ran in the door, locked it (yeah good one Donna considering they can pass THROUGH things) I was scared, so I had an excuse! I then ran into the living room, closed the kitchen door and curled up in a ball on the couch until my mum came home. She told me when she finally did arrive (which seemed like an eternity) that she had actually heard footsteps herself and thought it was me coming in the back way. She had just shrugged it off and proceeded the same way I did, but didn't encounter a thing! Spooky eh?

So if ever you're in the house alone and you hear footsteps outside, I suggest you stay in the comfort of your home, you could be in for a nasty shock!