It's funny how
things work: I was at a loss for a blog topic and stumbled across a
blog hop hosted by
Christine Rains. The topic is, as you guessed,
about childhood monsters.
Now, growing up
in Germany with the original Grimm Brothers tales, not the
child-friendly American versions, I did not really have any monsters
under the bed or in the closet. Then again, we have wardrobes, not
closets, and they do not lead to Narnia either.
Besides, the
Grimm Brothers wrote their grim tales to show children that life is
not all puppies and kittens. However, I have an experience I've been
meaning to share that I am going to sneak in under this topic, as it
is a real event that frightened me for years and could take the place
of the monster under the bed.
It was a weird
day, charged with a strange kind of energy. You know, the kind they
describe in books and show in movies when you feel something sinister
is about to happen. I am not sure how old I was, perhaps 10, perhaps
a little older or younger.
I was in my
second floor bedroom and was leaning out the open window. I don't
think it was raining. All of a sudden I saw this glowing sphere
slowly rising up behind the roof of the neighbors building. Scared, yet
fascinated, I was unable to look away, even as the object starting
hovering towards me. By the time it was in front of the window, I was
screaming and my mother ran up the stairs to see what was going on.
Well, it came
into the room, if I remember right, unless my mind has made that up
in the 30 plus years since then. My mother saw it too, I asked her
what it was, but she just shook her head. The sphere eventually left,
the same way it had come in, through the window. To this day I
remember the burning smell it left behind, another reminder that what
we had seen was very real.
The following
day, we asked around in the neighborhood and watched the news and
read the paper to see if there were any strange occurrences.
Remember, this was way before Internet, social media and all that.
All we came up with was a family who said they had seen something
that looked like a burning plane in the sky, but none was reported to
have crashed of course.
From then on, I
have had the occasional nightmare about strange things in the sky
attacking us. Research revealed this might have been a "Kugelblitz"
or ball lightning. Why it seemed to be attracted by me or my body
heat or whatever is still a mystery to me. However, at least if it
has a name it's less frightening .... don't you think?
