As I woke up this morning, I was very cold. It was really cold due to the fact that it’s the dead of winter, but it was unusually brisk. I put on my slippers and went downstairs. My parents weren’t home, and neither was my brother, so the house was quiet.

I was warming myself a cup of hot chocolate, and I felt a presence behind me, and it wasn’t very nice. I ignored that and went into the living room to watch TV. I was flipping through the channels and finally settled on something to watch. It was around 10:00 am when all of a sudden the TV turned off. I thought to myself “okay, now that was weird.” I turned it back on and once again, it turned off.

Then I heard a really loud thump from upstairs in my parent’s bedroom. My stomach dropped and I ran for the phone. I called my mom; she answered “hello?” I said in a shaky voice “mom…. I think there’s someone in the house….” She paused and said “ I’ll be home right away” I waited in the living room until she got here.

I heard the garage door open and the car door slam. She came inside and started to look around the house to see if anyone else was here. She got downstairs and said, “Sara, there’s nobody here besides us, but one of the shelves in our closet broke which would explain the noise” Then I said, “Well, why would the TV turn off like that?” She said, “ it’s winter, there’s probably a few short circuits here and there.” I said, “Yeah… you’re probably right.”

She then went back to work and I went upstairs to take a shower and change my clothes. It was not 11:10 and I decided to get on the computer. I was doing normal teenage stuff, checking Myspace and talking to friends on I.M. when I felt that presence again.

I got really still and it felt as if someone was standing right next to me, staring at me, and breathing really hard. Keeping my head still, I looked over to my right side and saw these black eyes. They were penetrating, staring into the depths of my soul. I stood up and backed away, never diverting my attention from this thing. Its body was that of a child, but it was bloody and bruised, it seemed to be…falling apart. It walked toward me; still backing away I tripped over a chair and fell down. It made its way slowly toward me.

I thought to myself it wasn’t an it at all, she was a girl, looked to be about five or six years old. She had a white frilly dress and was holding a doll. Then something I never expected to happen did. She asked, “Would you like to play with me?” I stood up, not taking my eyes off her, and she took my hand and led me upstairs. I asked, “Where are we going?” She giggled and said, “you’ll see!”

We went into my room, but when I looked again, I realized it wasn’t my room, it was hers. I looked on the wall and painted in big letters was a name. “Elizabeth.” I said out loud. She said, “Yes?” “Never mind” I said. Again she took my hand and this time, led me downstairs. This time, my whole house was different. It seemed as if we were in the 1900’s.

I looked down at her and she looked normal, and not scary like before. She led me to a woman in the kitchen, who was cooking. Elizabeth said, “Mommy, this is my new best friend!” she looked at me, then Elizabeth, and said, “Oh, is this another one of our imaginary friends?” Elizabeth replied, “No mommy, Sara is real.” Her mom then said, “Okay dear, I’m cooking dinner, why don’t you