Have you ever heard loud breathing in an empty room in the middle of the afternoon? Trust me. It’s spooky!
I’ve got to admit. This is a weird story with a Halloween flavour, but I’ve decided to share it anyway.
In February of 2019, I was working on one of my fantasy novels. I was sitting on the sofa with a keyboard on my lap, and except for the distant sound of passing traffic, the room was silent. A small dog slept on an adjoining sofa.
Suddenly, I heard slow breathing coming from my lap, its rhythm about half as fast as my own. I held my breath to ensure it wasn’t some kind of auditory echo, but it continued.
I listened for awhile, but since I couldn’t figure out how it was happening, I resumed typing. A few minutes later, I stopped to listen again. It was still there, clear and rhythmic. It sounded like the a large man or comparable sized animal was so close, I could touch it - and I tried - but felt nothing (thank heavens!).
I got up, walked around, then returned to the sofa. The sound continued, so I held the keyboard to my hear, but the breathing wasn’t coming from it. It was from somewhere in the space between my chin and my lap.
I’ve experienced many paranormal events in my life, so I finally ignored it and went back to my writing. When I remembered about fifteen minutes later, the sound was gone.
Although I’ve had to deal with odd periodic occurrences, this is the first time I’ve had an invisible something on my lap. The breathing was as clear as the sound of someone sleeping next to you. Since I was creating a magical world at the time, did I perhaps slip somewhere else for awhile? Did I open a crack in our world that allowed a temporary merging with another? Who knows?
Yet another mystery, and remember, the next time you’re alone in a quiet room, take a hard listen . . .
Deborah Kane