Rushing home, I remember that I have not bought a present for Tilly. I cannot show up home empty handed for her birthday. I cannot afford anything extravagant. As I walked through the busy streets I eagerly searched for any ideas that will help me avoid being the worst mom ever. I passed by a storefront window and the display captured my attention. A wooden rocking horse, a bit beaten but not too shabby on sale. I headed for the store and quickly realized it was a thrift store. The wooden horse was too costly despite being used. A beautiful used tea set was also high priced. Before giving up, I decided to look around the store to see if there was anything in my budget. At the back of the store on the top shelf, I noticed a pristine looking teddy bear. It was lovely. A light brown teddy bear, in a red velvet vest that I knew Tilly would love. When I asked for the price, to my luck it was only $4.00. I immediately bought it. I hugged the teddy bear, I was impressed it smelled sweet like cotton candy. I was thrilled to have found the toy in such good condition. I ran out of the store rushing to buy balloons and rush home.
I was greeted by a happy six year old clinging to my arms loading me with kisses. I gave my sweet Tilly a big hug as I wished her a happy birthday. I asked Tilly to close her eyes as I had the teddy bear in front of me with some dollar birthday balloons. When Tilly’s eyes opened an overwhelming scream of joy came out of her mouth. She grabbed the teddy bear and hugged it tightly, thanking me between her cheers. I smiled because I live to make her and Cassie happy. She doesn’t know how tough it is for us to survive. I work long hours in the corner store to make ends meet, basically struggling to survive. I may not be able to throw her a lavish birthday but I was able to make her smile with a toy within my budget. Tilly immediately took the teddy to her room to play as my mom helped me prepare the cake she baked for Tilly earlier that day.
That night I crashed into bed exhausted from a day on my feet. Around 2 in the morning I was awakened by a thump that came from the girls room. I got up to check on them, imagining one of my daughters was up. I saw both Tilly and Cassie sound asleep in their beds. I searched for the cause of the thump but did not find a potential culprit. I gave them both kisses and as I walked toward the door, I noticed the gifted teddy on the floor by Tilly’s bed. I picked up the teddy and placed it by Tilly for easy access to snuggle. I crawled back into bed and fell into a light sleep. I was awakened again in what felt like minutes by a presence in my room. I heard disembodied voices but could not open my eyes no matter how hard I tried. Scared, I pulled the covers over my head to try once again to open my eyes. Under the covers I managed to focus but was afraid to move for I felt something in the room with me. My breathing was loud and I was terrified. Under the covers, I felt a weight that sat down at the edge of my bed. With tears in my eyes I stumbled out of my room and into my daughters room. Closed the door behind and my daughters were just staring at me...scared. No other person was in our home. I figured a nightmare got the best of me.
The following evening, as I tiredly arrived home, my mom greeted me with concern. She said she was frightened that afternoon as she and the girls were home. Curiously I asked my mom what was the cause for such concern. She proceeded to inform me that the girls TV in their bedroom keeps turning on. She turned off the TV two times and hid the remote. When the TV turned on for the third time without a remote, she just closed the door. I looked at my mom with a smile to reassure her that there must be a valid explanation to the incident. I went into the girls bedroom and the TV was off and all appeared normal. My mom insisted to let her pray for the room to bless it for she felt something was not right. I kept my experience from the night before quiet, because I was skeptical of this stuff. That night out of precaution, the girls slept with me. Around 2am, I was awakened by Cassie telling me in a whisper that Tilly was in the room speaking to someone. Startled, I rushed to the other bedroom to get Tilly. Tilly was sitting in the middle of the room playing with the teddy bear. I called her and she angrily responded, “What?” I approached Tilly and sweetly asked her what she was doing. Tilly looked at me with a repulsed look and mockingly responded that she was playing. Annoyed at her tone, I told her to get into bed. Cassie begged to sleep in my room, so I slept in the girls room that night.
The following days, my mom, Tilly’s teacher and Cassie drowned me with complaints about Tilly’s behavior on a daily basis. She was placed on time out for calling the teacher a bad word. My mom also informed me that Tilly was refusing to put away her toys and kept calling Cassie names. Cassie told me Tilly was speaking about hurting herself. I also encountered Tilly to be hostile for she responded rudely opposed to the sweet little girl I know. I asked Tilly what was causing her to act so different. She ignored the question and promised she would behave better. That very night, I was awakened once again at 2am with the screams of Tilly. I ran to her room and it was locked. I pushed and pushed but the door would not open. I pounded the door in desperation asking the girls to open. The frantic screams of Tilly shook my core. In one last attempt to push the door down, the door swung open and I stumbled across the floor. It was like something or someone was holding the bedroom door shut from the inside. I looked up and Cassie was crying on her bed, Tilly was sitting sobbing in a corner of her room. She had peed herself. As I comforted my daughters I kept asking what happened. Cassie said there was someone in the room, a dark figure that was choking Tilly as it tore the bed sheets off her. Tilly then stopped Cassie, begging her to not say another word for if they snitched we will all get hurt. I was terrified.
In the morning, after a sleepless night, I called my mom to pick up the girls so they can spend the Saturday at her house. I told my mom what had happened the night before. I wanted to bless my home and figure out what made my home suddenly the target for paranormal activity. I wanted to ask the church for help. My mom did not want me in the house alone but I did not want to back down. My mom insisted to send me her close friend Clara to help me pray and bless my home for she was spiritually inclined to reveal the causes of these types of disturbances. Clara joined me around noon and we started to pray for every room in my apartment, leaving the girls bedroom for last. Once in the bedroom, Clara was meticulously looking at every item with suspicion. I did not know what to look for and felt quite silly. Clara asked what changes had occurred. I sat in the middle of the room on the floor thinking. I caught a glimpse of the cute teddy bear in the red velvet vest and smiled. The teddy bear was sitting upright in Tilly’s bed. My smile quickly faded as I stared at the toy’s eyes which I swore they moved. I turned to look at Clara and when I looked back to the teddy bear, it was sitting at the end of the bed. I yelled at Clara “The teddy bear!” and suddenly the teddy bear’s head moved in the direction of the bedroom door as the door was violently shut. The room grew cold and again I had a hard time trying to focus like if my eyes refused to open. I yelled for Clara but all I could hear was her praying. Suddenly the veil in my eyes fell and I could see Clara with the teddy bear in her hands and a dark figure behind her. The teddy bear wrapped his arms on the wrist of Clara as she pronounced each word with agony. She urgently told me to follow her. The dark figure also following her. Clara went to a trash can in the alley and set the teddy bear on fire. She rebuked the entity trapped in the toy and forbid it to bother us again. As the teddy bear burned the dark figure diminished. Clara had a dark bruise on her wrist where the teddy bear was latched on. Clara asked where did we get the toy from. I informed her it was from a random thrift store. That day I learned my lesson to be careful what I bring into my home. That teddy bear was cursed by its previous owner. I did not know the intentions that previous owner had and by bringing the used item, I exposed my family to this terrible experience that could have ended horribly. After the teddy bear was burned to ashes and my home was blessed, my Tilly was her sweet self again. My family was at peace. We were never awakened by terror again. However every time I pass by a thrift store a chill runs down my spine.
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