My Daughter, the quiet child with the big blue eyes who loves animals. Never showed aggression or anger. Cuddles and her little fluffy ‘‘Rabby.’’ soft toy is what she is about. She always went to bed happily, never a problem and she fell asleep naturally.

I am so lucky as a parent to have an easy-going child. I have always said the best part about being a parent is when they are sleeping. I always checked on her before I went to bed. My sleeping angel tucked up for the night.

That is when you get to look at the purest thing in your life. The reason you get up in the morning. I gazed at my 3-year-old sleeping angel and felt complete. Her head lies on the soft pillow and her hair swept away from her eyes. Your chest is heaving with love, and you can go to bed content. Such a perfect image.

Now for the truth.

I Apologies for the lies I described before. It is not all lies. My daughter loved going to bed, that is true. The difference between what I described is what happened when I checked on her before I went to bed. I’d open her bedroom door and I was slightly hunched over. Because all parents know being hunched over give us super quiet ninja skills. I expected to see what I had described earlier as I opened her bedroom door.

I peeked in and my eyes needed to adjust for a few seconds. As they adjusted, the image became clear and I jumped back, gasping air. I must have gained parent skills at some point, as not one expletive left my mouth as I was scared nearly to death.

There she was sitting bolt upright, eyes wide open looking straight at me. No blinking, no movement at all. Yes, it was like something out of a horror movie. The Exorcist sprang to mind, as I waited a few seconds for a head spin. It only took a few seconds to realise it was not the girl from the exorcist, but I still went in with caution.
I called out her name as I crept in and there was no movement from her. She was like a painting whose eyes follow you when you move. I looked behind me very slowly to make sure she was not looking at something that I could not see. There was nothing there. Well, nothing my eyes could see.

I moved closer to my daughter and asked: ‘‘Are you awake?’’ Nothing happened. There was still no blinking or movement and no answer. Very slowly and gently I lay her down and closed her eyelids.

As I was leaving her room, I did look around the room for something. I am not sure what, but you know, they do it in the movies. Looking into the shadows and dark corners for the horror movie scene to get me. If this was a story someone else was telling me, I can assure you I would not be able to control my laughing. I got used to this creepy sleeping thing she did and always prepared myself not to jump as I opened the door.

 

The Next Level.

But then my Daughter decided to go one step further in scaring the crap out of me.
You know the feeling you get when someone is watching you? We have all experienced it. But have you had it in your sleep? I remember being asleep and knowing I had to wake up. The feeling that someone is in my room and I forced myself to wake instantly.
I was lying on my back, and I turned my head in one fast move to the left. My heart raced as I saw someone standing over me. Staring straight at me, and not one twitch at all. I bolted upright as I saw my Daughter standing there.

‘‘What are you doing?’’ I asked. No reply, no movement, nothing. She just stared at me. I did look down at her hands, in case she had a sharp instrument that she thought was a gift for me. It was as if she was reenacting a horror scene. All the horror movies I had seen came rushing back to memory.

I got out of bed and walked her back to her bedroom. I decided to tuck her in very tight to prevent escape that night. The landing light also remained on for the night and subsequent nights after that.

Let’s be honest, who wants to risk being bludgeoned to death with a child’s tea set fork.