Markiplier One Shots

Real or Not Real?

Real or Not Real?

I was awake when it happened - my hallucination. My mind was aware and my body was just on the verge of falling asleep.

I was laying down on the left side of my bed, turned slightly onto my left side, how I usually fell asleep. My right leg was spread onto the other side of the bed - i was sprawled out and comfy. My room was plunged in darkness, the only source of light being the tiny red dot of light from my TV. My fan was going across the room for white noise - I couldn't sleep when it was completely quiet. A small, thin pillow was wedged between my legs for comfort and my favorite stuffed animal was clutched to my chest. Everything was set up perfectly for me to fall asleep, but my mind just wasn't there yet.

Then my door opened suddenly, as if someone was throwing it open in urgency. The quickest footsteps I had ever heard slapped against my bedroom floor, like someone was running. My mind went to my parents, who were the only other people in my house at the moment. Did something happen? Was something bad going on?

I knew my light would come on and I would hear my mom's voice, most likely, so I tried to turn my body to face the door. But I couldn't. My body would not move. And I opened my mouth to speak, to ask what was going on - but no sound came out. I couldn't talk.

For a moment, I tried to figure out why I couldn't move or speak - was I paralyzed somehow? I was awake! How could I be having sleep paralysis when I hadn't even fallen asleep yet? And then it hit me - someone had come into my room but no one had spoken, and that wasn't normal. Whoever, or whatever, was in my room could not have been one of my parents.

My mind began racing, along with my heartbeat. And then, I felt my mattress sink down just a little, near my right leg, as if someone was taking a seat on the edge of my bed. I felt a presence, like one does when they can just tell someone's following them or looking at them - I knew I was not alone. Now I was somewhat okay with being paralyzed, because I was too terrified to want to move.

I didn't know who or what was sitting on my bed, staring at me (or at least that was what it felt like), but I don't want to know. I kept my eyes squeezed tightly shut, I didn't even try to move a muscle, and I did my best to keep my breathing steady and quiet. Maybe if I just pretended to be asleep, I'd be left alone.

I'm not sure how long the presence stayed with me - it was probably only a few minutes, but it felt like forever. However, the feeling of my sunken mattress seemed to slowly fade, and in time I no longer felt like there was anything there. My breathing slowed to a more normal rate, along with the beating of my heart. And eventually I got the courage to move my leg.

I felt nothing on my bed, and my limbs were moveable again. I turned on the lamp next to my bed and scanned my room. I saw nothing, nobody. I reluctantly got out of bed and looked around. Even though I had heard my door open but not close, it appeared to be untouched - it was closed as it had been before I had gotten into bed that night. Everything seemed to be fine, but I wasn't. I tried my hardest to fall asleep after that, but I just couldn't.

After some research, I learned that what I had experienced was a hypnogogic hallucination, and it was actually not too uncommon. Sometimes, strange things can happen when we're in between being asleep and awake. Along with paralysis, we can see, hear, and feel things, and often this is when people see shadow people above them or around them in bed. I was thankful that I had kept my eyes shut during my hallucination, and I was glad to know that a hallucination was all that it was, but that didn't stop it from feeling all too real. And that didn't stop my insomnia from continuing past that night.

*********************

After my hallucination, I took extra precautions. I locked my bedroom door at night and played videos or movies at night for additional white noise and distraction for my mind. But even so, I was struggling to fall asleep. When I did sleep, it was only for a few short hours. And the insomnia wasn't even the only issue.