A Real Life Encounter by K. A. Denver

Since I was a kid, I have had a love of all things paranormal and supernatural. I have my mum to thank, she would bring me to the library and let me take out books by the likes of Arthur C. Clarke and Erich von Däniken.
Little did I know it would shape my interests and have me fascinated with the unknown, the things that were beyond the comprehension of the most grounded human. I read all I could on the many different theories and concepts of paranormal phenomenon. The more I read, the more I wanted to experience the things in the books. So, I took the leap, and after joining a group or two, I started up my own with my oldest brother and a good friend.
On one of our investigations, we visited with a team in Co. Wexford. They were the resident team in a fascinating and extremely active place call Enniscorthy Castle.

After spending an hour setting up equipment and placing cameras around the various floors of the castle we all settled down to begin the night's investigation. We were on the first floor, an area that housed a replica of the living quarters. A living room, bedroom, and children’s room, all of which were connected by open archways. With the lights of and with the help of torch light we each took a seat, some on chairs and others on the floor with backs against a wall. Anywhere basically so that we could begin.
I was sitting on the sofa, all was quiet as we were allowing the sounds of the room to settling. As my eyes were adjusting to the darkened room, I slowly turned my head as I suddenly became aware of chatting in the next room. The faint mumbled voice of a woman followed by the mumbled gruff tone of a man could be heard. I bounded from my seat and quietly made my way to the open archway between the rooms, I was sure someone had gotten into the building and were messing with us. I knew it was no one from my team as they were all seated in the living room along with the members of the resident team. I flipped my torch on and shone it into the bedroom, in a wide sweeping motion. I scanned the room to find nothing.
The guys in the Wexford team laughed softly. Apparently what we had just overheard was common. Disembodied voices were a regular occurrence and most teams who came to visit, even regular people visiting the castle would often comment on having heard two people talking in that room when there was no one there.
I grinned, this was what I loved. The experience of something that could be paranormal was exciting. I wanted more, I wanted to capture it, record it so we could see if it was what we knew of a residual haunting or an intelligent one. I grabbed a digital voice recorder and a digital camera and quietly took a seat on the floor. By back against the wall just at the doorway that led back into the living room where everyone else was. Once again we all quietened down. I placed the digital voice recorder on the floor beside me (to rule out interference from me), and I let my eyes adjust to the dim light of the room. It wasn’t long before something caught my eye. On the wall opposite was another open doorway, this was one that led to the nursery and in that doorway was a shadow. At first, I thought it was nothing, my eyes playing tricks on me, but then it happened again, and this time I was looking directly at it. The shadow moved, and when it did, I could make out the dense shape of a child, judging by the height it would have been no older than five or six years old.

My jaw hit the floor. I whispered a low as I could asking if anyone else could see into the room and could see what I was looking at. The voice from a member of the home team whispered back that yes, they too could see a shadow figure moving. It appeared to quickly dart from the doorway to a bed that was just a few feet away from me. This movement cut off the other persons line of vision, but it was all very clear to me. The bed was in front of a large window, and the moonlight from outside was casting an eerie glow in the room, and there by the bed, it looked as if this shadow ‘child’ was playing peek-a-boo over the top of the bed.
From the living room I could hear my team begin to call out, asking questions as to who was there with us and what was their purpose for staying at the castle. I had glanced briefly into the living room only to have my attention drawn back to the doorway the first shadow had appeared. On the floor, there seemed to be a black blob. It moved across the floor as a toddler would when crawling. When it got to the far side of the bed, the realization struck that what I was seeing could, in fact, be just that. And now, instead of one head raised slightly above the level of the mattress, there was now two.
I slowly lifted my camera, I was eager to attempt to capture an image, no matter how faint, of the shadow children before me. I clicked three rapid photos in the direction of the bed and moved so I could see under it and did the same again. Looking up I felt a wave of disappointment. They were gone.
 
I sat for a moment with a smile on my face, I knew what I saw. I got up and moved to the window, looking outside to see if there was anything that could have cast a shadow like that, but even as I did, I knew it was futile. I knew that what I had witnessed was no ordinary shadow. What I had witnessed was one, possibly two little shadow children. Goose pimples were standing proud on my skin, and as I was joined by others and retold what I had seen, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
This was the first experience of the night, and it was not the last, many strange things happened that night. Things I still struggle to explain with rational thought. Enniscorthy Castle now holds a piece of my heart. It is one of the very few paranormally active places that I have visited that makes you feel welcomed…almost like it is welcoming you home.
 
This little story brings happy memories of Big Michael. A giant of a man, a wealth of knowledge, and a true friend. Always missed. 
Since I was a kid, I have had a love of all things paranormal and supernatural. I have my mum to thank, she would bring me to the library and let me take out books by the likes of Arthur C. Clarke and Erich von Däniken.
Little did I know it would shape my interests and have me fascinated with the unknown, the things that were beyond the comprehension of the most grounded human. I read all I could on the many different theories and concepts of paranormal phenomenon. The more I read, the more I wanted to experience the things in the books. So, I took the leap, and after joining a group or two, I started up my own with my oldest brother and a good friend.
On one of our investigations, we visited with a team in Co. Wexford. They were the resident team in a fascinating and extremely active place call Enniscorthy Castle.

After spending an hour setting up equipment and placing cameras around the various floors of the castle we all settled down to begin the night's investigation. We were on the first floor, an area that housed a replica of the living quarters. A living room, bedroom, and children’s room, all of which were connected by open archways. With the lights of and with the help of torch light we each took a seat, some on chairs and others on the floor with backs against a wall. Anywhere basically so that we could begin.
I was sitting on the sofa, all was quiet as we were allowing the sounds of the room to settling. As my eyes were adjusting to the darkened room, I slowly turned my head as I suddenly became aware of chatting in the next room. The faint mumbled voice of a woman followed by the mumbled gruff tone of a man could be heard. I bounded from my seat and quietly made my way to the open archway between the rooms, I was sure someone had gotten into the building and were messing with us. I knew it was no one from my team as they were all seated in the living room along with the members of the resident team. I flipped my torch on and shone it into the bedroom, in a wide sweeping motion. I scanned the room to find nothing.
The guys in the Wexford team laughed softly. Apparently what we had just overheard was common. Disembodied voices were a regular occurrence and most teams who came to visit, even regular people visiting the castle would often comment on having heard two people talking in that room when there was no one there.
I grinned, this was what I loved. The experience of something that could be paranormal was exciting. I wanted more, I wanted to capture it, record it so we could see if it was what we knew of a residual haunting or an intelligent one. I grabbed a digital voice recorder and a digital camera and quietly took a seat on the floor. By back against the wall just at the doorway that led back into the living room where everyone else was. Once again we all quietened down. I placed the digital voice recorder on the floor beside me (to rule out interference from me), and I let my eyes adjust to the dim light of the room. It wasn’t long before something caught my eye. On the wall opposite was another open doorway, this was one that led to the nursery and in that doorway was a shadow. At first, I thought it was nothing, my eyes playing tricks on me, but then it happened again, and this time I was looking directly at it. The shadow moved, and when it did, I could make out the dense shape of a child, judging by the height it would have been no older than five or six years old.

My jaw hit the floor. I whispered a low as I could asking if anyone else could see into the room and could see what I was looking at. The voice from a member of the home team whispered back that yes, they too could see a shadow figure moving. It appeared to quickly dart from the doorway to a bed that was just a few feet away from me. This movement cut off the other persons line of vision, but it was all very clear to me. The bed was in front of a large window, and the moonlight from outside was casting an eerie glow in the room, and there by the bed, it looked as if this shadow ‘child’ was playing peek-a-boo over the top of the bed.
From the living room I could hear my team begin to call out, asking questions as to who was there with us and what was their purpose for staying at the castle. I had glanced briefly into the living room only to have my attention drawn back to the doorway the first shadow had appeared. On the floor, there seemed to be a black blob. It moved across the floor as a toddler would when crawling. When it got to the far side of the bed, the realization struck that what I was seeing could, in fact, be just that. And now, instead of one head raised slightly above the level of the mattress, there was now two.
I slowly lifted my camera, I was eager to attempt to capture an image, no matter how faint, of the shadow children before me. I clicked three rapid photos in the direction of the bed and moved so I could see under it and did the same again. Looking up I felt a wave of disappointment. They were gone.
 
I sat for a moment with a smile on my face, I knew what I saw. I got up and moved to the window, looking outside to see if there was anything that could have cast a shadow like that, but even as I did, I knew it was futile. I knew that what I had witnessed was no ordinary shadow. What I had witnessed was one, possibly two little shadow children. Goose pimples were standing proud on my skin, and as I was joined by others and retold what I had seen, I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
This was the first experience of the night, and it was not the last, many strange things happened that night. Things I still struggle to explain with rational thought. Enniscorthy Castle now holds a piece of my heart. It is one of the very few paranormally active places that I have visited that makes you feel welcomed…almost like it is welcoming you home.
 
This little story brings happy memories of Big Michael. A giant of a man, a wealth of knowledge, and a true friend. Always missed.