One day, at a family gathering, I showed my little son, Adam, a family photo. What happened next threw me off guard. As soon as he saw the photo, he started crying and ran to his room. I tried to talk to him, but it was in vain.
I didn’t understand what was wrong with the photo. It showed Adam’s grandparents having a peaceful family meal. There was nothing alarming or strange about it, just a normal snapshot of our family.
Later, when I asked Adam to explain what he was afraid of, he still refused to say. My only hope was my husband. He sat down next to Adam and, handing him a book, said, “OK, Adam. How about you use the words and letters in here to tell Daddy what you’re scared of?”
Adam found this interesting and started looking for the words. Then he stopped at the third page and pointed to an “I.”
“Good job, champ! Go ahead!” my husband encouraged, and Adam flipped to the page with the next word he was going to show us. He slowly pointed to an “S.”
“I…S…” I repeated, my mind racing to figure out what he was trying to say. Adam continued to flip through the book, his little fingers shaking as he turned the pages. He stopped at a page and pointed to the word “SAW.”
“Saw?” my husband and I exchanged worried glances. “You saw something, Adam?”
Adam nodded vigorously, his eyes wide with fear. He continued flipping through the book until he pointed to another word: “MAN.”
“I saw a man?” I said, trying to piece together his message. “Adam, what man did you see?”
Adam turned to the next page, and his small finger landed on the word “SHADOW.”
“A shadow of a man?” my husband asked gently. Adam nodded, tears welling up in his eyes again. “Where did you see this shadow, Adam?”
He flipped back to the first page and pointed to the word “PHOTO.”
My heart skipped a beat. “You saw a shadow of a man in the photo?”
Adam nodded slowly, his face a mixture of fear and relief that we finally understood.
“But there was no man in the photo,” I said, confused. I pulled out the picture again, examining it closely. And then I saw it. In the corner of the photo, barely noticeable, was a dark, shadowy figure standing behind Adam’s grandparents.
A chill ran down my spine. “Honey, do you see that?” I handed the photo to my husband, who squinted at the image.
“I see it,” he said, his voice low and tense. “Adam, did you see this man in real life, too?”
Adam nodded. “In my room,” he whispered. “Every night.”
Fear gripped me as I realized what he was saying. “Why didn’t you tell us before, Adam?”
He looked down, his voice barely audible. “I was scared.”
We decided to take immediate action. That night, we set up a camera in Adam’s room, hoping to catch whatever was haunting our son. To our shock, the footage revealed a shadowy figure moving around his room in the dead of night, disappearing as soon as we entered.
We sought help from a local expert in paranormal activities, who performed a cleansing ritual in our home. He explained that sometimes spirits are attracted to certain families and that Adam, being sensitive, could see what others couldn’t.
After the ritual, Adam slept peacefully for the first time in weeks. The shadowy figure never returned, and our home felt lighter, safer. We never found out who or what the shadow was, but we were grateful it was gone.
The experience brought our family closer, and Adam learned that he could always come to us, no matter how scared he was. As for the photo, we put it away, a reminder of the strange and unsettling event that had brought us together in a way we never expected.
