Through My Eyes: Strange Glimpses from a Wonder-Filled Youth
Solving the strange and magical moments that defined my childhood.
Growing up, my childhood combined curiosity, imagination, and the odd inexplicable event that left me wondering if something magical was buried just under the surface of reality.
Looking back, those events molded me in more ways than I could have ever imagined at the time. They were brief flashes of something alien, events that seemed random yet were entwined in mystery.
These are the bits of my wonder-filled childhood as viewed through my eyes.
A Mirror Reflecting Another World
My earliest odd recollection comes from an ancient, elaborate mirror in my grandparents’ corridor.
This mirror had an aura about it, unlike the other objects in their house — old-fashioned but ordinary — almost as though it had a life of its own. I started observing strange events every time I passed there when I was about eight.
Out of the corner of my eye, I occasionally saw what looked to be flickers of movement — something, or someone, just behind me.
Nothing would be there when I turned to face straight ahead into the mirror; only my reflection would be backed off.
But the impression persisted that I was not alone when I stood before that mirror.
The adults discounted it as my fantasy, but I wasn’t sure exactly. The mirror seemed to be revealing peeks of another world, not only reflecting the one I knew.
The Stranger from Unknown Visitor
At about 10 years of age, I also experienced another unusual event from childhood.
Everyone in our small community knew one another. One rainy afternoon, I was playing indoors when someone knocked at the door. I can recall the hollow knock and the steady tap-tap of the rain falling outside.
Expecting to see one of the neighbors, I opened the door only to find a towering man I knew nowhere.
He wore an old-fashioned suit, the sort you could find in black-and-white films, and carried a bowler hat. His eyes will always be with me; they seemed excessively dark like deep pools concealing something else.
He grinned and asked whether my parents were home, but before I could respond, my mother showed up rapidly bringing me back indoors. She was gently chatting to him as I closed the door.
When I asked my mother who the man was, she said she didn’t know and I never saw him again. Years later, I mentioned the memory, but she maintained nobody had ever knocked on our door that day.
The Playground Vanishes
One summer evening, a bunch of neighborhood kids and I decided to play hide-and-seek at the local park surrounded by lush woods. I remember vividly hiding behind a large oak tree, waiting for the seeker to find me.
The air smelled warm, earthy summer as the twilight was sinking in. After what felt like forever, I noticed something peculiar — the park was abnormally silent.
Peering out from under cover, I saw that every other child had left. Not only that, but the swings and slides seemed different, like they were older, and more worn out than I remembered.
Usually lighting the park at night, the lights were off, and there was no indication of the recognizable homes in the distance.
Panicked, I hurried back to where I believed the main road to be and discovered myself back at the same tree from which I had begun. My heart hammered in my chest. After what seemed like hours, I at last found myself back on the familiar playground, now noisy and laughing-filled.
Marvelous Reflections
Looking back, I see that odd and incomprehensible experiences abound in my early years that I cannot make sense of even today. Though some would argue they were only products of a child’s overactive imagination, I’m not sure.
These events stayed with me and let me realize that the world is far more magical and enigmatic than first appearances suggest.
Even now, when I see life through the prism of adulthood, a part of me yearns for the wonder of those early years. Years have gone by.
I still remember the mirror at my grandparent’s house, the stranger who visited one wet day, and the disappearing playground.
