In the middle of the night, I jolted awake from a nightmare.
I got out of bed to use the bathroom.
When I lay down again, I saw a dark silhouette standing beside my bed.
It had shoulder-length hair and looked like a woman.
She stood there silently, one hand resting on her hip, watching me.
"Leave, in Jesus' name!" I commanded, then began to pray.
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name..."
She vanished.
What do these spirits want here? I thought, irritated. Then again... I suppose they're everywhere.
I finished praying, turned over, and fell asleep.
The following evening, Luigi and I were lying on his bed, talking.
"Luigi, I had a bad dream."
"What did you dream about?"
"I dreamed that you hurt your arm. But by the end of the dream, it wasn't you anymore—it was another boy. It was confusing... and frightening at the same time."
"You know, nightmares are often caused by evil spirits."
"Yes."
"There was an evil spirit standing beside you," he said with complete certainty.
I immediately remembered the silhouette I'd seen the night before, but I kept it to myself.
"Where did it come from?" I asked curiously.
"From deep inside the Earth. It came up from beneath your bed."
"But there's nothing down there except rock, Luigi."
"It came from there. I can see it. From deep inside the Earth. It passed right through your bed," he repeated.
"Was it a man or a woman?"
"A man... but it could have been a woman. Actually, it was both."
He paused before adding,
"You need to pray before you go to sleep, Mom."
"I pray with you in your room, and then I go to my own bed after it's already been prayed over."
"You need to pray in your own bed too, so the evil spirits will leave your room."
"You're right, Luigi. We should pray in the very place where we're going to sleep, asking for protection and for a peaceful night's rest."
Over the following nights, I prayed beside Luigi's bed and then again beside my own.
The silhouette never appeared again.