READERS TALES...Dark Woman in The Window

(NOTE: This tale occurred in the 1973, in Morris Township, New Jersey. Be sure to read Specters, which follows this story in chronological order...)

When I was a young boy I lived in a dilapidated rented house with my parents. It was a difficult time for all; my parents were slowly breaking up, constantly fighting, and the anxiety was unbearable. Many nights I could not sleep out of fear of their fighting, and frankly, their doing violence to one another.

When I was about 9 years old, I spent one such night staring at the darkened features of my room. I lay tensed in my bed, jumping at every sound, thinking it was some battle breaking out between my mother and father. I was accustomed to being awake late into the night and I wasn't tired. Just nervous.

There was nothing to do but lay still and let my eyes roam. And they did, hundreds of times, over my windows, bookshelf, dresser, and closet door. Everything was clearly visible as the bathroom light was left on at night, and it illuminated my room.

Then I realized something was different. The side window, to my left, had changed. I turned my head to see and saw an enormous face in the drapery.

My mother had decorated my room for the boy that I was, with a "Revolutionary War" theme. My bedspread and window drapes had matching fife and drum and cannon patterns. But now, in the window, these icons were gone. Instead an enormous black face filled the drapery. It was over two feet across and just as high. It was the face of a black woman of perhaps fifty years of age. At the risk of sounding bigoted, which I am not, I have to say she reminded me of the stereotypical "black Mammy" servant. Except for one thing: her coloring was not brown, as you'd expect in an African American, but jet BLACK. Obsidian, in fact.

I was very frightened at first, and unable to move. She was staring at me with huge dark eyes several inches in diameter. And that's all she did...physically, at least. Just stare, with a look I can only describe as sympathetic.

I saw nothing else and heard nothing. But soon my feelings changed. I felt incredibly peaceful. My fear and anxiety vanished. I continued to stare at her until she faded away. The drums and cannon returned to the drape and I fell asleep.

That was over 25 years ago. Interestingly, this woman has made a re-appearance in my life, in my dreams. I have had several incredibly vivid dreams involving a deceased relation, so vivid I always awaken convinced they were actual contacts with this person. And in each of these dreams, this Dark Woman has been present, acting as some sort of "go between", a bridge between me and my relation...I have gotten the distinct impression that she is responsible for enabling the communication I have with my lost loved one and, in addition, that she acts as his "protector", wherever he is.