I had a friend in high school who used to tell me that 99% of the things that happen on earth are controlled by the spiritual realm. It sounded so funny and hard to believe. I used to laugh and doubt her in my mind, but would just shrug. I kept asking myself 'what do spirits have to do with humans?' and 'even if there are spirits, they can't touch us, and we can't feel them, so how would they control it?' I'm the pretty inquisitive type, so I ask a lot of questions.

This my friend said often, but I still didn't take it as anything. I love paranormal movies -- I've watched a lot of them -- and I made it clear in my mind that it was all fictional and can't happen in reality.

But then, one of my best friends told me about an encounter she had. She called me and said, "I had a strange nightmare." She told me that in her dream, someone was trying to press her down. She said she tried to fight the person, but the person was pretty strong. She said she tried to pick her bible, so she could use it as a defence, but the person pushed it away from her hand, and it landed in the middle of her room. She said that in that dream she was sweating, and when she woke up she was equally sweating. She said she also found her bible in the exact same place the person pushed it.

She was terrified. I ignored it and thought it was just a nightmare, and maybe she mistakenly pushed her bible during her sleep. But now it all clear to me. If it was just a nightmare, why was she sweating like she was in her dream? If she pushed her bible it would have fallen beside her bed, not in the middle of her room. How did it get to the middle of her room? My major question is: could it be just a nightmare? Or did it really happen?

My dad also told me a shocking story too. He said when he was still young, his father was very sick. He said he was talking to his father in their sitting room when he heard a knock on the door. He stood up to go and check who was there, but to his surprise no one was there. On going back to the sitting room his father had passed away. My siblings and I joked with it. I said stuff like, "Maybe he didn't want you to see him die, so he sent someone to knock and run away." "Or maybe he didn't want you to see him die, so his spirit went to knock on the door." "Or maybe death came to carry him, and you opened the door for it."

I might have just been joking, but I feel there's an iota of truth in that joke.

My mom's mother died few years ago and my mom said she saw her mother on the day of her funeral. She said she asked her if she was happy where she was, and she said yes.

Also, few days after my graduation from high school, I was in my room when I heard a soft, distant voice call my name. I thought it was my dad, so I shouted 'sir'. My dad asked me who I was answering and I said him, of course. He said he didn't call me. I was surprised. That wasn't the only day, time to time... I kept on hearing it. My dad got angry one day and told me never to answer anything again if I've not confirmed it was him. It still didn't stop, but I stopped answering.

I was prayed for, and the calling finally stopped.

For the fact that I haven't really had a practical or severe paranormal experience, I'm a little bit still in doubt. Tbh.