My experience, I'm sure, is something that at least 1 out of 10 people in this world have experienced. I've had a lot encounters with it, starting from a fairly young age, but the one that I do think is the creepiest happened when I was sixteen.

I experience sleep paralysis, and that usually happens when I sleep on my back and I see someone standing at the foot of the bed, or close to my ear whispering things and such; scientists say it's all in the head. I say, good for you. But I know that what had happened when I was sixteen was certainly not in my head.

To begin with, I had been sleeping on my right side and I was sharing a room with my mum. It could have been around 4 or 5 in the morning. I am a light sleeper so though I was asleep, I had woken up -- but not fully -- and already, I could sense the telltale signs of the paralysis: my eyes were heavier, my legs grew numb and so did my arms and I felt like I was spinning. Mind you, scientists say sleep paralysis happens when you sleep on your back but I was still on my side, yet it was happening.

I can say with certainty that sleep paralysis is something you do not want to experience. It makes you feel completely helpless and at the mercy of anyone. No one wants to feel that, believe me.

Now usually as I grew accustomed to the paralysis, I knew that covering my entire body with my blanket would either make it stop or make it less creepy. So I'd usually do it within the shortest time possible, because if I let even a second go by, I'd be tempted to close my eyes. And that's the thing about sleep paralysis, you do not close your eyes. Ever.

So it was too late, I was already closing my eyes and before I knew it, I was completely paralyzed. All I had to do was wait for it to be over. And that was when it happened.

In my immovable state, I felt a long finger poke the back of my neck. It was so sudden that I couldn't even be scared. It stayed there for several seconds and all the while, I had my eyes open and staring at the other side of the bed. Then it went away.

Another thing about sleep paralysis is that sometimes, it feels as though you're dreaming and awake at the same time. One minute you're stuck and the next you're moving. Your breathing also increases as though you'd been holding your breath all that time.

Now my initial thought had been that my niece could have been the one touching me, but I then realized that it was late, and that she was in the other room with her mum. It was at that moment that I freaked out and I was able to move again. I turned reluctantly to see the other side of the room and there was no one but my mum who was asleep.

I didn't sleep again and stayed awake till the morning, and still I could that finger lingering on my neck for a week straight. I told my mum and family and they said it could have been a demon; I didn't know better so I went along with it. Maybe it could have been. Or I could let science give me an answer.