Vanessa Westburgh - Realms Of Reality: A true account of all aspects of the paranormal

Realms of Reality.
This is my story about personal experiences with all aspects of the paranormal. An amazing journey filled with both fear and excitement. It began with random events and eventually it spirals beyond comprehension.

By Vanessa Westburgh

My Brother and I were being raised by our Grandmother and Father as our Mother had been hospitalised in a mental hospital, due to having had a nervous breakdown. We lived in London`s East End and lived in flats that backed onto a graveyard. My Brothers bedroom backed onto the graveyard and he was terrified to sleep in his bedroom. We had our toys in his bedroom and used to stand guard over each other when one of us wanted to retrieve a toy. Our Dad had his flat directly next door to our Nan, he had number eight and Nan had number seven. We would sleep at Dads flat but be woken up by our Nan in the morning and brought through to her flat next door to get washed, dressed and have breakfast. We would spend our time at Nans until it was time for bed and then we would be taken back next door to bed. Nans living room window faced the graveyard too. She had the dinner table placed directly at that window which was rather a large window. I would sit and look out at the tall trees which dominated the view. Well when I was just six years old I was served my dinner at Nans table, it was a lovely plate of sausage`s, chips and beans. Nan asked my permission for her to pop downstairs to the shop while I sat eating. The shop was just across the street so it was not an issue. I allowed her to go. I tucked into my lovely food, it was about one o`clock in the afternoon. I suddenly heard a vibrating sound, pulsing, heavy sounding. I paused eating and listened to where this sound may be coming from. I looked at the window and a dark shadow slowly caste over the window, from above gradually descending, until I could see it, a glasslike dome hovering outside my window, with two pilots sat staring blankly at me through the glass. Just the other side of my window. I stared straight back bewildered at what I was seeing. They wore white helicopter pilot`s helmets, brown flying jackets, beige trousers and knee high black boots. They hovered there for about two minutes although it felt longer. Then it went back up slowly the same way it had come down. I sat there, staring, confused, not believing what just happened. My Nan returned shortly and I couldn`t wait to tell her about it and see if she had seen it also. Nan, Nan, did you see the helicopter that came down? I asked, she said she didn`t see anything. I felt still a bit excitable because of what I`d seen, but I daren`t say anything else about it in case she told my Dad and I`d get in trouble for telling tales. I daren`t mention it again, it was best forgotten.

I always felt sensitive, that there was something around, lurking nearby, watching me. It unnerved me at the best of times. When I was alone it felt strong and I dreaded bed times. When in bed I would pull the bedclothes up to my face and breathe quietly. I believed if I was quiet that attention wouldn`t be drawn to me.

One morning a strange thing happened when my Nan was coming to wake me up. I was about 6 years old. It would`ve been around 7 o clock in the morning. I was experiencing an out of body experience. I was floating up high in the air, as my Nan entered our flat. She could not see me and I had no ability to communicate with her. I was aware but it was strange. I wasn`t in control in any way at all. As she headed down the passageway to my bedroom, I hovered just above her and ahead of her the whole way. I reversed through my bedroom door keeping pace with her. I automatically returned to my body which was lying in bed still. As I connected with my body I was still alert and my Nan leant over me saying wake up. I informed her that I was awake and saw her the whole time. She shrugged it off and told me that I was asleep and there was no way that I could have seen her. I was confused but I know what happened even if I couldn`t explain it. I know what I did, I know what I saw, but who will believe this, especially when you are a child. My family didn`t entertain things like this so it was a case of just dealing with it yourself.

My Dad was a serious man and no one would challenge him. He worked hard and had a routine. My Nan did what she could for my brother and I, bless her. We weren`t always easy and believe me when we played her up she beat us or we got a clip round the ear, but when our Dad got home and found out we would get a real thrashing. We were afraid of him to quite an extent. He was powerful, educated and could hold his own. He also grew up in the east End and was a hard man. We knew a few things and daren`t cross him.

Our Nan was a Jewish woman, not religious but tough. She was gentle sometimes but always fair. I did what I could to help her sometimes, from polishing her ornaments to taking her washing to the launderette. One day when I was about 9 years old, I was heading to the butchers for her, when an old man stopped me in the street. He said hello, how`s your mum?. I presumed he meant my Nan as I was being raised by her and was always with her. She`s ok thank you, I replied innocently. He nodded and smiled. There was something creepy about him and I began to feel uncomfortable. Meet me near the railway bridge he said. Ok I replied. I headed off to the butchers as fast as I could. I felt nervous now, this wasn`t right. I headed home and could see the man lurking in the street opposite my home. I ran upstairs to my Nan and told her. We both looked out of the window and my Nan was afraid. Get away from the window she said, I moved quickly. She didn`t know him. I was so glad that I ran home and didn`t meet him to find out why. He wore a long mustard coloured trench coat, was about 60, but was a bit stocky and was confident. A bit rough and slightly unshaven. Weird. We stood peeping through the curtains for the longest time, like an hour or more. He lingered for ages before leaving.

Another time around the same age, I was again at my Nans when there was a knock at the door. I didn`t normally answer the door as I wasn`t allowed to, but on this occasion I answered the door. There was a tall woman standing there and she reached out and grabbed my right wrist. I pulled hard to make her let go. She held on tight, I pulled and pulled, it was weird, she was almost zombie-like. Rigid, staring emptily at me, yet holding on tight. I yelled out to my Nan. My Nan appeared, looked at the woman and what she was doing, then tried to part our hands. It didn`t work so my Nan resorted to a good old karate chop which thankfully did the trick. We disappeared inside the flat really quick slamming the door behind us. We both had no idea who this lady was but I was definitely banned from answering the door now. Freaky events like this were happening frequently, and often. Nothing like this was going on in the lives of my cousins or friends so why was it happening to me. I did notice that my brother felt the same. He too was nervous of the dark and had confidence issues. He had trust issues and played up often. He was always getting into trouble. He was hard work and Dad was always thrashing him or punishing him for something. Yet I didn`t discuss anything with my brother, well not yet anyway. There was enough to contend with in everyday life to bother focussing on something that might not be explainable, because these things do not exist or happen, right? We will see.

By the time I was 9 years old the family had to move out so that the building could be re-modernised. We went from Whitechapel to Bow. The new property was a new build on a new development. We were all so excited. I had a small bedroom that had a balcony outside attached to it, I felt so lucky. I could see the playground from my balcony. The downfall was that I shared my balcony with the neighbours next door. My brother`s bedroom was next door to my bedroom and Dads bedroom was down the hallway. Our Nan had her flat a few blocks away but it didn`t bother us as she seemed happy and we would see her every day as we had always done. Dad had met a woman and was seeing her on a regular basis. It wasn`t too long before she moved in. We were excited as we hadn`t had a mother figure and it was so nice to have a motherly essence in the home. She seemed fun and we spent more time now at home which was good as it gave our Nan a break at last.