Hi, my name is Roxi. I have always been interested in the paranormal/supernatural and love horror novels and movies. I have had a couple run-ins with what I believe is the otherside/paranormal, but the one that chills me to the bone is one that I have no memory of. This is basically an account of the stories my mom has told me over the years that I’ve pieced together and only recently has she revealed the name of my childhood imaginary friend, Joshua.
(I knew no Josh or Joshua’s at this time either..) She says I was around 3 when I started talking about a young boy named Joshua who was “older than me but younger than mommy”. For reference my mom was about 20 years old at this time.
I told her I found him in the corner of my bedroom, “broken and beaten up”. I guess I said something about “his daddy hurting him” and that was the reason he was broken. Now at the beginning, even though the broken part and dad beatings were somewhat disturbing, she didn’t want me to feel weird about it and tried to brush it off as a childhood imagination and the normalcy of an imaginary friend. So she just kind of said “oh, ok” and played along.
After this she said every morning she would wake up and find our pictures and crosses off the walls and I told her that Joshua did it, because he said crosses were bad or it was bad to hang them up or something like that. My mom was married at the time and my stepdad believed that I was doing these things and using Joshua as an excuse. And I mean who knows maybe I was but I wonder how high up the pictures and crosses were and if I was old enough to even make up something like that or play the blame game. Oh well things to consider I guess..
Stepdad was in the Army and this was the early 90s so he was deployed to the Gulf War and was gone for a lot of the creepier stuff. Now I think Joshua had been around for about a year or so for this next part.
There was one morning I was at the kitchen table eating breakfast and started giggling and looking under the table. Mom asked me what I was doing and I told her that Joshua was tickling my toes under the table. Mom plays along and tells Joshua to knock it off so I can finish eating. Then I guess I start talking to him again and mom asks what he is up to now. I tell her he is trying to get water, then suddenly the faucet starts running water, full blast. My mom screams and runs outside the apartment apparently for just a minute because she says she gathered herself and came back in and I was just totally unphased still eating breakfast. She calls the landlord and he fixes the sink she says something was loose or whatever, trying to make sense and rationalize the whole thing.
I think a few months later we moved, I don’t think it was because of Joshua or anything but just because we found something better. Joshua must have followed us because I kept talking to him and about him. The same Joshua stuff continued with the pictures and crosses being taken down for another year or so at this new place.
Then one day mom hears me telling Joshua to “stop that, you aren’t allowed to do that”. Mom comes in and I am standing in my doorway scolding Joshua and she comes over to look in and asks what he did wrong. I say “he’s jumping on my bed and we aren’t allowed to do that”. Suddenly the bed breaks.
Now my mom is totally over it and tells me that Joshua has to leave. She just speaks to the space in the room and says “Joshua this is enough, you have to leave”. I guess later this same day mom was in a bath and I came in and told her that Joshua was sad and didn’t want to leave because wanted to be with my mom and I. Mom said he could only stay if he promised to behave. She says after that it all just stopped, no more talking to or about Joshua, no more breaking things, no more crosses or pictures off the wall.