§94

‘At the time I was, I think, around five to six years old, maybe a bit older. In my bedroom was a wooden play box which I was very afraid of. The reason for this was I would often hear voices coming from inside the box and these voices belonged to very tiny men – a bit like gnomes – who would come and go from the box. This happened over a period of time and I heard them often. I can still recall the voices but in describing the men I am not at all sure now. I heard them far more than seeing anything. After moving house the box was no longer in my room and I never heard voices coming from it again. I still don’t like the box – it’s now a blanket box and in my dad’s house. I cannot remember ever saying anything about this to anyone else.’ ‘I really can’t remember [their appearance] apart from [them] being very small and gnome like.’ ‘This was the only time I have experienced with anything resembling such a small entity so in my mind as a child gnomes were the nearest thing to explaining what was going on. I still think about what happened now and again as I remember how scared I was but could they have been something else. I don’t know.’ ‘I don’t know whether I believe in them or not.’ ‘I did have a number of encounters with the paranormal as a child/teen and even the odd one now. I would tell my mum when I was little things about people and places that I couldn’t have known – bit like past life experiences I guess. This was not a regular thing – just now and again. So to me I think of all these experiences as being linked.’