These stories are not particularly secrets, but they are not out in the open as well. All of these people who seemed to have normal lives keep their outrageous, unsettling facts in a space in between. But make no mistake—these stories are waiting to be told.
1. Almost Gone
My sister, who was six years old, and I, eleven years old, almost became the victims of a crazy and dangerous man back in my home country.
This person was impersonating one of my dad’s friends who was supposed to arrive at our house while we were alone, and my dad hadn’t gotten there. But for some reason, my gut feeling told me not to let him in. My dad wasn’t answering the phone, so I told my sister to call the neighbors while I entertained him and gave him a glass of water.
Our house had two doors, one wood, and one metal, so I could see him without him being able to come in. Eventually, he fled, and my father and his friend arrived later. My father only told the private guard that the community had…and that’s how they captured him.
It was a close call.
2. The Most Horrifying Time To Wake Up
My story is that I woke up in the middle of surgery and threw a mayo pan at a nurse before they pinned me back down and upped my dosage of substances. The keynote still had retractors in, so I briefly looked like an unalive space enemy.
I have a spotty memory of it. The sedation is very “hit and miss” with me. This has happened three times. Once during surgery, once during a nerve burn—never went out just paralyzed for about three minutes then started speaking during the procedure.
But the last was during a colonoscopy, and it was seriously painful. I asked the doctor if he was an old scout leader, he was laughing then asked the nurse if I was within range for another dose.
3. Mommy’s Little Boy Is A Man Now
When I was 11, I witnessed my stepdad acting very aggressively toward my mom. I was in my room when I heard my mom yell/scream, so I left my room to see what happened.
When I stepped into the hallway I could see partly into the kitchen, and she was standing with her back up against the corner of the countertop with a terrible look on her face and a swelling cheek.
My stepdad was about five feet away with three long bleeding scratches down his cheek from where she retaliated. I guess I didn't know how to react, so I just turned around and went back to my room.
That weekend I spent Friday night at my best friend's house. I knew his older brother had a dangerous tool in a hidden drawer he had built under his waterbed frame.
Before I left, I stuffed that tool into my rolled-up sleeping bag. I chickened out that first night, Saturday, but Sunday night, around 2 or 3 a.m., I think, I took the revolver into their room and woke him up by jamming it under his chin.
He woke up immediately and kind of reactively pulled his head back away from the barrel. I pushed it harder into his throat and said something like “Don’t ever hurt my mom again or I'll end you”.
I don't remember exactly what I said. I do remember feeling like the world was spinning 1000 mph around me and that I was weightless. I don't remember anything after saying that to him until I was back in my room.
I dropped everything on the floor and busted into the hardest sobbing I have ever experienced. It seemed like it lasted for hours. I don't know how long I actually cried but when I finally stopped, I was drenched in sweat/tears down my entire front side.
I put the tool in my backpack and snuck it back into that drawer under the waterbed two or three days later the next time I was at my friend's house.
Not a word was ever said about what I did by me or my stepdad, but as far as I know, he never touched my mom again. They divorced three or four years later.
I ran into my friend's brother at a bar about ten years later, and I told him about “borrowing” his tool thinking he would just laugh it off as me telling lies. He did not.
He believed me completely and even stated that sometimes when I was at their house, I would make little comments that his family understood to mean that my home life wasn't great.
He's a big biker type guy, and he just grabbed me, pulled me off the bar stool, and hugged me for like five straight minutes. He was a great dude.
This all sounds over dramatic after reading it back to myself but it's written exactly as I remember it. Thanks for the chance to share this. Until now, my friend's brother and my stepdad were the only others who knew about it.
4. Burning Man: A Man, Not A Festival
One-third of my body is covered in burn scars.
When I was 15, I was in a forest area near my school with several friends. We would go here often after school to talk and hang out before going home for supper. It was also common for us on colder days to start a small fire to keep warm.
The Netherlands is a very wet country, so there is rarely a fear of a fire getting out of hand. However, the boys are another story. Boys always act dumb around the fire.
One time when we were in the woods, a boy who had been playing with the fire had lit a stick and was walking around with it like a torch.
Somehow the stick or ember fell onto my school bag, which was hung over one shoulder, and caught fire. This also caught my jacket hair and skirt on fire as well as the backpack began to melt from the fire and drip onto my clothes. The scene instantly became chaotic.
Everyone panicked and by instinct, I ran back to the school. Running only made the fire worse. I was seen by an adult, a teacher, I think, and I was put on the ground and the fire was put out. But much damage had been done already.
I was taken to the hospital and the school called my parents. I was burned from the top of my head down onto the top of my leg just above my knee.
Much of the hair on one side of my head was burned away, but because hair burns quickly there was little damage to my face, more like a bad sunburn, except for on my neck and along my jawbone where my jacket and backpack burned.
My legs were mostly okay too as the skirt I was wearing was wool and did not burn easily and was away from my legs. But when I looked to my right, I was shaken. My right arm and body were not as well off. The jacket and the backpack had melted like hot plastic because they were synthetic material.
I was in the hospital for many weeks and had many surgeries throughout my life to help the skin grow and to graft skin from my legs onto parts of my chest and under my arm that were the most damaged.
If I wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt you cannot tell that I have any scars other than the line of scars that go up my neck on one side. Most of the time, I can hide those scars with makeup.
5. Into The Wild, All Alone
I’m slowly leaving society and don’t plan to tell anyone. I purchased a small piece of property, one small cabin in which I’ll live, and a second that has been remodeled for use as a rental to subsidize my income. I have two years of work left and have no intention of telling them either.
My parents are both gone, and my brother has been estranged for two decades. When I hit my monetary goal in a couple of years, I’m just not showing up for life anymore.
I’ve deleted all socials aside from Reddit as I use it for news and information to stay current until I leave the grid.
My phone will also be left behind. I plan to take a laptop to communicate with the rental agency and any issues with renters that may arise as I plan to act as the caretaker of said rental.
6. I Wasn’t Meant To Be Behind Bars
When I was 18 years old, I was behind bars for three years, found not guilty, and acquitted on all charges. I had roughly 12 charges, some of which would have led to life behind bars had I been found guilty, but I knew I was innocent and decided to fight my case.
My best friend at the time was found guilty and given three life sentences. At one point, one-and-a-half years in, the D.A. offered me seven years, and two felony strikes as a deal, or I could roll on my best friend and go home that same day.
I passed and had to continue to fight my case as I knew they didn’t have any solid evidence against me. As my parents ran out of money for an attorney, I was eventually appointed a State-appointed attorney who fought for me tooth and nail.
He was awesome and listened to everything I presented to him about why I wasn’t guilty.
Mind you, I was 18 and I was surrounded by grown men and saw some horrific stuff. I kept in contact with my attorney afterward and informed him that I was still doing well out here; he was gone now.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I was no Saint, I was in bed with some sketchy people and running the streets and up to no good, but I wasn’t guilty of these charges.
A part of me felt that maybe it was the universe's way of slowing me down and helping me get my stuff together. It took a short while, but I’ve been on the right track.
This February will be 20 years since I’ve been released.
7. Don’t Stay Silent, No Matter What It Takes
When I was around 15, a guy in our friend group tried to do very inappropriate things to one of the girls.
While the others, boys and girls, didn't react besides laughing and encouraging, I took the back of his shirt in my hands and slammed him on the ground.
Then, I sat on his chest and stopped him. I didn't feel anything apart from a primal rage and I didn't stop, even when he started crying and his eyes rolled over.
At this point, I don't think I would've stopped, and he wouldn’t have survived. But someone started pulling me back by my shoulders and I kind of regained consciousness of what I was doing.
I stood back and looked at him trying to breathe. He said I was crazy. I didn't say anything and just walked away with the girl in tears.
We never spoke again, didn't tell anybody, and this is the first time I have ever told someone.
8. There Will Be Blood
When I was about 10 years old, I threw a wooden ball at my brother’s head while we were fighting. That was bad enough, but it got worse. He was walking by our stairs at the time and fell, hit his head on the tile, and was knocked unconscious. There was a blood splatter under his head.
I backed up into the other room and returned to watching TV, pretending like I hadn’t seen anything. My mom heard the noise and found him. I only went to “see what was up” afterward—and the sight took me aback.
He was totally fine, the splatter looked like way more blood than it was, and he had barely a scratch on him. He didn’t remember how he fell.
I thought I had ended him, and my first thought was how I could get out of any consequences. I’m not sure what that says about my character.
9. Where Do I Belong?
It’s not exactly scary, but I was not born on the date of my birth certificate/driver's license. I was adopted about six to eight months after I was born. My biological mother was already gone when I was young, and I have no idea who my biological father is/was.
I've always felt like the black sheep of my adopted family. Even though they tried to make me feel like I was a part of the family, I never really felt it. I was always the son who could be counted on to help with anything and everything.
If I ever said "no" or if I was busy during the requested time, my parents would always guilt trip me into helping, regardless of what I was doing that day.
10. Guilt Trip
It’s not scary or unsettling but something I don't tell anyone. I was ten when my dad passed on, and I thought for years he was gone because of me. He was older and had a few heart attacks, I spent a good amount of time as a kid walking the halls of hospitals.
I would always draw him something, he'd get better and come home. I had drawn him something but didn't take it with us to visit. The next day/visit my mom sat me down and said he wouldn't be coming home anymore.
At first, I just thought he'd be at the hospital always like I'd have to say to friends I couldn't play because I had to go visit my dad.
Once I realized what happened I thought it was my fault for not bringing him his picture.
Oddly enough, all the husbands, my mom’s, mine, my sister’s, all went away to the same hospital, for the same-ish thing. My current husband jokes that it's something we put in the food.
11. Normal Person By Day, Fortune Teller By Night
I can predict the future. I can't control it and don't know how to control it. At the moment, I’m not interested in learning. It happens when I sleep in a dream format. I've predicted seven demises over the past 10 years.
For example: I had a dream that a college friend was in a hospital room with a man. The man was faceless and in a tux. My friend was in a wedding gown.
She started seizing and turned to dust and maggot rot starting with her chest. Her body turned into dust and maggots were in her lungs, the only body part that didn't decay.
They looked all shriveled and rotten. When I woke up, I learned my friend was gone that same night, while I was sleeping, from a condition known as cystic fibrosis, which she'd been struggling with for almost her entire life. She'd gotten married two weeks before her demise.
12. Number Than Ever
I have been sad or depressed, whatever you want to call it for so long I feel nothing. I always put on a little act to pretend to be excited, happy, whatever to make people feel like I'm there but inside there's just nothing anymore.
It scares me—Especially when I feel like I should be clearly and feeling something. Like on Christmas? I felt nothing.
13. When You Know, You Know
I don't know if this counts, but when I was a teenager, I saw a white, floating head staring at me when I walked into my room.
I immediately turned away and after a second or so, I went back in because, surely, I saw something else, and my brain just mistook it for a floating head. This was because brains are weird like that sometimes.
You see one thing but in reality, it's something else. But there was nothing there. Not only was there no head but there was also nothing there my mind could have warped into a head. Just my wall as it has always been. A boring, black wall.
Yes, my bedroom walls were black, I was an edgy teenager back then, and there was nothing close to white in that area of my room or anywhere close to it. Whatever, I don't think I had anything close to white around that time.
Was it a ghost? Probably not. I don't know what I saw and 20-something years later that image still lives clearly in my memory. I still don't believe in ghosts but I'm a bit less convinced of that belief since that day.
14. Dream Away
I have a sleeping disorder where I see things in the middle of the night. Usually when I'm about to fall asleep or just waking up.
They're usually extremely detailed and can vary from insects to people. I've had it since I was a little kid. At first, I thought they were real when I was a bit older, I thought I was crazy.
I know what it is now, so I just live with it. 75% of the time, I know they're hallucinations when it happens but sometimes I don't, which tends to freak out my girlfriend.
15. Secrets Between Me And The World Wide Web
When I was 16, I had a small period where I locked myself in my bedroom and made roughly ten back-to-back interview-style videos talking to myself.
I uploaded them to YouTube and forgot my password. They now live in perpetuity on the Internet and only three people in my life know about them. They were my pride and joy but bordered on creepy, unsettling, and awkward.
16. An Enigma Waiting To Be Solved
When driving home from a lifeguarding class at the local YMCA, I completely lost my sense of direction for no reason. I was probably 17 years old or so, completely aware of everything, and it was early evening.
I guessed several turns and then had to call my mom to give me turn-by-turn directions until I was on my street. This was pre-GPS. The original drive was only four turns…a very simple route that I’d done a bunch of times. Bloodwork showed nothing weird—but I new something was wrong.
I ended up losing the ability to read in a college class, and I also developed a horrible headache pain for roughly five agonizing minutes. It happened twice during a couple of weeks. We were like, “One more time and I’m getting an MRI”. It never happened again.
Now, 10 years later, I see a neurologist for migraines but different than that particular pain intensity and reading loss. I’ve also had an MRI in the last two years, and nothing was weird.
Might not be scary to you, but it’s scary to me.
17. Siblings Have Unexplainable Bonds
In 2019, the craziest thing happened one random morning when my senses went wild, and my heart raced out of control.
I felt like something was torn from me is the best way to explain it. It felt like someone had ripped my heart out. I physically felt pain and confusion and then suddenly the sensations were gone.
I found out a few hours later that my sister passed on at the same time I had this experience.
I felt her soul leaving her body, in my own body, although I didn’t know at the time what was happening to me or her.
I miss her.
18. My Body Is A Little Weird
Nearly the entire surface of my body is covered in myofascial adhesions, which limit my mobility, and my ability to inhale completely—I have been unable to for three years now—and contribute to severe joint pain and muscle tension.
If I’m physically exerting myself, and you hear a loud pop or crack, and I’m not in pain, it’s simply some of the adhesions coming loose, and I probably feel better, not worse, as a result.
I’m currently using physical therapy exercises and avoiding the allergen that contributed to the swelling that caused the adhesions to thicken, so I’m recovering, and have been for half a year.
Unfortunately, I’ve still got patches that are at least an inch thick, so I probably have another year or two to go.
19. A Big Sacrifice From A Scientist
I am a radiation worker who makes radioactive isotopes for the detection and treatment of cancer. In 2022, I got over the federal limit for radioactive exposure for radiation workers. By helping to prevent and treat this illness, I am increasing my own risk.
Alternatively, I may go blind in my right eye due to a toxoplasmosis infection as a fetus. My mom scooped the cat box while pregnant with me.
The infection left a dormant scar on my right eye extremely close to my optic nerve. If the “toxo” ever reactivates, the inflammation would damage my optic nerve.
20. The Real Spiderman
I used to catch crickets for fun—but I had a dark motive. I rip off their hind legs that they use for jumping, and feed them to a spider near my house.
I fed that spider for two years with caterpillars, mosquitos, crickets, stink bugs, etc. I never really realized the moral implications of catching and disembodying insects until I was older. I just wanted to feed my spider friend. I’m also not afraid of spiders at all.
21. Almost The End Of The Road
An active and very dangerous man crossed my path.
Around 10 years ago, I lived in an apartment complex next to a college. One day I came downstairs, walking out of a carport area to go to my car, and I noticed a lot of dust in the air, but towards the ground.
Then a man crossed my path about ten yards in front of me carrying a tool that can hurt a lot of people. He had a mask on and a backpack, he didn't seem in a hurry, and he wasn't looking around.
I'll admit I froze for a few seconds after he left my view, I think I was afraid to make a loud sound at the time. I ducked behind the car right next to me and started looking for my phone, Then a few guys in full swat gear came around the side of the building.
Two of them were already headed in the direction of this man, and another ran over and told me to get back inside my apartment. I remember when I got back upstairs to my apartment, I just sat on my couch stuck in my head for what seemed like an hour.
I've had a pretty scary life in general, but that was surreal.
22. Daddy’s Boy At Its Worst
My father hit me, sometimes with a closed fist. He even threatened my sister and me and even threatened to pull the trigger if my mom left him. He’s also addicted to certain substances.
That’s not the scary thing about me though. The scary thing about me is that my father is in me and can come out. People think I’m a nice person and I try to be a good person, but when I get angry, like really angry, he can come out.
This is why I don’t drink or do other things; I have to stay on top of it. I have the belt that my father liked to hit us with, he wanted me to have it for some reason. I keep it hanging so that I have to always see it and remind myself to keep myself in check.
23. An Outlandish Experience
About six years ago, I was walking my friend home from a New Year’s party. He was very intoxicated, and I wanted to make sure he got home safely.
I do not drink or anything and this was about 3:30 am. So, as I was coming back, I cut through some woods, then an alleyway, and I could hear this strange almost buzzing noise.
I come out the alley, look up, and see what I would call a UFO. I tried to video, but my phone didn’t work at all. I was freaking out and saw what looked like movement through a huge window, so I started running as fast as I could.
I came out to a main road, I stopped and looked behind me, and it was moving in the same direction as me. I kept running down the road.
My last memory is seeing a brown goldy color car. The guy got out and looked up and then looked at me. He was visibly shaking as was I.
Then, I’m standing about 500 meters from where I first saw it. Now it's 7 a.m., and my girlfriend has called me like 20 times. I’m confused but I run home as fast as I can.
Only ever told this to my girlfriend and two of my closest friends. I also had marks on my legs, arms, and chest area.
24. Talking’ 2 Myself
This is probably pretty tame.
I catch myself talking out loud. It’s always working through an argument, explanation, or making a case to someone in a real situation in my life. I know they aren’t in front of me but just practicing.
I’ll be halfway through talking and only then realize how loud I’m being. Sometimes I start doing it when I’m making a conscious effort to hold back.
But here's the thing—that only happens when I’m angry with someone. When I’m happy and relaxed, I don’t slip into talking out loud without realizing it.
I only do it when I’m alone.
No idea if related, but I have suffered from depression and have a mental illness. I am on medication for both.
25. This Is Unsettling
This is not scary but weird.
I had a habit as a child of overly clipping my toenails so that they hurt and bleed, especially the pinky toenail, which I would try to rip out as a whole from time to time and chew on.
Never knew why I did it, but now I have ingrown toenails, and my pinky toenails just fall off on their own when they grow to a certain length.
It's genuinely the reason why I don't like wearing flip-flops or sandals or any open-toe footwear. It is because people always notice them.
B. Iva's photography, Shutterstock
26. Did I Just See That?
I have some anxiety attacks, where I can't breathe, and it creates a very strange noise—like an asthmatic trying to catch his breath but with some strange gulp of a drowning fish.
I am at school five days a week, and when it happens, I isolate myself in the toilets not to be seen by my friends.
I usually hold my breath when someone comes in because I don't want to be heard. But one time, I couldn’t and just tried to make the noise much lower.
The girls heard me and ran away. As they didn’t see me, I thought it was just fine and that they wouldn't bother someone who was crying.
But the next day, I heard a rumor that there was a ghost in the female bathroom of the school. So, I became a so-called ghost!
27. Bye Bye Emotions
This is not scary, but I won't feel pain or grief if someone close to me is gone. I just feel a bit of pain on the outside of my heart but on the inside, I feel nothing. I just feel empty.
I am like that because when I was nine or ten years old my cat’s life ended but I didn't believe it when my parents told me this.
The next day, I asked again where the cat was and they told me again that he was gone and then I understood that he was, but I thought that it was too late to grieve. So, I kind of locked away the feelings, and from that time I never felt grief again.
28. Who’s Your Daddy?
I don't know who the father of my baby is. My husband rushed me to get back together, but I was not sure I wanted to and was still seeing another man.
I told my husband this, but he pushed. I should have never caved in—I got pregnant in 2021 and lost the baby, then I withdrew and I didn't want to see either of them.
I got pregnant again in July 2022, and my cycles were strange. The baby was ahead of the date, and I was so happy that I was having this rainbow baby. I was so happy that ignored the reality of not knowing who the father was until recently. I haven't told anyone.
My husband believes it is his, and I only recently told the other guy about the child. He insists on a DNA test, which he is entitled to. Although, he has convinced himself he is the father. Things just got more messed up from that point on.
I'm planning on not replying to him entirely soon because he can't stay responsible, even after all this time and he has said he doesn't know if he even wants to be a dad.
My husband is a fantastic father to our children, and he has been 100% behind with this baby, and he is invested. I know I am 100% at fault and dug my own grave, not once, but twice because I'm an indecisive coward.
I can accept that. What I can't accept is that I did it selfishly and in a state of grief for a lost child, and now this child may pay the consequences.
29. Not Even Regretting It
I betrayed a friend. He was leaving his wife, and how he did it didn't sit right with me, not that it was my business, so I cut contact and tried to sleep with his wife. Almost successfully.
I'm a woman.
The funny thing is, I'm so fickle that if I'd heard it from him first, I'd have been on his side and most likely tried to sleep with him.
Another funny thing, I do feel slightly guilty, but I don't regret it.
30. Fire In The House
I was almost gone from a dangerous smoke inhalation from a fire my friends started in a cave for a skit we were filming for a school project.
They started a fire, but then to make it burn harder sprayed random chemicals into the fire. The fumes filled the cave. They threw down two gallons of water to put the fire out, but they exploded on the ground on the descent into the cave, making the hill muddy and slippery.
My friends are much smaller and spryer, but I have a dumpy 6'6" body. So, they managed to get out, but I struggled to climb out and couldn't.
At some point, someone threw down a rope, which I was told I grabbed, and someone helped push me up from behind. I don't remember much after the rope was thrown down.
Once outside, I caught my breath and came back to life. I pulled my yo-yo out of my pocket and started doing tricks like I hadn't just almost said goodbye to the world. My friends were freaked out about it, that I was almost gone, and it just didn't impact me at all.
31. Please Don’t Call Me A Weirdo
I have two things. I rip out my body hair, never facial hair or head hair, but if the hair becomes too long or too pullable, it’s coming out.
Sometimes I rip off the skin around my fingers, but that’s less so these days. It doesn’t hurt anymore; I just feel relief when they’re gone.
The other one is that I have very serious sleep issues, where I will get up and act out my dreams. So, let’s say I’m having a dream where I’m doing amazingly well in a game of limbo.
To whoever sees me, I’m just walking on my tiptoes leaning very far back like a supernatural being. It scares my partner a lot.
32. A Very Troublesome Gameplan
Before I say this, I just want to clarify that this was an extremely dark period of my life that I’ve been on medication and getting therapy for several years now, and that I’m feeling much better and have no desire to do such a thing.
But I once planned a very alarming incident. I was going to leave a homemade explosive on a city bus. A former friend of mine found out and informed the authorities to come and get me, so I planned to end him too.
None of this ever happened. Looking back, I don’t know what I was thinking. The brain is a scary place.
33. I’m A Miracle Child
I've had more than three surgeries before I was six months old. Then, at almost three years old, I had another one as an emergency as the doctors said to my mom: "If we don't do this surgery now, she'll be forever deaf-mute".
At 14 years old, my immune system was an absolute wreck, and took me more than one and a half years to recover.
At 27, I had surgery to treat my endometriosis.
At 31-33, I had three major brain surgeries and three weeks of radiotherapy.
I guess it's fair to say that I had my fair share of surgeries throughout my 34 years of life.
34. No Privacy Left
When I started talking to my ex, I was contacted by a tech wizard. I was the subject of an orchestrated incident, not knowing at the time that my ex was the one who ordered it. He used to be a part of the tech people who invade your privacy and knew many people.
The ex-still denies being a part of the incident to this day, but it was all way too convenient. It forced me to admit things I would have never admitted, and they made me do things I never would’ve done if it wasn’t for them.
The videos of me are probably out there on the dark web, photos of me. I’ve lived in fear for about one-and-a-half years until it suddenly stopped. Though I’m pretty sure they’re still following me, I kind of stopped caring about it.
35. See You On The Other Side
I had a completely freak accident in December 2007. I coded in the ambulance. I was resuscitated and then coded again. Rinse and repeat for 40 minutes. To this day, I don’t know how long my brain went without oxygen, but some things changed immediately afterward.
The truly unsettling part, for me, was that I grew up with an unhinged religious mother, so I knew all about heaven and such, yet I saw nothing on the other side.
I think end-of-life hallucinations are extrapolated from a person’s beliefs, and I didn’t have faith in God when it happened.
I didn’t know what to believe, so my brain didn’t know what to project. I remember darkness, and then a feeling of not being. I can’t describe anything like it. And no, it didn’t make me believe in God.
36. All I See I Dollar Signs
I inherited a lot of money from my grandmother about two years ago that no one in my family knew existed. I still don't know where it came from, her lawyer wouldn't tell me, but it's in the upper seven figures.
My father, my grandmother’s son, got the flat she owned, and we all thought that was everything she had. It wasn't but I haven't told anyone about it, and I don't plan on doing so either.
I just work a normal eight-to-five desk job, rent a flat downtown in the City I live in, nothing expensive, and live a normal life on my own. No partner or children, no expensive vacations, and I don't even have a car. I just don't feel comfortable sharing this secret and the longer I keep it the stranger it would get telling it.
37. I Knew Something Was Wrong
This is a weird one, but I promise you, no kidding.
I had a metal bolt roughly an inch and a half long stuck in my right lung from age 2-17. I must have put it in my mouth as a toddler and it got in there somehow.
Anyway, the unsettling bit is that I always knew there was something seriously wrong with my body because my whole life I would have instances in which I coughed uncontrollably, many times coughing up blood.
Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. But I never told anyone. My dad was neglectful, and my mom was always working, so it was relatively easy to hide.
If it happened at school, I’d excuse myself to the restroom until it stopped. No one ever showed concern for 15 years, so I guess I kept it to myself well enough.
I never told anyone, because even as a small child I was very unhappy with life and wanted it to be over. I guess I figured my mystery illness would get me eventually, so I kept it a secret so I wouldn’t get treated.
It all came to a head at 17 when I was playing ball at the park with my parents, siblings, and some friends. I got a decent hit and ran around the bases when I started coughing.
After sitting back down I tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t… and this time it was too bloody to hide and no bathroom to go to.
So, my step-uncle noticed after a minute or two, that everyone was crowded around me while I was coughing up a bucket load of blood in and around a trash can.
My little brother told me after that they sent guys in suits to clean it up because they didn’t know if whatever was wrong with me was contagious.
But anyway, I got to the hospital and got the X-ray which showed the bolt lit up like Christmas imposed over my rib cage. The doctor guy just went “Well there’s your problem!”, I guess he was trying to lighten the mood since everyone was understandably freaking out.
Two weeks of surgery, three total, and it was out. I still have breathing issues, but the cough is gone now. I made the bolt into a necklace which I wear sometimes because I find it oddly comforting to be reminded of my mortality.
I know that’s weird, but it’s just sort of how I am all things considered. I never told my family I knew there was something wrong with me, because telling them would mean admitting to them that I wanted to end my life the whole time.
I still struggle with mental health stuff for this and many, many other reasons I won’t get into, but things are a lot easier than they used to be.
But anyway, if you took the time to read about my weird little life, I appreciate your time and hope your day is pleasant.
38. Red One Or The Blue One?
I’ve never seen a color because I’m 100% colorblind. Unlike most people with full-color blindness, I have no other ill-side effects. My vision is actually “20 to 10” I just see everything in shades of grey.
I am an HVAC and plumbing tech/business owner, and it’s never really affected me. If I’m alone and can’t figure out wire colors, I test multiple times to verify. My wife also will never take me clothes shopping with her because asking if a certain color looks good means nothing to me.
39. A Night Owl
I only sleep four hours a night. A while back, I had a really bad seizure and I think it scrambled my brain. Ever since then, I just can't sleep more than four hours with seemingly zero negative side effects.
My doctor is very closely monitoring my situation. This has been going on for like 15 years. However, sometimes I sit up during the night and essentially sleep there. My girlfriend used to freak out because I would just sleep like that some nights for four hours.
40. I Am Done!
I don’t know if I’m going to be honest, but my mother used to gaslight me so badly as a kid. I never knew it was called gaslighting. When I was a kid, she’d lock me in the car with her and scream in my ears about pointless nonsense and I couldn’t leave.
She was a narcissist and was always full of herself and constantly put me down. It got dark—really dark. When I was 11, I strapped a headband around my throat and fell asleep with it. She came into my room in the middle of the night.
Then, I woke up embarrassed because I was trying to end my life at 11. My embarrassment saved me. And she wonders to this day why I have limited contact with her. I can’t convince a narcissist it’s their fault. Oh well.
41. What If?
When I was 19, I needed to turn my car in for routine maintenance, and for whatever reason I had the appointment set at 7 a.m. I spent the night at my parents’ house, my mom and stepdad’s home, and that morning my mom was nice enough to follow me to the auto shop and drive me back home before she went to work/get ready for the day.
I remember that it had randomly been a weekend I was home from college break, and I had extended my stay for a couple of days because I didn’t know. I felt like I needed to be around family.
Anyway, my mom and I couldn’t have gone for 30 minutes—to and from the auto shop, including the drop-off since it was local. When we arrived back home…
There was something eerie about the house that didn’t feel right. My mom went into her bedroom to tell my stepdad we were back, and she immediately screamed, somehow, I knew that my stepdad was gone.
I walked into the room and there’s just… something about seeing the purple and blue of someone’s skin that sticks with you.
Anyways, to this day, I sort of blame myself that had we been there for that 30 minutes we could have done something to save him. Or at least I don’t know, had him around with us today. It’s been a hard six, going on seven years without him now.
Unfortunately, my mom’s drinking all the time and hasn’t recovered from his demise but yeah, it is very sad.
42. My Secret Garage
I suffer from PTSD.
I’m quiet, shy, keep to myself, and I usually don't reveal anything about myself to my friends/ family all that much.
Nobody knows I have a garage out in the boonies with a custom-built 1967 Ford Mustang sitting in there.
I drive a Toyota Van for my business and daily vehicle. My friends have nice cars and always ask me to get a nice car as well, but I always say I'm alright.
The garage is my old man's old workshop from the 90s. He used to be a Mechanic/sell car. When he passed, I took ownership. He was an only child, his parents never married, and he also had the Mustang.
I rarely get the time to go to the garage with work and life. But it's my safe place away from the world. The old man had its setup like an impenetrable fortress, with cameras, alarms, and heavy doors. It's like Fort Knox.
The old man had a severe mental disorder like mine as well. So, the garage is always secured 364 days a year.
I live my life much like the rest of the world 99% of the time. I drive my van, I go to work, I don't socialize too much, and I don't have a lot of friends. But now and then I see some people, when everyone's busy at work, away on holiday, or asleep.
I make the drive out to the garage get in that Big Block supercharged car and send it out of this planet. It has an old V8 supercar engine in it.
If you're in Sydney and you hear the sound of God himself on the A9 at 2 am in the morning once a year. It's probably not me...
I don't go to car meets. No one in my family or friends knows the existence of this car or the garage. It's a complete defect. However, it is registered. I don't take photos of it. However, I have multiple photos of me and the old man in it as a kid, it stays hidden from the world.
43. Is There A Frog Heaven?
Once, when I was a kid, I took a frog’s life with a rock. Like, I smashed it by throwing the rock in the air and purposefully letting it land on the frog a few times.
I don’t remember if I was peer pressured into it, but my best friend at the time was a real weird person, so maybe, but I’ve never forgotten it and still feel awful.
I’ve often thought “Does this mean I’m destined to be a bad person who ends lives?” And other weird stuff like that. I was like seven at the time, but I remember it. I’ve had countless pets since then.
I’m in my mid-thirties now, and my pets are my children, but I’ll never forget about that frog and how senselessly cruel I was to it, and I’ll always feel bad.
I've never talked about this before and I don’t know why this thread is the one where I felt like sharing it. I hope he’s happy in frog heaven and knows I’m deeply, terribly sorry.
44. I Want To Keep Everything
I am a hoarder. Not to the point of cat stuff on the walls or anything like that. I take out any garbage that can potentially smell bad. But I am drowning in pure clutter. Bins, boxes, paper-related junk everywhere. A wrapper falls, and it might be there for months.
The worst part? I'm aware I have a problem, but I won't do anything about it.
I think this is considered a bonafide mental disorder now. I know I have a huge problem on my hands, but I am trying to keep it "under control" at the moment. I won't let anyone inside my home though. The thought of anyone seeing it all freaks me out.
45. I Dig You
Sometimes, when I'm home alone on weekends and the wife is away, I get undressed, go out to our garden, and start to dig. The digging usually takes me around four hours on Friday. I dig a hole large enough for me to descend into and be in the sleeping position comfortably.
I then wake up Saturday morning and eat a breakfast that consists of hash browns only. I eat until I am satiated then get into my hole. I cover myself as best I can and proceed to pretend, I am a potato.
I stay this way for the remainder of the weekend. When the time comes to a close, I protrude from my hole get in a makeshift rucksack diaper of sorts, and then sit in a cleaned-out cupboard until I deem it appropriate.
I then come out of the cupboard and scrub myself until I am clean. I tell myself that I am an excellent little potato while I scrub the earth from my crevices.
One day I will bask in the holy oil and become a mighty French fry, but alas, not this day.
46. Miracle Baby
I was born with my heart pointing, or rotated, towards the right. I found this when I got pneumonia when I was a month old. It got so bad they were about to put me on ventilators, and I was almost gone.
My dad was prepared for the news as he’s a cardiologist himself, but I miraculously survived and was okay a day later. Without ventilators or anything. Just perfectly fine. My parents believe it was this guy who helped us pray because in medical terms there was no explanation.
My heart is in the right place too now I don’t know what that was. And no, I did not move while X-rays, it was taken multiple times to be sure.
47. Stalker Or A Good Observer?
This is not physically unsettling, but if I see you online and think you're pretty, I will find everything about you. I mean your social media, the country where you live, your Zillow profile, everything.
And I will notice every detail about someone, it's cute when I know what you like and what day you hang out with grandpa, but not when I know when you sleep or when you wake up.
48. Not A Tragedy If You Ask Me
I used to be an officer. One morning my partner went to wake up someone who was behind bars early in the morning, so they had time to make their court appearance later in the day. Meanwhile, I stayed in the control room overlooking the wing.
She opened his cell door and discovered he was hanging by his shoelace. We called it in, and she cut him down and started CPR despite seeing the blood in his eyes and his throat all swollen up. But it was too late—he was already gone.
Training and procedure state, it doesn't matter, we have to do what we can. I ran at full speed to assist, and she was losing it. She said, "He is not alive, what do we do?", I told her to stop so she could have a minute and I took over.
I started chest compressions and felt the ribs snap and break. I gave him mouth-to-mouth and continued CPR. After six minutes or so, other officers arrived on the scene and took over. They did CPR over a few minutes, feels like half an hour.
Everyone was talking about how we could have the rest of the week to recover and asking if we were okay. I felt fine. I told people this and their response made me nervous: "It hasn't hit you yet".
A few hours went by, and the officer I was with was in tears. I still felt okay. The next few days went by and the officer I was with took a few days off. I was fine.
She tells me how she wakes up in the middle of the night and while half asleep, sees her dressing gown hung up and, in her half-sleepy state thinks it's a hanging body. She sits up screaming. I am fine.
Weeks go by and I still have no feeling toward the matter. Now it's been three years and I still don't care about the whole matter. Turns out, people’s demise doesn't faze me in the slightest.
The only thing that stuck with me, is the feeling and sound of his bones cracking and snapping. I felt the vibrations up my arms for days afterward.
Death doesn't bother me, but bones cracking as I try to bring him back do.
Pretty sure that isn't normal.
49. A Very Dark Story
This is less scary and more shocking, but when I was younger, I survived a home invasion. In ended up hurting myself in a scuffle with the intruder, but I managed to hide in a closet and I called the authorities.
When the coast was clear, my fight-or-flight response kicked in—I crawled with my left arm swinging the wrong way and my right leg limp from nerve damage, all the way to the front door.
The man heard the commotion I was making, but he had broken in from the back of the house so he didn't get to me in time. Luckily, I made it out just in time for the authorities to arrive.
I lived with only my mother who unfortunately didn't survive. I vividly remember picking out the guy in a photo lineup while recovering in the ICU.
I am very lucky to have kept my left arm, I have 13 pins and screws to make up for my shattered elbow. My left leg has permanent nerve damage and I now have "drop foot". Despite my physical injuries and my mental problems, I am doing very well.
50. Cement?
This was back when I was seven, I was playing tag with the other kids in the neighborhood, and I was 'it'. For some reason, our special rule at that specific game was “You can throw something and if it hits someone, they're it”. So basically, it's a ranged tag.
Anyway, the seven-year-old me took that to heart, and in the spur of the moment, I picked up whatever I could find and threw it. What I did shocked everyone...including myself—I hit one of the kids with a cement block.
He was okay in the end, but the back of his head was bleeding a lot. We moved away two years later. Hope he's doing okay now; he was a pretty chill kid.
Zapylaiev Kostiantyn, Shutterstock
