Kids’ Insanely Creepy "Imaginary Friends"
Lots of kids have imaginary friends—it's a normal part of growing up. But a child's imagination can go to some shocking places...
1. Don’t Stick Around
When my daughter was around four years old, she had an imaginary friend named Jack who lived under our back porch. He liked to shove sticks down people's throats. I told her that maybe Jack wasn't the nicest person to hang out with!
2. Child’s Play
My youngest sister, who was four at the time, had an imaginary friend named Paris Jaris.
My dad built her a small playhouse in our backyard where my mom could monitor her from the kitchen, and my sister would have tea parties and such with her imaginary friend. One day, my mom heard her say, “
Don’t worry, as long as I’m alive, they won’t hurt you.”
She then paused for a moment and said, “Well, if you do that, then I can’t help you; it’s not nice to kill people.” When my mom asked her what that was about, my sister said, “
Sometimes I have to tell Paris to be a nice person, or he can’t visit anymore.” We moved not too long afterward, and she didn’t get a new playhouse.
3. The Shoe Story
Most of my extended family live around the same area, so we have lots of gatherings. For the backstory, one of my uncles (let's call him Steve) lost a childhood friend when he was seven.
Steve and his friend (let’s call him Jack) were having a playdate one afternoon and got a bit dirty in some mud. So, Steve’s mother gave Jack a pair of Steve’s shoes to borrow.
When Jack’s father came to pick him up after the playdate, they forgot to take Jack’s shoes back, and Jack accidentally got into the car while still wearing the shoes he’d borrowed from Steve.
Tragically, the father and Jack got into a terrible car crash on the way home, and seven-year-old Jack passed. I’m not sure why, but the family had him buried in the shoes he had borrowed from Steve.
Fast-forward 30 years to a family gathering in 2010. My six-year-old cousin Sara is playing alone with some toys in a quieter room of the house. My Uncle Steve comes up to her and asks her what she is playing.
Sara responds, saying that she is playing with a friend. Holding back a smile, Steve asks who her imaginary friend is.
Sara continues to play while saying that she is playing with his old friend Jack and that “he is sorry he forgot to give your shoes back.” My uncle’s jaw nearly dropped.
He had not talked about Jack in years, let alone tell that story to a six-year-old. No one had brought up Jack that day nor at any family gathering recently. Every time I remember this incident, I get chills.
4. Hot Air
My daughter had two imaginary friends when she was about eight. The first one's name was Lucy. Apparently, Lucy had asthma, and one day we were driving in the car with the windows down. It was summer, and the AC wasn't working, so it was pretty hot.
My daughter was sitting in the front seat, and she said Lucy was sitting on the floor between her legs.
All of a sudden, my daughter started screaming and crying because Lucy had an asthma attack and died because she was so hot. She later got a replacement friend. Her name was Keeshe, and according to my daughter, she was Japanese and Jamaican.
Well, Keeshe was mean, and she used to bite people, so my daughter said she had to “get rid of her.”
Whatever that meant.
