I awoke suddenly to a sense of fear and foreboding. A shiver ran down my spine. There was someone in the house – more than one person, for I heard voices. They were not loud, but not a whisper either. There was almost a reverential sound to the words. Of course, I couldn't hear clearly from that distance. I couldn't hear the words, although my hearing is very acute – better than most, so I've been told.

I rose from my bed and crept down the stairs. The door to the sitting room was slightly ajar, and I could just see two figures seated on the settee and talking in what seemed concerned tones. Who were they? I didn't believe in ghosts – not until this moment anyway.

Now I was close enough, outside the door and so not seen, to hear more clearly some of their conversation. Do ghosts talk? Yes – and not necessarily in sepulchral tones.

“When did it happen?”

“I’m not sure. Must have been in the night sometime.”

“So what now?”

“How should I know?”

“If anyone comes, they will want to know how we got here.”

“We can always hide.”

Do ghosts hide? I suppose they do disappear. I stood there, at that partially opened door, and froze. The fear heightened. Do ghosts harm you? Could I go and get help from somewhere? But if I did, who would believe me? Why did I think that this was some kind of apparition? Because I had not heard anyone enter the house. Because I did not recognise the figures there – although admittedly it was still quite dark and they had not put on a light. But somehow I knew that something wasn't right. I even felt different in myself since I’d gone to bed last night. I don’t remember much about that, come to think. The past seems somehow vague, unclear, and almost lost to me. I had collapsed on my bed exhausted. Why? I don’t know.

And those figures were seemingly talking as though they were not supernatural beings, talking with what seemed like real concern, talking in a way that somehow did not feel threatening. And yet. And yet …

There was only one thing I could do. I would confront these beings. Surely ghosts can’t hurt you. Perhaps my presence would scare them away. In moments like these – and I can’t say I've ever had moments like these before – all you can do is make a sudden decision and act upon it before fear and doubt come again.

I rushed into the room. But to my complete incomprehension, they seemed not to have noticed me. There was no reaction whatsoever. It was as though I was not there.

There was a large mirror in the room. I had just passed it, and something about it seemed strange. It was the same mirror that had been there for months, probably years. So what was it that startled me? I went back and looked straight into it. I stood there. It made no sense to me, no sense at all. Was I seeing straight? Everything seemed to be wrong in that room, in that place, in that mirror! The glass looked back at me, but no image was there.