Episode 211: I Dreamed the Fall Before It Happened – A Childhood Déjà Vu That Came True

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Have you ever felt a moment
before it happened?

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Not just a gut feeling, but a
vivid, almost cinematic preview,

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A scene you swear you’ve lived
through, right down to the way

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the air shifts before it hits
you?

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Some folks call it Deja vu.
Others say it’s something

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deeper, something brushing up
against the edge of time itself.

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Here on Paranormal Night Shift,
we lean in when the strange

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becomes familiar, when a dream
feels more like a message, when

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the past creeps forward with
something to say.

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I’m your host, Andy, and tonight
we’re stepping into a listener

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submitted story that might just
make you second guess your next

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deja vu.
But before we dive in, I’ve got

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something for those of you who
crave more than just the eerie

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now and then.
Head over to

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paranormalnightshift.com to grab
your free copy of The Birth of

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Dimensional Desperado, the first
ebook in our time bending

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supernatural series.
It’s where Buck Shadow share of

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Freeman’s paranormal journey
through time begins, and trust

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me, it’s a wild ride.
Now turn down the lights,

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silence the world, and lean in
close.

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Because this next story from
Tricia isn’t just about falling.

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It’s about seeing the fall
coming and still not being able

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to stop it.
I was about 8 years old when it

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happened.
Old enough to ride my bike

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unsupervised on the sidewalk,
but still young enough to be

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scared of the dark hallway
upstairs.

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We lived on a military base at
the time, in one of those cookie

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cutter two-story homes where
everything echoed just a little

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too much and the stairs creaked
like they had secrets.

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Our house was simple but
comfortable.

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Upstairs were the bedrooms,
mine, my parents, and my little

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brothers lined up like tidy
compartments in a dollhouse.

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Downstairs was where life
happened, The living room where

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the TV never worked quite right,
the kitchen that always smelled

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faintly of peanut butter toast,
and the dining room that only

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got used when someone important
was coming over.

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And then there was Bear.
Bear was our dog, half German

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Shepherd, half something
fluffier, and all loyalty.

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We’d had him since he was a
puppy, and by the time of this

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story he was already a small
tank with fur.

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He wasn’t the kind of dog that
barked, unless he meant it.

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Mostly he just followed me
around like a furry shadow,

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usually laying himself right
across walkways like a living

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booby trap.
Now, a week or so before the

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fall, I’d had a dream, one of
those vivid ones that cling to

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you even after you brushed your
teeth and started your day.

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In the dream, I was walking out
of my room, half aware and still

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groggy, when Bear was there,
stretched out like a rug across

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the top of the staircase.
I didn’t see him until it was

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too late.
My foot caught on his back leg

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and I went airborne.
I could feel the panic, the wind

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rushing past me, my hand
reaching out to grabbed the

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curved grip attached to the edge
of the banister, trying to slow

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my fall, but it didn’t help.
I fell all the way down,

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helpless, watching each step
blur by as I tumbled toward the

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bottom.
I jolted awake right as I hit

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the front door of my dream.
I remember telling my mom about

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it the next morning.
She smiled the way moms do when

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they’re trying to reassure you.
But don’t actually believe you.

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Dreams are just dreams, she
said, ruffling my hair.

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Bear wouldn’t let you fall, but
he did.

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It was maybe a week later, a
normal afternoon.

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I had just come out of my room,
nothing special, nothing weird.

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The house was quiet.
I could hear Bear’s paws patting

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softly down the hallway, and I
thought he’d gone downstairs.

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I followed.
I don’t remember seeing him.

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I just remember tripping
suddenly, violently, and the

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world flipping sideways.
My foot caught something solid

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and warm, and in the span of a
breath I was airborne.

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Exactly like in the dream.
The second my body lurched

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forward, my brain screamed.
This already happened.

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I flailed, reaching out
desperately for the small

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overhang, the grip on the
banister.

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Just like in the dream.
My fingertips brushed it, even

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curled around it for half a
second, but the momentum was too

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strong.
My hand slipped, and I was gone.

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22 stairs.
I know because I counted them

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afterward, my body aching and my
pride shattered.

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I hit each one like a bag of
laundry, tumbling and twisting,

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finally coming to a full stop
with a thud against the front

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door.
The house was silent for a

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moment, like it was holding its
breath.

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Then Bear came trotting down the
stairs after me, tail wagging,

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tongue out like he hadn’t just
been responsible for fulfilling

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a minor prophecy.
I lay there for a minute, trying

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to catch my breath, trying to
decide if I should cry or laugh

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or check for broken bones.
My elbow throbbed, my hip was

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sore, but I was OK.
What wasn’t OK, what still isn’t

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really, was how familiar it had
felt.

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Not just the fall, but the fear,
the helplessness, the exactness

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of it all.
Like time had looped back and

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said, hey, remember this, You
saw it coming.

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I told my mom again, this time
with more urgency.

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She looked a little spooked, but
still offered a shrub.

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Well, she said slowly.
Maybe it was a worry dream,

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maybe.
Or maybe it was something else

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entirely, something I’m still
trying to make sense of all

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these years later.
But from that day on, I never

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walked near those stairs without
checking for Bear 1st, and I

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never took my dreams lightly
again.

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And that brings us to the end of
tonight’s story.

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Tricia, thank you for sharing
something so personal and so

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unsettling.
That feeling of knowing, of

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watching the moment unfold just
like you saw it in a dream, it

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sticks with you.
And I think a lot of us

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listening tonight are going to
be side eyeing our own Deja Vu

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from now on.
If you enjoyed this episode,

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there’s a few ways you can
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stories coming.
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Let us know what you thought

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about this story.
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more than you know.
And don’t forget, Paranormal

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Night shift.com is your portal
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That’s where you can claim your
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Dimensional Desperado and dive
deeper into Buck Freeman’s

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supernatural saga.
Finally, if you’ve got a story,

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whether it’s a flicker of fear,
a brush with something you can’t

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explain, or a dream that came
true the hard way, send it in.

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We’re always listening.
Because here at Paranormal Night

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Shift, the night doesn’t just
fall, it remembers.

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Until next time, stay curious.
Stay alert and keep 1 foot in

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the light.
The shadows are always closer

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than you think.