It’s 1 am and I can’t sleep. I was just woken up by the sound of thunder … so loud that it took me back to my dark days. I am reminded that I actually wrote a chapter about this. The same chapter I recently felt the urge to share but went against my gut feeling. A part of me wants to go back and rewrite it, just to see if I have healed from it or if it is still as traumatic.
To be honest, I have days where I believe that I am delusional or suffering from some sort of mental illness. I have had encounters like no other and a part of me wants to believe that they were not real… but the reality is, they were, and they changed me forever.
Anyway, I am not ready to go back to that chapter … at least not at this time of night/morning hahaha. However, I will go back to my first supernatural encounter as a young girl.
Earlier that day, a friend of mine and I went to a house opposite my home. We took sugar cane sticks from the garden and played with them. For some reason, I ended up taking the sticks home and left them in my brother’s room.
I remember sitting on a chair just next to a wall. The placement of my chair was opposite my brother’s room. The lights in the bedrooms were off so the view was quite scary. I remember seeing some scary figures moving, holding the sticks I brought home and playing with them.
I could still hear conversations that my family had but suddenly they felt distant. I wanted to talk but I could not. I was so scared and hoped someone noticed, but a part of me was also glad they did not because then I would have to explain what I saw.
I did not speak about the experience for years. I was traumatised by it. I desperately needed to believe that it was just my imagination running wild. However as I grew older I also learnt that my brother’s room had weird vibes. He could not have peaceful sleep in it, neither did I when I grew older. There was so much activity in there, nights were extremely long. Everyone in my family experienced this. That is when I realised that the little girl was not crazy.
To be honest, more horrible encounters followed … especially after the death of my parents. And no, it wasn’t them. The house is definitely not haunted but there have been some weird spirits in it. It is as though my parents shielded it and when they left, things could enter.
I will probably go into more details one day, but the darkness took over after the presence of one individual.
Anyway, I still refuse to sleep at home. I still refuse for my babies to go there. The people in my community understand as they have had some crazy experiences in their own houses. Other people think that I am crazy and I do not have faith in God.
Sometimes I feel like Christians like challenging God. I mean I have been there. I have seen what happens. Surely, God showed me so that I could be more careful. Why would I go back in the name of “The Lord will see me through” *sigh*
Then again, please don’t take me seriously, I might be delusional.
Jane Mpholo is a multi-award winning theatre Practitioner and an Audience Development Specialist at the Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (PACOFS) . She has been active on both the national and international platforms with collaborations with practitioners from the Netherlands, USA and Australia, to name a few. Jane is a senior judge for the World Monologue Games and World Monologue Film Festival. Her highlights as a writer include being chosen as one of the 5 top playwrights for the NATi Yong Sterre program for her script "The Dawn", making it to the top 20 playwrights list for the African Women Playwrights Festival of Plays for her script "The Naked Truth" (which she later turned into a short film) and having her script "Fragmented" on the program for Teksmark 2022. Her autobiographical show "Psalm 69" has proved to be timeless and has showcased on both the national and international platforms such as the Global leadership summit 2018. Jane is a panel member for the National Arts Council and is a former FS Provincial Liaison for the BASA Debut Program. She is a recent graduate for the BASA Cultural Producers Program, an initiative between British Council; BASA, Common Purpose and the Manchester International Festival. Her short film "Cleanse" which looks at the life of a woman under oppression as a domestic worker has won multiple international awards and aired on DSTV pop up channel 150 (Woordfees TV 2022). Jane is also one of the contributors for the Stemme/Voices monologues 2022, an initiative by the Suidoosterfees.
Jane practices as a professional actor (has over 40 theatrical shows under her belt), playwright, producer, dramaturge, facilitator, arts coach , speaker and mentor. She is passionate about inclusive education and creating a safe space for audiences to engage in discussions pertaining to the social ills of the world. She is a true advocate for human rights.
Amongst the many awards and recognitions....she is a three times Kyknet Fiesta Nominated artist and made it to the lists "Mail and Guardian Women Changing South Africa" and the "Sunday World Unsung Heroes 2022".
