My wife and I were taking a walk in the neighborhood and we were stunned when we came across an unnerving sight.

Two youngsters were hovered over an apparently injured dog and they summoned us over to help them.  The Golden Retriever was lying on its side without an apparent injury.  He was able to raise his head, and typical of his breed, he licked anyone who tried to pet him.

But something was wrong because he wasn’t even trying to get up.

Then a passing car screeched to a halt, and a woman jumped out of the car.  “Sampson, Sampson,” she shouted as she rushed over to the dog.  “Oh I’m so happy I found you.”

And at that moment, the dog leaped to his feet, and you could almost see the joy in his face.  I explained to the woman that Sampson had refused to get up, and we didn’t know what was wrong with him.  She replied that Sampson had run off when the gardener had accidentally left the back yard gate open.

She went on to explain that she knew when a dog was lost it had a tendency to run and run until it was exhausted.  And the dog could end up tens of miles away from home.  “So,” she went on, “I kept shouting in my mind ‘lie down, lie down,’ with the hope I could silently communicate with him.”

I would have been skeptical had I not witnessed the event with my own eyes.  It was the most amazing thing I had ever witnessed.

Gary Emanuel
Las Vegas, NV

I’m from a small town in central Illinois, and when my folks dropped me off at school at Northwestern University, which is located in a suburb of Chicago, I was filled with excitement and anxiety.

The dormitory was bustling with activity and everyone was getting acquainted with each other.  I felt like a fish out of water and sat in my tiny dorm room alone wondering if I had made the right choice.

Then in walked Edmond and somehow I knew my life would never be the same.  Edmond was tall and gangly and he had this strange little smile on his face.  I liked him instantly and within minutes it seemed like we had known each other forever.

If this was college, I was going to love it.  I could write an entire book about our experiences during the ensuing four years, but none was more bizarre than the one I’m about to tell.

We were walking to the library one evening, and because it was drizzling outside and cold, not too many people were out on the street.  As we were turning the corner, we were approached by three guys that didn’t look like they lived on campus.  We knew instantly they were trouble.

Only one of them spoke, and he gruffly told us to give him our money or we’d be in for it. I started to reach in my pocket, but Edmond stopped me and just shook his head.  Without warning the man lashed out with his fist toward my face, but Edmond, in a move so fast it seemed like lightning, intercepted the man’s arm with a chopping motion that struck the man’s arm down before it reached my face.  I could hear the awful sound of bone breaking and the man screamed out in pain.

The other two men started to move forward, but Edmond, in what appeared to be an almost nonchalant move, grabbed one of them by the neck and started squeezing until I thought the unfortunate guy’s eyes were going to pop out of his head.

Edmond released him, gave him a wry smile, and said run along now before I get angry.

After they left, I couldn’t believe what I had just happened.  It was as if I was part of an action adventure movie.

To this day I believe Edmond possessed strength that was not normal and that it came from within, perhaps drummed up by his psychic energy.  Somehow when Edmond needed extraordinary abilities he was able to summon them.

I have more stories to tell about this one-of-a-kind extraordinary individual and will write you again.

Mark Summers
Danville, IL

It was a cold day in Minneapolis and I wasn’t in the mood to go out in subzero weather.  So I grabbed a book I had purchased the night before, and I was ready to spend a comfortable afternoon huddled before the fireplace.

Little did I know I would soon be running around in the cold searching for the frantic cry for help I kept hearing “inside my head.”

It was the weirdest experience I had ever had.  One moment I was engrossed in a biography of Winston Churchill, the next I was dashing down the stairs of my apartment building without having any idea where I was headed.

At first, I had heard faint whimperings.  I thought maybe it was my imagination.  I day dream a lot and have a lot of imaginary conversations going on in my mind.  Call me strange, but that’s the way I am.

But the voice in my head started to grow louder and louder, and more frantic.  I couldn’t understand what was going on, but then it occurred to me that perhaps someone was in distress and somehow I was hearing his silent cries for help.

It was then I grabbed my heavy coat and rushed down the stairs not having a clue as to where I was going, and kind of hoping no one I knew would ask where I was headed.

I literally ran out the front door, stopped, looked around and let my senses take hold.  I started walking one-way, stopped again, and suddenly I had the urge to cross the street and move across the large lawn of a very old house.

It was then I heard the voice again, but this time it wasn’t inside my head, it was real.  I could actually hear the man faintly saying, “help me, help me.”  And it was coming from inside the house, or rather under the house.

As I moved closer to the building, I peeked through a small window into the basement, and there I saw a man lying on his side holding his back.  He shouted for me to come in the side door.

Well, it turns out he had fallen down the basement stairs, and wrenched his back.  He was unable to walk and was in too much pain to crawl back up the stairs.

Fortunately I had heard his silent calls for help.  It didn’t really surprise me because I feel I’ve always had an ability to pick up on someone’s thoughts.  This time, however, my psychic ability really paid off.

Dillard Kizer
Minneapolis, MN

My uncle Jerry was a world traveler.  A year before he died he told me of an incident in London that proved that truth is often stranger than fiction.

He was staying in a more or less rundown hotel when a man who looked like he hadn’t shaved or showered in days approached him, asking Jerry if he was an American.  My uncle was leery at first because there was something strange about the man, but as they began to talk, Jerry could see the man was highly educated.

The man, who didn’t reveal his name, said he had come to London because a “voice” had told him that he should immediately return to his birthplace.  That it was “his time.”

Upon hearing this, Jerry thought perhaps the man was schizophrenic.  Then the man pulled out a stack of one hundred dollar bills from his pocket and started peeling them off to him.

Jerry, who is as honest as they come, refused to accept the money and told the man he shouldn’t be giving his money away to strangers.  It was then that the man told Jerry the voice predicted he would be dead within the next twenty-four hours.  Jerry scoffed and said that although the man looked unkempt, he didn’t look sickly.

Later that night, Jerry heard a commotion in the hallway, and was taken aback to see the man being carried out of the hotel on a stretcher.  He was unconscious and looked white as a ghost.

When Jerry went to the hospital the next day, he was told the man had died the previous evening of apparently natural causes.  He also learned the man was an heir to a shoe fortune and was also known for his uncanny ability to predict the future.

In this instance his final prediction was his own death.

Monte Irvine
Scottsdale, AZ

This happened a while back, and I still consider it one of the most bizarre incidents of my life.

I’ve been married for a little over four years now, and my husband, Michael, and I have been soul mates from the moment we first set eyes upon one another.

I can’t tell you how many times he was about to say something and I’d beat him to it by expressing precisely what he was about to say.  But the weirdest thing happened about a month ago.

Michael was in Oregon on a fishing trip with a pal of his.  He had been gone a few days and I really missed him.  On that third night I had trouble falling asleep, but when I did I had a very clear dream of he and I walking down a dirt road.  Like most dreams, things kept jumping around.  There were small bridges leading to nowhere, there was a shack that he and I were suddenly in, and there was a group of men kind of hovering around that appeared hostile.

When I spoke with Michael the next morning, he told me how much he missed me and said he had a strange dream the night before.  When he went in detail, I couldn’t believe it.  He spoke about a dirt road, bridges leading nowhere, and hostile men nearby.  It was exactly the same dream I had, down to the very last detail.

Penelope Avarus
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I’ve had several experiences during my lifetime to know that certain happenings weren’t merely coincidences.  One example is the time when I was shopping with my mother in a downtown department store.

I was eight years old and my mother and I were separated when I had apparently wandered off without her noticing.  As she tells the story, she panicked and frantically started looking for me.

She had this horrible thought that someone had taken me by the hand and was leading me out the store.  And she had a clear vision of exactly what he looked like.

Well her vision was mostly on the mark because a man was holding my hand and he looked exactly as she had envisioned – but he was a security guard and he was staying with me until I was reunited with my mom.  When she saw the two of us, she was about to scream until she realized he was protecting me.

Another time my younger brother, James, was being picked on by a bully in the schoolyard.  At the time, I was playing on the other side of the building and suddenly my arm started to ache.  Somehow I knew he needed me.  When I ran over to see what was happening, James was crying and holding his arm where the other kid kept hitting him – in the same part of the arm that was hurting me.

I think most people have had similar experiences, and I think it proves there are spirits looking after us.

Janice Conwell
St. Petersberg, FL

I believe with all my heart that I have a guardian spirit that has been with me since childhood.

It first began when I was in the first grade.  A bratty little kid was sitting behind me, pestering me, touching my hair, splattering crumbs on my desk, and I was afraid and intimidated.

I remember covering my eyes and praying.  I would hope that something bad would happen to him so he would leave me alone.  And I recall turning around and telling him that.  But he would give me that sly grin and just shake his head.  I remember being furious with him and telling him that he would be sorry.

About a week later, he was absent from school.  At first I didn’t think much of it, but after he was gone for several days, I learned that his appendix almost burst and he was rushed to the hospital.  After that, I noticed his attitude had changed and he would look at me with a leery eye.  He never bothered me again.

In high school a similar incident occurred when Eric, an old boyfriend, kept calling me at all hours and just wouldn’t let me alone.  Once again, I warned him that something bad would happen if he didn’t cut it out.  Maybe two or three weeks later, Eric’s father took a job in a different city, and the family would be forced to leave in mid semester.  Eric was devastated and told me I was the cause of it, that I had cursed him.

Well, he may have been correct.

It doesn’t happen every time, but I can tell you that if I care enough and concentrate hard enough, something will happen sooner than later, and people simply shouldn’t mess with me.

Fortunately, my guardian spirit works in a positive way as well.  I am happily married with a beautiful baby girl, and I have another one on the way.  I’m not saying my life has been a bed of roses because I’ve certainly suffered my share of setbacks.  But my prayers have been answered so many times, in so many unique ways that I am totally convinced there are spirits that guide and affect our lives.

And one last thing, and the reason I’m writing this:  Yesterday, I woke up with the thought that Erin, an old friend, would call.  Within seconds the phone rang and it was she.  And there was absolutely no way that could have been a coincidence because we hadn’t spoken in two or three years.

V. Rettersford
Providence, RI

This is a story about how I got even with a person who really had it in for me.

Let’s call her Jane so I won’t get sued if she reads this.  Jane is in her early thirties, a bitter woman if ever there was one, and she had a tone in her voice from the first day I met her.

We work for the same insurance company, although we don’t work in the same office.  But we’re often in meetings together because of the nature of our work, and she always tries to undermine me no matter what I say or do.

Now I’m an easygoing person and not one to have confrontations, but a week ago, Jane went too far.  While I was making a presentation, she virtually yelled at me and said I didn’t know what I was talking about.

At first there was stunned silence.  Even our manager didn’t know what to say.  I looked at him and realized he wasn’t going to step in and defend me despite the fact that he has reassured me that I’m doing an excellent job.  He has told me numerous times to ignore her.  So I felt abandoned and knew I had to take matters into my own hands.

I turned my attention from him to Jane.  I gave her the most severe stare I could drum up, and we locked eyes for what seemed to be an eternity.  Neither she nor I said a word; we just stared and stared and stared.

And then – as if God himself reached down and did it – her wig fell down over half her face.  She let out a muffled scream, and for a moment everyone was stunned.  But then one person let out a giggle, then another, then the room burst into laughter.

Jane looked around in horror as she tried to adjust her wig back on her head.  Then she leaped from her seat and ran out of the room.

Now normally I don’t relish the misfortune of others.  And I certainly don’t laugh when someone is embarrassed.  But when Jane got her just desert, I believe greater forces were at work.  But most important, since Jane’s humbling experience, her “tone” has disappeared and we are no longer enemies.

Marlene Streeter
Houston, TX

My story may be of interest to anyone out there that believes in fate or just plain love at first sight.

I’m not a young woman; in fact, I’m in my late forties and have never been married.  Although I long ago gave up on the idea of having children, I still have romanticized how wonderful it would be to spend the rest of my life with a wonderful man who loved me.

Well, it happened.  His name is Austin, and we met in the most bizarre way possible.  I enjoy going to garage sales, flea markets, antique shows – anywhere I can find a bargain.  I love to put on a large hat, dress a little eccentric and find myself looking at the people more than the merchandise.

It was on a Sunday a little over four months ago when I was winding my way through an art fair in my neighborhood. I was talking to one of the merchants when I suddenly swirled around for no particular reason…and I found myself staring right into the eyes of a man about twenty feet away.  It seemed as if our eyes were locked into one another.

At first I felt a tad dizzy because although we’ve all had an experience like that, the intensity of our stare caught me quite by surprise.  After a few seconds (which seemed like an eternity), I turned back around.  And to be honest, I was too timid to turn back.

But then I heard a voice asking me if was enjoying the show.  When I turned back I realized it was “he.”  I was kind of dumbfounded for a moment (maybe that’s why I’ve been single all these years), but when I regained my composure, we absolutely clicked from that moment on.

His name is Nick and we’ve been practically inseparable since that afternoon.  In retrospect, I don’t think it was a coincidence that we met.  Nick said that he had spotted me several minutes before but didn’t know how to approach me.  He said he couldn’t take his eyes off me and felt the only thing he could do was catch my eye.

Since I wasn’t even facing him, I have to believe there was some force or spirit that was determined to get us together.

Edith Mettler
Newport Beach, CA

For those of you who have experienced heartbreak and never thought you’d be whole again, my story may be an inspiration to you.

Call it intuition or coincidence or even a metaphysical happening, but when I was at my lowest point (and, yes, I even considered ending my life), something occurred that was almost too incredible to be believed.

It happened about eight months ago.  Brad, whom I loved and adored, and whom I had been dating for the last three years, sent me an email telling me he had fallen in love with another woman.  Yes, an email!

And he didn’t want to speak with me.  He wrote that I was not the person he wanted to live with the rest of his life and that he had met the woman of his dreams.  Needless to say, I was devastated.

I was a walking zombie for the next month.  I lost fifteen pounds (not a bad thing) because I was too depressed to eat.  Then the unexpected happened.

Saul, an executive, whom I had known at the last company that I worked for, called me out of the blue.  He had never shown an interest in me before, and even though I had found him to be quite attractive, I didn’t think he even knew I was alive.

He asked if I was still with Brad, and when I said I wasn’t, Saul wanted to know if I would go sailing with him.  Well, although I have a tendency to get sea sick, I jumped at the opportunity.

To cut to the quick, we hit it off, even though I was quite nauseous on that first date (which he thought was humorous), and we’ve been going together ever since.

So, you may ask, where did the intuition, coincidence or the metaphysical happening come into play?  Saul told me that even though we hadn’t been in touch since I had left his firm several months earlier, he woke up in the middle of the night with a premonition Brad and I broke up.  When he told me the precise date of his premonition, my knees almost went out from under me.  That was the night I received that fateful email from Brad.

Estelle Freemont
Reseda, CA