The Lessons Life Teaches, A Collection of Short Stories.

Can a blanket be Evil?

A number of years ago my wife bought me a present at the Kmart store in Elko. It was a very nice blanket. Soft, fuzzy, and warm with the picture of two grizzly bears on it. It was a very nice gift. Like most things with me, for some unknown reason, I let new things sit around for a while prior to using them. For a couple of weeks, it sat in the living room. Then one day I decided to wash it before using it. That night I threw it over my bed spread and thought how nice it would be to have a little extra warmth on a cold November night. That night I had a horrible, awful dream that woke me from my sleep. A nightmare. After waking I did not remember the dream, but when I woke up, I was extremely distressed. At that time, I did not associate the dreams with anything except perhaps with something I must have eaten. A few days later it was chilly again, so I unfolded the blanket and put it over the bed spread. That night for a second time I had a terrible nightmare. This time when I awoke, I remembered the dream. I dreamed that my leg was infected with a flesh-eating virus. It had created a huge crevasse in my leg – clear to the bone and was continuing to consume my body. It was an extremely terrifying dream. When I woke up, I associated the blanket with the nightmares. I got up and removed the blanket from the bed and put it away. I slept peacefully for the remainder of the night.

A few nights later I told the story to a friend to get his perspective. I wondered if he thought an inanimate object could be evil. He said maybe – if evil exists. He changed my thought pattern when he suggested that maybe the blanket just made me feel warm and comfortable and enabled me to get in touch with my feelings. I considered the difference in thought. A few days later I wanted to see if the blanket was responsible for the dreams. I took it out of the closet and spread it over the bed. I had no dreams at all that night. However, in the morning when I got up and looked at my face in the bathroom mirror there was a large distinct scratch with traces of blood down the left side of my face. It was not there when I went to bed and I could not have done it myself. I have not used the blanket since. Even though I dream a lot, there have been no nightmares or scratches since then. So, the question is what is it with this blanket?

In thinking about it I do not believe inanimate objects themselves can be evil. I do not think so because I believe an inanimate object does not have the will to be either good or bad. Like the mineral uranium, it is radioactive and has a very deleterious effect to the body. But it does not have a will to do bad things. However, much like the story we were taught in school about the virus put on blankets to infect the Indians. It was not the blanket that made them sick and killed them was what was on the blankets. So, the question now is - can a spirit with evil intent attach itself to a blanket, much as the virus did? I have no way to know. I cannot even say if it is just all made up in my mind. What I do know is I got rid of the blanket and have had no issues since.