Today in well-I-missed-that-the-first-time-around-and-now-might-never-sleep-again news, a child’s description of her imaginary friend has resurfaced online – and it’s safe to say we’re all destined to have nightmares forever.
Alex Zawaki, a lecturer in digital humanities at the University of Göttingen, Germany, took it upon himself to share a page from Oh Comely magazine, published in 2018, where three-year-old Ruby (so far, so adorable) had shared a drawing of her make-believe pal.
But it turns out Ruby’s imaginary friend was – for want of a better word – absolutely terrifying.
“This is my imaginary mum, Grateful,” said Ruby, holding up a drawing of a person with black spiky hair and luminous yellow eyelashes.
“Her yellow eyelashes mean she can see in the dark – she only comes to see me at night-time.
“It scares me sometimes, but I always want her to come back. She has two babies in her belly. She’s 14, but can never have a birthday.”
We’ll let you sit with that for a minute... Understandably the internet is – once again – totally unnerved.
The magazine that the budding horror story was published in has since rebranded to Oh, “a magazine to help you live calmly and curiously”. It’s all about sharing ideas for mental wellbeing and mindful living, which – let’s face it – we all need more of after hearing about Grateful.
In a video of Ruby from 2018, which also resurfaced in the same thread on X (formerly Twitter), the tiny tot described Grateful as having black hair and blue eyes.
“Only I can see Grateful,” she said. “She lights up in the dark, normally. She comes in the night time to say ‘Ruby, Ruby’.
“She wants to be a person, like other people, but she can’t ... she’s 14 and can’t be a person because she’s invisible.”
Aaaaand, we won’t be sleeping tonight.