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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/deathbykoolaidman on 2025-07-17 22:01:13+00:00.

I’ll try to explain this as best I can. I’m not even sure I fully understand it yet. But I need to get it off my chest somehow.

I’m not Riley’s biological father per se, but due to life circumstances I won’t get into here, I’m his legal guardian until he turns 18. He’s been living with me since he was 3, he’s 7 now, and honestly we couldn’t be happier. Well, that was until a few weeks ago.

Riley was at a birthday party, and he fell into the pool. Help arrived as soon as it could, but his heart stopped for a little bit. They managed to revive him, he stayed in the hospital for a few days, but you obviously didn’t come here to read about a first grader’s near death experience. You came for what happened after.

When he got discharged, I chatted with his doctor. “I thought we lost him for sure there. You gotta thank your lucky stars he came back.”

On the car ride home and at dinner, he was quiet and not as excitable as he usually is, but I understood, or thought I did. He just died and was revived, then spent 5 days in a hospital, of course he wasn’t going to be himself. It was at bedtime when I first noticed something was off.

I tucked him in and said goodnight. “You forgot to say goodnight.”

“No I didn’t, Riley. I just said it.”

“No,” Riley said as I sat down on the end of his bed. “She’s here. You forgot to say goodnight to her.” He pointed to the corner of his room.

Okay, I had seen enough horror movies to know when a kid starts talking about some invisible friend, that’s when you have to run. But, at this point I just chalked it up to him being loopy due to something the doctors gave him, or maybe it was his brain’s weird way of coping with trauma, so I didn’t do anything.

I did stay with him, I slept on the rug beside his bed. That night, though, something weird happened.

I woke up to some crying, assuming Riley was just having a nightmare or something. I groggily sat up, ready to comfort him. But when I looked at him, he was still fast asleep. The crying, whining almost, still went on though. I rubbed my eyes and tried to wake up more, hoping this was just a hallucination from fatigue and stress. When I was more awake, I still heard it. Getting more wary, I looked around. It was dark, so maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I swear I could see a figure looming over Riley’s bed.

The next morning, I honestly tried to push it out of my mind. A few of our friends and relatives wanted to throw Riley a “Welcome Home/ Sorry You Died” party, so I had to get him dressed and out of the house at a decent time.

As I was getting our breakfast ready, I told him to get dressed and wash his face. He whined and said he was hungry now, but I assured him that it would only take a few minutes. He groaned and trudged to his room.

I heard him crying just as I plated our food, so I called out and told him breakfast was ready so he could stop being upset. It was harsh, I know, and I regretted it as soon as I said it but I was so stressed out with my job, and almost losing him, and all the hospital bills on top of that, I was just at my wit’s end.

He did come out of his room, tear-stained face, but he was holding something.

In his hand, was an apple.

“Riley, where did you get that? I didn’t buy any apples this week.” I asked. “Plus, you’ll spoil your appetite for the breakfast I made us.”

“The lady gave it to me because I was hungry and sad. At first I was scared of her, but she told me that she’s nice and won’t hurt me.” He said as he sat down in front of his eggs.

That was definitely the weirdest thing so far. Even if it was an imaginary friend, I sure as hell didn’t have any apples in the house, so somebody must’ve given it to him.

At his party, while he was playing, I spoke with Mary, the mother of one of Riley’s friends, and host of the party.

“And I know it’s not totally out of the ordinary to see things late at night, but I could’ve sworn there was something crying and standing over his bed. I mean that, paired with his new imaginary friends, and the apple thing, it’s just weird. Sorry if that made no sense, I just haven’t had an adult to talk to in so long.” I finished my long rant, certain Mary would think I was crazy.

“You know, whatever it is, I really just think you’re too stressed. You’re taking care of a kid, you’re working at the same time, no wonder you’re seeing things. I wouldn’t worry so much if I were you, just enjoy the party.” She said. “Speaking of the party, let’s get all the kids ready to eat some cake.”

As the kids all gathered around, I did a headcount and noticed somebody was missing. Riley.

“One second guys, let me just go get the guest of honour.” I said, running out to try to find him.

It’s important at this point to note that Mary lived in a pretty remote area of our town. There was a forest beside their house that the kids liked to play in, but I knew there were a few dangerous things in the woods he could be getting in to.

I called his name out, but got no response. As I ran frantically trying to find him, suddenly I saw a silohoutte.

I wouldn’t exactly refer to it as a cliff, but in these woods, there was a fairly steep dropoff with a lot of rocks on the way down. That’s where Riley was, standing motionless, almost in a trance.

“Riley, hey, dude, what are you doing?” I shouted, pulling him away. He looked at me confused, his eyes glazed over.

“I, uh, I don’t know.” He rubbed his eyes.

“What were you thinking, you could’ve fallen and gotten hurt, or worse!” I said as I picked him up and began to carry him back.

“I wasn’t thinking! The lady said to follow her and then I… I don’t remember.”

As shaken up as I was, angry even, I could see in his eyes that he truly wasn’t lying to me. He seemed as confused as I was.

The party got cut short after that. But, as I was driving Riley home, I couldn’t help but notice an apple tree in the cemetery down the street from us.

I wanted the issue to just disappear after that. But it didn’t. For weeks, I watched Riley, usually a really outgoing kid, become more and more reclused. He would spend hours in his room, and whenever I asked him why, all he told me was that the lady only wanted him in there.

It wasn’t just that, though. Strange things happened to me, too. I’d wake up in the middle of the night to check on weird noises, only to find myself physically unable to get out of bed. Like a force was keeping me down. I kept hearing that crying that I heard on the first night, coming from all over the house. But what affected me most was my relationship with Riley. We used to be so close, now I felt I barely knew him. He stopped wanting to eat with me, stopped asking to read with me before bed, he just seemed distant. Like he was just…gone.

It came to a boiling point last week. I woke up to go to the bathroom, but on the way back to my room, I heard Riley talking.

I opened his door suspiciously, and saw him sitting up in bed, talking to nobody.

“Riley?” I asked quietly, scared to make a noise.

He turned around.

“Who are you talking to, bud?” I stepped towards him uncertainly.

“The lady. She’s nice to me and says I can be together forever with her.” He said.

“Riley, there’s nothing there, I don’t see anything.”

“Come on, you have to see her, she’s right there!”

I thought back to the first night, when I saw that thing hovering over his bed. I really, really wanted to believe him, it just wasn’t like him to lie. I focused on trying to see what he was seeing, remembering whatever I saw weeks ago.

That’s when I saw it. Like it materialized in front of my eyes, I saw what Riley had been seeing this whole time.

I guess it almost looked like a lady? I mean, maybe it was a lady at some point, but not anymore. It was abnormally tall and bony, with matted, dirty hair. Just as I noticed it, it must’ve noticed me, too. It looked at me with its clouded-over eyes, its body contorting in unnatural ways to face me. I stood frozen in fear.

“Don’t worry, she won’t hurt you.” Riley assured me. “She said that if I go with her then you would be happier because you wouldn’t worry anymore.”

“No, Riley, I don’t worry because you’re here. I want you to stay, I just…” I trailed off, still looking at that thing. It tilted its head at me, and for the first time, I tried to understand it.

Riley’s heartbeat had stopped for a bit.

He hasn’t been the same since.

He kept talking about “The Lady”.

He stood by the dropoff, seemingly in a trance.

The apple tree in the graveyard.

That’s when I got it. I stayed by Riley’s side the whole night, terrified that the lady would try to take him back. The next day, I loaded Riley in the car, not even bothering to change either of us out of pyjamas.

“Riley?” I asked as I drove us. “The lady… when did you meet her?”

He shifted in his car seat. “When I fell into the pool, I woke up and there she was. She looked less scary then. She wanted to stay with me forever but then I got pulled away and the next thing I remember, I was in the room with all the doctors.”

“Interesting, bud. Very interesting.” I said as we pulled into our destination. The graveyard. I took Riley’s hand and we rushed to the apple tree. Or rather, the gravestone beside the tree.

Abigail Wallinson, 1892-1920. Died by broken heart following death of her infant.

There was a stone carving on her on the grave. It was chipped, and covered in m…

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