What worlds or imaginary friends did you imagine as a kid?--Al

-- Al Schroeder (al.schroeder@nashville.com), June 21, 2000

Answers

You'll laugh. Fantasy has never been my strong suit, but I remember in grammar school that we had to write something giving life to some inanimate. I think I wrote something dull about a pencil eraser or something. But I got to thinking of the animate life of all things and one day in the girls' bathroom noticed that the holes in the toilet paper dispenser looked kind of like eyes and a mouth, so I decided that the toilet paper dispenser had a secret life of its own. I called it "know-y" (for "nobody knows") and whenever I was feeling depressed or lonely, I would go into the bathroom and talk to Know-y. What a pathetic creature I was!

-- Bev Sykes (basykes@dcn.davis.ca.us), June 22, 2000.

Thinking back a lifetime ago maybe I can understand why I had the companionship of my imaginary, Big Bill. I of course was Little Bill. He was my mentor, he knew more than I did and had more smarts and imagination than this dude.

As an only child with both parents at work, I think my need had to be fulfilled by a big brother companion. We were together, always inseparable and always talking to each other.

I knew that I could not talk out loud to him, after one wild time trying to explain to grown folks about Big Bill, the one who would listen and guide me but talk only to me in my mind.

I don't know just when Big Bill left, probably about the sixth grade in school. There was no farewell party for his leave taking. It must have been months or years even when a thought struck me, "I wonder what has happened to Big Bill ?"

Schizophrenic ? If you want to call it that, although the disorder, if it was disorder never caused any harm to me or anyone else. Split personality ? Another term for the fancy professional term mentioned above.

In my way of thinking, I became two people to fill that aching void and realizing that I was so young assumed the role of the younger, the learning person. So, my life had not only a brother, but a big one I looked up to.

It worked for me............

-- Denver doug (ionoi@webtv.net), June 22, 2000.

I lived for the pool so of course my imaginary world was mermaids...

-- GlennaB (glennab@home.com), June 22, 2000.

I have never not had this world and memories of it-I used to drive my parents crazy insisting that at night time I "traveled" and lived my real life there-it looks a LOT like Scotland and I have a family (clan) there-we had a grand life in that village. One of these days I may just get brave enough to go look and see if there is a village anything like the one I "lived" in and if any of the folks who looked after me in so many ways, actually lived there-maybe this was a "race memory"????

-- J Dillon (MissMelanieJo@cs.com), June 23, 2000.

I had two imaginary friends. They were married, and always fighting. (Perhaps a symptom of having three older sisters, with a certain element of conflict.) Anyway - they soon turned on me, (instead of fighting with eachother) so I put them in my little oven, and cooked them. It was not brutal, it was just the thing that had to be done. It was the only way it could be. I didn't kill them, they just had to go. When my sister's asked me where they were - I said they got divorced and killed themselves. But I knew in myself that I just didn't want them anymore.

-- Genevieve (platos_art@hotmail.com), November 02, 2000.

Well, when I was really young, around seven or so, I had an imaginary friend named Davis, and he was a big tough guy in a leather jacket, but he had the prettiest smile. Now I realize he had been my fantasy guy, he would always drive me around on his motorcycle around our huge bathroom. But I never really had any other imaginary friends other than Davis until I was thirteen. (I know, pretty old for imaginary friends)At this time, I had a surge in creativity or something and started to make up all these imaginary people, but I was opposed to that term, so I called them Unseen Companionable Entities. I had over 200 and they inhabitated many different planets from beyond the Milky Way. I'm sure my parents thought I was insane.

-- Melanie Blaze (japanesedragon09@aol.com), January 14, 2002.

When I was really little, I had an imaginary friend named T-Bone. I will never forget him as long as I live, and there is a reason for that. HES BACK! I am not making this up! I'd sware to it in cout! But hes different! I thought about me being crazy, but I dont know any more. Heres the story: When I was about six, I shared a bedroom with my grandmother. (We lived in an apartment) And she was the biggest pain in the butt you ever want to meet. She still is. Well, I used to have this little playschool kitchen thing with a roof on it at the foot of my bed, and every night, I would sit on it and watch McGiver (or how ever you wanna spell it). Every night I would be up there at 8pm SHARP, and everynight I would get yelled at for sitting up there (my moom could hear me climbing up, and she would catch me hanging off the side). Then one day I met "T-Bone". Or so he called himself. But he was so cool. He would stand outside the door until I got up on the roof. He told me if mom was coming, and if she was I would jump back to the bed before she or grandma caught me. If she wasnt coming, Hed wait till I got up there, and sit up there with me. As long as he was there, I could do anything! He told me when they were coming, and he was always right! Any way, one day, he told me this sob story about how he ha to leave. Then he left. Now, (8 yrs later, I am 14 now) he is back. As I said, I thought I was crazy. He is a totaly different person now though. He has a different name (I'll call him "bob" for now) and eveything. He told me when he first cameback that he was T- bone, but his real name was "bob". Now I hadnt so much as THOUGHT of T-bone in 8yrs, so I didnt believe him. I asked him what me and T- bone used to do together, just as a test. (I didnt even remember, to tell you the truth) Then he told be all about when I was six. About the kitchen set, McGiver, my best friend Ashley, who used to liive upstairs to us, he even knew about a swamp thing punchin bag I used to have!! Some of it sounded vaguely familiar, but not really. So I asked my mom. I asked her if she remembered an imaginary friend I used to have named T-bone. She said she did, and she described some of the things we used to do. "bob" was right. TO THE DETAIL. I knew right then that if "bob" said he was T-bone, and he remembered things I used to do with T-bone, and I didnt, he must be T-bone. I had no other imaginary friends, EVER. So do you think I am crazy? I am begining to wonder my self. But if I didnt remember any of that stuff, then how could I be making it up? Now I am really lost. But "bob" is still here, and its been about 2 years since he came back. He said he isnt going to leave again, but I dont know. Has any one else had an experience like that? Plz e-mail me, because I probably wont be back on this site for a while...

-- Maverick (CaptHowdy13@cs.com), January 30, 2002.