He Was Under My Bed: The Roommate Secret That Shattered My Peace

It was a night that was similar to many others in a tiny suburban house. It was about midnight when the man had fallen asleep in his bed. A little after three in the morning he was aroused by a rustling, and sat up with a start. and turning over found something to his surprise. Two wide frightened eyes looked up at him under the bed. It changed form and there was this high pitched screech in the quiet room. He first thought it was a creature but then when he was paralyzed with fear he drew his blanket away and he saw something that no one thought that could be beneath his bed. His roommate was.

This Reddit user subsequently described how that roommate told him that he had been sleeping under his bed several nights a week just so that he could be closer to him. It was the story that grabbed the headlines when it became viral and it generated a swell of discussion on Reddit and beyond. To the man who experienced it, however, it was frightening and surrealistic at the same time. His post was read by people all over the world and the question whether it was romance or stalking was discussed. It was popular towards the end of the previous year because the news about privacy and individual protection hit the right spot with many readers.

He explained how he had at first ignored odd sounds, telling himself that it must be some little animal or perhaps only his imagination. Then the night when he caught the roommate crouched up under the bed was a revelation. When they saw each other, that roommate yelled and froze at the same time. At that, everything was changed. He ran out of the room in a panic, to a local Dunkin Donuts just to feel safe. He sat in a booth for hours trembling, and reliving what he had witnessed.

Then he went home to change locks, transfer his things, and get a friend to stay with in the meantime. The roommate said that he simply wanted to be near. The online comments implied that the roommate could have a romantic attraction or mental health problems, but most redditors stood up in favor of the man, and considered the actions to be intrusive and even dangerous.

It was made a lesson. News sources such as People wrote about the experience of the man and the confession of the roommate. The roommate reported that he had spent several nights a week under the bed during months. This Mind Blown many and made the story one of the most disturbing real stories of Reddit in recent memory.

During the subsequent weeks, the man had difficulties sleeping at home. All the creaks and shadows were full of dread. It did not appear possible to be safe anymore in the place in which he had used to feel safe. He turned to the police, relatives and legal counsel. The roommate finally moved out. The effects of betrayal remained. Trust shattered. Novelty replaced by confusion.

Thousands identified with the post on Reddit. People exchanged tales of strange roommate antics, mysterious bangs behind the walls, or forgotten nooks and crannies of houses, where a mysterious person could lurk. There were people who claimed that they slept differently having read his story. Others began to fit door alarms or to make checks of strange corners at night.

Although he was traumatized, the testimony of this man ended up in the middle of a bigger debate. Intimate privacy and permission even in shared living conditions were argued and re-argued. It also brought out the ease with which boundaries that most people presume to be observed in communal residences can be breached.

The apology of the roommate did not help in forgetting what happened. After months, the man went back home. Gradually he restored the semblance of normalcy but it was never as before. He put in additional lighting, altered his habits. The memory of that night could not be completely locked out even by his new locks.

Eventually the tale of someone under a bed turned out to be more than a horror story. It was a foreboding. It reminded the reader that there are times when the scariest invasion is the one that occurs in total silence, in the dark, at the place we feel most secure. It demonstrated the ability of a mere presence without consent to cause a deep wound. And even after the physical transition, the man never forgot how trust can be so quickly gone within a night.