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    The Friendly Fort
    The Friendly Fort
    The Friendly Fort
    Ebook79 pages1 hour

    The Friendly Fort

    By Tom Raimbault

    ()

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    About this ebook

    There's a long-forgotten cemetery in the middle of the forest which is surrounded by paranormal phenomenon and occult activities. It hides a shameful history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTom Raimbault
    Release dateDec 16, 2016
    ISBN9781370788552
    The Friendly Fort
    Author

    Tom Raimbault

    When author Tom Raimbault was a teenage boy, he experienced a moment of terror in which he was thrown out his bed by a malevolent spirit late at night. It should be clarified that this spirit didn't actually enter the physical space where he slept on that particular night. Rather, it somehow accessed his consciousness as he tried to enjoy sweet dreams. The spirit coerced Tom to poise himself at the edge of the bed and then jump onto the floor. Upon relaying the incident many years later, he recalls growling some seconds before taking the plunge into darkness.Then his feet hit the floor which caused Tom to fully wake up. Terribly frightened and confused as to what happened, Tom screamed in terror and, of course, woke up the entire family. His startled father rushed into his bedroom to see what was the matter."It threw me out of my bed!" Tom declared to his father, who probably figured his son merely had a bad dream. But to Tom, the incident was very real. To this very day he knows what happened. Through dreaming, he had exposed himself to what was perceived as some dark and evil place in the astral realm where (what he perceived to be) a malevolent spirit with hyper dimensional existence managed to affect him here, in the physical realm. For many months, thereafter, Tom had to learn how to protect himself while dreaming. And it caused him to have the unfortunate phobia for some years after of his inherent skill of astral projection. It wasn't until he was in his early twenties that he resumed the practice of projecting his consciousness outside of the body.On that fateful night of being thrown from his bed; Tom had a series of bizarre dreams, afterwards, of a barn. It was an old barn that people had converted into a living area; not a farmhouse, but a barn. In his young mind, Tom concluded these people to be evil, perhaps even possessed by demons. And the barn held a mystery that could never be solved. You see, one would never want to enter the building because its infinite interior of ever changing, and "paradoxical" realities would trap an unfortunate visitor forever! The old building was a portal to some reality that we could never comprehend in this world.But what does Freudian dream analysis suggest of a barn?If one sees a barn in his or her dream, it often represents inhibited feelings or instincts that remain locked within the subconscious. With this revelation it's safe to conclude that on that fateful night, Tom simply had fragments of himself trapped within the subconscious mind. The malevolent spirit that threw him out of his bed could very well have been his Jungian shadow that was yearning to be consciously embraced and brought to light. You see, we as humans need to call to light and explore the dark facets of our psyche. Enlightenment does not happen by concentrating on "fluffy bunny" thoughts and imagining beings of light and benevolence. We need, rather, to expose the darkest corners of our subconscious, and understand them. Once set free, only then can we begin to experience states of enlightenment. Subconscious manifestation, after all, is one of our lifelong journeys.And that, my friends, is one of the purposes of writing for author Tom Raimbault. It could very well be his personal plunge into the dark corners of the subconscious mind where he extracts and brings to life the many nightmarish realities, some of which defy all logic or reasoning, but are for some reason bothersome and anxiety-provoking.Ask someone who is a fan of Tom Raimbault's writing; he or she might comment that "Tom writes those horror books."The reader interpreting his stories as being horror is fine for author Tom Raimbault. But, as he often lectures, "Horror has been tainted in the modern age in much the same way that the celebration of Halloween has been poisoned. For some reason, most people have come to see horror as blood and guts or evil. What fun is that? Horror is so much more and should offer a glimpse of what life beyond the veil is like."Tom further self-describes his writings, "Rather than write of blood and guts or feed people's obsession with demons and Hell, I simply write what I like to call dark fantasy, dark romance, paranormal or bizarro fiction."There is usually some supernatural element in author Tom Raimbault's writings that imposes itself our world. Characters have psychic abilities. Magick is a common theme. In many stories, those who have passed on to the other side continue to exist by simply reaching their hand through the veil and intertwining their dimension into ours. And most often, there is a lesson to be learned for conducting oneself unconscionably. It's old fashioned horror; elegant with integrity and always maintaining a respect for God.​You can feel good knowing that this is the sort of person writing the Mapleview series of books.

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      Book preview

      The Friendly Fort - Tom Raimbault

      The Friendly Fort

      Tom Raimbault

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © Tom Raimbault 2016

      License Notes:

      Copyright © Tom Raimbault 2016

      All rights reserved! No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, without permission from the author!

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Disclaimer:

      This work is 100% fiction. All scenes and events within these pages have been an invention of the author's imagination, and to his knowledge never occurred in reality. Any resemblance to the reader's own experiences is purely coincidental. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

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      Preface

      When I was a teenage boy I had been thrown out of my bed by a malevolent spirit. Now I should clarify that this spirit didn't actually enter the physical space where I slept that night. Rather, it somehow accessed my consciousness while I dreamed. It coerced me in my dreams to poise myself at the edge of my bed and then jump onto the floor. I recall growling some seconds before taking the plunge.

      Then my feet hit the floor and I awoke in the darkened room. I screamed in terror and, of course, woke up the entire family. My father rushed in to see if I was okay.

      It threw me out of my bed! I declared to my father who probably figured I only had a bad dream. But to me, the incident was very real. To this very day I know what happened. Through dreaming, I had exposed myself to some dark and evil place in the astral realm where a malevolent spirit with hyper dimensional existence managed to affect me, here, in the physical realm. For many months, thereafter, I had to learn how to protect myself while dreaming. And I developed a phobia some years after of my inherent skill of astral projection. It wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I resumed the practice of projecting my consciousness outside of my body.

      But on that fateful night of being thrown from my bed; I recall having a series of bizarre dreams, afterwards, of a barn. It was an old barn that people had converted into a living area; not a farmhouse, but a barn. In my young mind, I concluded these people to be evil, perhaps even possessed by demons. And the barn held a mystery that could never be solved. You see, one would never want to enter the building because its infinite interior of ever changing, and paradoxical realities would trap an unfortunate visitor forever! The old building was a portal to some reality that we could never comprehend in this world.

      While writing this preface, I referenced the meaning of a barn on Dreammoods.com. The dream dictionary says, To see a barn in your dream signifies the feelings that are kept in your subconscious. There is a possibility that you may be holding back your instinctual action or natural urges.

      So there I have it! The mystery of the barn is solved! As a teenage boy, I had fragments of myself trapped in my subconscious mind. I might go so far as to say that the malevolent spirit that threw me out of my bed was actually my Jungian shadow that was yearning for me to consciously embrace and bring it to light. Subconscious manifestation, after all, is one of our lifelong journeys.

      About a year later I was listening in on a conversation from nearby classmates in which someone relayed a strange incident that had taken place over the weekend. On that particular weekend, a group of kids had been out in the forest (probably partying and up to no good). Suddenly, an abandoned, old barn was discovered. And just like most young kids who are up to no good, they began throwing rocks at the barn in an attempt to break the windows. It was then that people dressed up as monks had emerged from the old and seemingly-abandoned building and chased the kids off. A couple of them had pellet guns, and actually took shots at the kids in an apparent warning.

      It makes you wonder what sort of people would live in an old barn, and would dress up as monks.

      And then we have the legendary Friendly Fort which is now in ruins. The condition of the landscape saddens me—while at the same time—amazes me, considering how little time is needed for a landscape in the forest to change. The Friendly Fort was a mysterious location in the Cook County Forest preserves of Illinois that resembled a colosseum of three-tiered flagstones that surrounded a small brook. Back in the early nineties, my brother and I used to like to visit the Friendly Fort during our mountain bike expeditions. To reach the place we followed a snaking creek through the forest that is very much like the one that you will encounter in the pages of this book. And then we would reached an amazing place where the creek opened up into wide brook. As mentioned before, the brook was surrounded by flagstone; three-tiered stacked in such a way to resemble a coliseum. The view was spectacular and breathtaking. I remember the first time

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