For a moment, everyone sat in silence.
Suddenly, a man named Peter from the group stood up and faced the others.
"I introduced myself to all of you yesterday, but let me start again. My name is Peter.
I don't have any particularly notable job to speak of.
But as a hobby… you could say I'm a parapsychologist —
a branch of science that still has many unanswered questions."
"Now, the reason I've stood up is simple.
After listening to the four experiences shared just now,
I felt the urge to explain what I understood from them."
"While those four were sharing their experiences,
I watched some of your faces.
Some of you… were smirking."
"I won't point fingers. But I noticed."
Then, in his own way, he began analyzing all four stories.
"That's how experiences are.
Especially paranormal experiences."
"For those who go through them, it becomes a haunting memory."
"But for the listeners? Just a joke."
"That's the uniqueness of ghost encounters."
"The main reason?
Science still hasn't been able to explain them clearly.
No matter how much we try to justify them,
the only answer we hear is:
'It's a lie.'"
Everyone continued to listen, curious and quiet.
"But sometimes… the cause might be physical.
Other times, psychological.
Often, we mistake such things for ghosts or spirits
because we lack awareness and knowledge."
"And there's one thing all four stories had in common:
They all happened at night."
"Barry and his friends,
Max's brother,
Charlie,
and the police officer David…
All of them experienced their events during nighttime."
"Now, does that mean ghosts appear at midnight,
like the old folks say?"
"No. That's not what I'm suggesting."
"What I'm saying is—all of them experienced those visions due to sleep disruption.
When the brain is deprived of rest,
it starts to project what's not there."
"And when that happens…
it becomes a condition.
A disorder."
"This condition is called Insomnia — the inability to fall asleep for long periods."
"But more commonly, what leads to such mental strain is something we call
Sleep Deprivation — a state caused by irregular or consistently skipped sleep
due to stress, overwork, or other factors."
"If left unchecked, sleep deprivation can evolve into insomnia…
and insomnia can even lead to death."
Someone in the group raised a hand.
"So, does this disorder have an age limit?" they asked.
"Hmm… no. Sleep deprivation can happen to people of any age," Peter replied calmly.
And with that, he continued his explanation.
"Sleep deprivation can lead to both physical and mental complications.
Studies show that people suffering from prolonged sleep deprivation are
far more likely to experience hallucinations."
"Hallucinations mean seeing or hearing things that don't actually exist."
"It can be visual—seeing something that's not real.
Or auditory—hearing sounds or voices that aren't there."
Peter's voice grew more serious.
"But in some cases, what people hear is even more terrifying:
Something called a command hallucination.
That means, a voice—seemingly from within your own mind—
tells you to do something.
It orders you. Pressures you."
"A recent study on 350 individuals with sleep deprivation showed that
over 80% experienced hallucinations—either sights or sounds.
And about 2% had more intense symptoms like disorientation and paranoia."
He looked around the circle.
"Disorientation means losing the sense of where you are.
Paranoia means constantly feeling like someone is plotting against you.
Some people even forget where they are…
or what time it is.
They feel completely ungrounded in reality."
There was a brief pause.
Then Daniel asked with concern:
"Isn't there any way to overcome this condition, Peter?"
Peter gave a slight nod.
"There is.
The only real remedy for sleep deprivation is… proper sleep.
A consistent, healthy sleep cycle can reduce these symptoms.
It may not cure everything overnight—
but it's the best path forward."
At that moment, one of the listeners—Glenford—raised his voice.
"Mr. Peter, all this time you've been talking about medical issues and conditions.
But you still haven't explained the experiences we heard tonight."
"Some of what you said makes sense to me.
Some of it… I didn't really understand."
Peter smiled slightly and looked around.
"I do have a reason for starting with these explanations, Glenford.
And I assure you—it's directly related to the stories we just heard."
Peter continued, calmly facing the group.
"It's directly tied to the experiences we've heard tonight."
He turned slightly, meeting the eyes of the others seated around the fire.
"Let me begin with Charlie's experience."
"Charlie said this happened two years before he started engineering college. He was sleeping alone in his room when an unknown figure appeared to him. But when he slept beside his mother and father, nothing happened. Why is that?"
"Because—like all of us know—sleeping near someone gives us a subconscious sense of safety. It reduces fear. But when alone, that fear returns."
"Charlie himself mentioned it: he usually sleeps late. That's the first factor—lack of sleep."
"The second factor—he played video games before bed. Research has proven that prolonged exposure to screen light—especially from phones or consoles—can overstimulate the brain and make it more vulnerable to stress and hallucinations."
"And when sleep deprivation is added to that? The chances of hallucination rise dramatically."
Peter raised a finger.
"It's possible the rest was just his brain—manufacturing the image."
"Next… Barry and his friends," Peter said, shifting focus.
"First: their jobs. They were working, commuting, exhausted. By the time they reached that lodge at night, they were already running on low rest."
"And second: the story they were told about the room. Even if their conscious minds tried to forget it, that story remained lodged in their subconscious."
"Sleep deprivation and fear… combined… could've caused their minds to generate that vision."
"And when one friend saw it the second night, Barry finally admitted he had seen the same thing the night before. That mutual confirmation made it more believable—but still, it may have been a psychological reaction."
"Max's brother's experience is a classic example of how psychological and environmental conditions can trigger vivid hallucinations. That night, after Max and their parents had gone to bed, his brother stayed up watching television. The prolonged exposure to screen light, especially in the dark, is known to overstimulate the brain and disrupt natural sleep patterns. Eventually, he fell asleep, but his mind was already exhausted. This combination of mental fatigue and sleep deprivation likely led to a hallucination—a vivid, dream-like perception that occurs in the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep. The blurry face he thought he saw on the television, and the terrifying realization that it was actually a reflection of something behind him, were most likely projections of a stressed mind caught between consciousness and unconsciousness. The fear overwhelmed him, and he fainted. To this day, even if others dismiss it as a dream, Max's brother remains convinced it was real—because for him, it truly felt that way."
"And then, finally… David, the police officer."
Peter's tone softened.
"Fear. Isolation. Heavy rain. A dead body lying under a tarp. All of this affects the nervous system."
"When your shift is long… when your body is soaked… when you're alone and sleep-deprived, your brain starts creating explanations, images—sometimes terrifying ones."
---
Juliet raised her voice gently.
"Peter… you mentioned sleep deprivation this whole time. But how did they recover from it? How did they come back from those states?"
Peter smiled.
"The answer is simple—sleep."
"A consistent, deep sleep cycle is the best medicine for sleep deprivation. The brain begins to reset itself, slowly clearing the fog."
He looked around the circle, speaking slowly.
"I'm sure many of you have had this experience: you drive a vehicle for a long time… and suddenly, you don't remember driving.
You blink, and realize you've driven kilometers without noticing.
You ask yourself—'Who was driving?'"
"During that time, your brain filtered out everything—oncoming cars, turns, the surroundings. It did the driving while your consciousness went elsewhere."
"If your brain can erase something real in front of you…
it can certainly create something that isn't there."
He paused, letting that thought sink in.
"Now, I'm not saying this explanation is the definitive truth behind all four stories.
But it could be."
"There are countless mysteries around us.
What we don't know is always greater than what we do know."
"But even so… it's important we try to look at these experiences with reason."
"Fear exists within all of us. But don't let it dominate you.
Every experience, no matter how strange, has a reason behind it.
Sometimes, it may take years to uncover that reason.
And until then—our fear will live on."
Peter finished, and quietly walked back to his seat.
The campfire crackled once more.
And silence settled in again.
To be continued.....
Next chapter Release date 3/7/25