1990 The Ugly Man

When he was about 3-1/2, for about 6 months, Benjamin had nightmares.  He would wake up screaming and crying.  Sometimes I brought him into our bed, and sometimes I stayed in his car bed with him.  He said in the dreams he was stolen by "an ugly man".  He couldn't really describe him, just that in various situations, the "ugly man" would grab him and run away with him.  

I talked to Uncle Carl (our family doctor) about it, and he said it was probably a reaction to the train accident.  A boy about his age was killed, and even though I didn't really talk to Benjamin about it, he saw it and he saw Colby lying there.  It affected me greatly, and I'm sure he heard me talking about it.  It's possible that because he couldn't really express his fear, the only way he could visualize it was that he was stolen, the way Colby was "stolen" from his family.  In that context, it makes sense.

That is probably also the origin of his imaginary friend, Shelfis.

After we moved to Denver in September 1990, he didn't dream about the "ugly man" anymore.