The Cursed Trend

It’s hard to believe whether some things are real or not until you try it. This was the case in the trend that my brother, cousin, and I participated in during the summer of 2016. We are more “believe it when we see it” kind of people because on the internet there’s so many ways of editing things to make them look real. I’m not sure who started the challenge or when it originated, but it was going viral and it caught our attention. We just couldn’t resist doing it due to the dardevilness within us, so we did.

The challenge was called Charlie, Charlie. You’re supposed to either get a paper and a pencil in the middle that you can spin and write yes and no in four squares or get eight pencils and combine them with another person you’re with so it can be the shape of a square and then balance them. If he (Charlie) pushed the pencils inward while doing it in a square formation it means yes and outwards means no. We decided to do the second way because of the odds of just the wind blowing the pencil or someone blowing it with their mouth. After you get the right setup, you’re supposed to say, “Charlie, Charlie are you here?” Nothing usually happens the first time so you have to repeat the question maybe two or three times until he either spins the pencil or pushes the middle of the eight pencils in. When he shows that he’s here then you’re in the game and can ask any question you want, but it is said that you can’t leave unless you ask, “Charlie, Charlie can we leave,” and he says yes or else you’ll get haunted. 

The fear of the challenge being real made it so that we did not want to do it at the night time so we did it around dawn. We gathered eight pencils and went downstairs to the kitchen table and without hesitation started setting the challenge up. I stood by the side at first and let my cousin and brother do it, but they had difficulties holding the pencils up and in a square formation so I substituted for my cousin. I grabbed four of the pencils while my brother had the other four and we formed them as we should and started the challenge. 

“Charlie, Charlie are you here,” I said nervously. 

Nothing happened.

Once again, “Charlie, Charlie are you here,” the pencils slowly went in as if someone were pushing them in with the slightest touch. Butterflies immediately filled my stomach and we both let go of the pencils and they dropped to the floor. My brother asked if I did that, but I didn’t move a muscle. He claimed that he didn’t do it either which made me so scared. I did not want to do this anymore, but we had to finish and get permission if we could leave. We did not want to ask anymore questions once we saw that it was real. We picked the pencils back up, put them in a square, and asked, “Charlie, Charlie can we leave?” Luckily, he pushed the pencils in which means yes and we immediately put the pencils away and went upstairs to our room to watch cartoons to get our mind off of it. We were in complete shock and didn’t want any part in that challenge again. What was sketchy to me was that it felt as if it was a ritual, which didn’t sit right with me.

I thought “Charlie” was done, but it seems that he wasn’t. Later that night, I went downstairs by myself to get some snacks, but before I could get to the kitchen I heard footsteps as if someone was already in there, but everyone was asleep. Never have I ever turned around and ran so quick back to my room and hopped in the bed under the covers. I was terrified, but after that we did not have any more encounters with the ghost or whatever you want to call it. I advise you not to try it, but if you do, do it at your own risk.