Imaginary friends

[Randy]

Imaginary friends and imaginary companions are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than external physical reality. Imaginary friends are fictional characters created for improvisational role-playing. They often have elaborate personalities and behaviors. Although they may seem very real to their creators, children understand that their imaginary friends are not real. The first studies focusing on imaginary friends are believed to have been conducted during the 1890s.
Imaginary friends are made often in childhood, sometimes in adolescence, and rarely in adulthood. They often function as tutelaries when played with by a child. They reveal, according to several theories of psychology, a child's anxieties, fears, goals and perceptions of the world through that child's conversations. They are, according to some children, physically indistinguishable from real people, while others say they see their imaginary friends only in their heads, and still others cannot see the friend at all but can sense his/her presence. Imaginary friends are more often seen as abnormal in adults, whereas quite common in children.
Few adults report having imaginary friends; however, as Eileen Kennedy-Moore points out, "Adult fiction writers often talk about their characters taking on a life of their own, which may be an analogous process to children’s invisible friends."In addition, Marjorie Taylor and colleagues have found that fiction writers are more likely than average to have had imaginary companions as children.

Did you ever have an imaginary friend?

 

[Nebulous]

I had one when I was really little, his name was either Timmy or Tommy, I don't remember now... Of course I didn't actually see him, but I pretended he was there and we got into all sorts of adventures.