[X-Newbies] Help please!

[Keith Mills]

Hello eveybody. This is your perennial Newbie in a panic!

I have a Macbook 13" OS 10.6.6

Last night I tried to shut down as usual, but it seems that there was a 
document open and the screen behaved strangely. I thought no more about 
it until this morning when I tried to switch on. Nothing.

Looking closely, I can see that the document (very, very faint) is 
still there. I wondered whether the battery was down because it had 
been on all night. But now it seems to be fully charged. I can just see 
the screen instructions. I have tried Shut Down, Restart, Force Quit 
etc. Nothing works.

I can hardly see the screen it is so faint. Has anyone any suggestions 
please?
I am lost without it it for my work. I am writing this on my old iMac 
which cannot open many of the documents I need to use.

Many thanks in advance,

Keith Mills