title: fs.readFile returning string but with white space between every character and adding characters
body: <p>fs.readFile() returning string with whitespaces between every character and is also adding a tilde symbol as well(~)
  this is transformed <code>&lt;ApiDocument&gt;</code>
  into this <code>"~&lt; A p i D o c u m e n t &gt;"</code></p>
  
  <p>I was trying to parse XML to just get a string from a stored file. I thought I had maybe messed up in the file. so i created another file with just simple text in it like "test" and im getting the same symptoms "t e s t"</p>
  
  <p>I also thought maybe it was because it was an xml file so i switched it to TXT and still got the same thing. </p>
  
  <p>I dont seem to know how to articulate the problem because noone online seems to be having the same issue.  </p>
  
  <p>I also tried different encodings. </p>
  
  <p>I am using Node version 10.15.0</p>
  
  <pre><code>fs.readFile("SalesReceiptExport.xml","UTF-8", function (err, data) {
      if (err) throw err;
      console.log(data);
  
  });
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I expect it to read the file that contains <code>&lt;Apidocument&gt;</code>
  and return string with <code>"&lt;ApiDocument&gt;"</code>
  but instead it transforms into <code>"~ &lt; A p i D o c u m e n t&gt;"</code></p>