Saturday, February 26, 2011

Waking up in a strange room

Groggily, I sit up and look around the dark room. There is only a minuscule amount of light coming in from some distant source of unknown origin. My mouth is dry and pasty, my joints ache, and it's chilly. Suddenly I hear this terrifying sound and a ghostly wisp is coming at me at an alarming speed. The wisp has a glow as if it had an internal light source. The room is tense and I can feel that this entity is very angry. I feel vice-like grips on my arms, shoulders, and legs. I try to scream but nothing comes out, is it fear? Is it the dryness? Although the room is clearly unfamiliar to me I realize that I am still lying on my bed from my room. The wisp is trying to drag me off the bed by my ankles. I feel that I am fighting for my life! I dig in my fingers into the quilts and down to the mattress of my bed but to no avail. Suddenly, just as quickly as it appeared the wisp is now gone and I am lying on the floor. For a few minutes, I stay their with my heart trying to pound it's way out of my chest. The wisp may no longer have me but fear still has a firm grasp. Now the room appears to change in the low light I can see my bedroom again. I am relieved because now I realize it must all be a dream. Somehow I am back on my bed again and trying to pull myself out of the bizarre dream. Again the wisp appears and it is smothering me, I can't breathe!! I struggle to pry myself free from it's grasp but I don't have the strength. Now, I realize all to late that this wisp is a demon or vengeful spirit of some sort and while I may be dreaming the choking, the fear, the peril of my mortality is real. I feel the metal of my necklace it has this burning hot and cold sensation. I have an epiphany, my necklace! It's a cross. I grab a hold of it in hopes that it will protect me but it is not enough the spirit trying to inhabit my body. Urgently, I begin reciting "in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti," over and over again as I hastily draw crosses with my fingers all over my body. Even with the danger I am facing I realize that this all seems a little hokey but the thought is just a flash as while I pushed the spirit away it has come back to try and attack me again. With a bolt I am awake feeling as if I had just fell the distance of the ceiling to my bed. I am hesitantly peering around still expecting it to all be a dream. My chest is still pounding, my necklace still warm against my chest, my arms and legs feel bruised. The air feels heavy as if the entity is still lurking. I have no proof of my ordeal but I am certain, none-the-less, that it was very real! I want desperately to put as much distance between myself and this room as quickly as possible. Even as I reach the living room I am still wary that I may still be dreaming. As I watch the TV and bask in the glow of the bright ceiling light, I slowly accept that I am awake, I am alive.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Footsteps in the Dark

In the slums of Whitechapel, Maureen paced the streets doing the only work she knew. A light moisture covered the street with a low hanging fog as the likely culprit. This early in the morning the sun was not yet up. Few people traveled at this time. In the distance the clacking of hooves could be heard as they struck the cobblestone as a carriage scurried away. Maureen was ready to call it a night and head home. As she rounded the corner a chill crept up her spine. She pulled her shall tighter around her neck and kept walking. Maureen finally realized what was nagging at her, she could hear footsteps behind her. She slowed to a stop and peered around but could see no one. There were many shadowed areas and she was certain within one of those shadows was her stalker. Perhaps this particular John was shy but something told Maureen that this was not the case. Maureen had to deal with all different walks of life but never had she felt such fear! She started to walk again listening closely and again could hear the footsteps behind her. Now she hastened her step, safe harbor was not far away. She began to run her legs propelling her forward as if they were moving of their own volition. Her heel snagged in a crack in the sidewalk, sprawling her headlong onto the concrete. The footsteps were close now and out of the shadows an ominous figure appeared. Frantically, Maureen attempted to pull herself to her feet but to no avail. The scream that had been building died in a sickly gurgling sound as a knife plunged into her throat. Her limp body fell back to the ground her blood pooling around her. Once the grisly deed was done, the footsteps receded back into the darkness.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Character Portrait

In the morning he is stirred from slumber by his older sister. Stretching, he slowly sits up to wipe the sleep from his large clear blue eyes. He swings his feet around in front of him, too short to reach the floor yet. Mother brings his clothes; he slips the shirt over his shoulders and his pants on around his waist. Whining, he complains that the pants don't fit. He is at an awkward stage. Size five pants are too small, size six too big. Grasping his loose waistband, he stands up and slips on his zippered shoes. He hasn't learned to tie laces yet. Sitting at the bus stop, his short dirty-blonde hair waving in the wind, he enviously watches his older siblings get on the big yellow bus. Mother says he can go next year, but he doesn't quite understand what that means. ..So you mean the day after tomorrow I can go too?.. His dimpled grin is irresistible and hard to disappoint. Mother strokes his freckled cheek and soothingly replies, ..No, honey, but soon... Preparing for the ride to daycare, Mother pulls out the nap-time essentials, at which he grins and grabs the stuffed animal. ..Know why I want the Stegosaurus? Because I loooove Dinosaurs!.. Mother just smiles knowingly. When he arrives at daycare, he never misses a chance to show off his intelligence. He presses the five digit security code to unlock the door. Once inside he beams, ..I did it all by myself! I'm a smart cookie... Then he presses a separate seven digit code to sign himself in. Always one to attract attention, he creeps alongside the toy bins hoping to remain unseen for his big, fashionably late entrance. He slides in on both knees. The tiny girls swoon, the boys holler with joy, and the teacher struggles to maintain control of her class, ..Austin's here!