It was a dark starless night. The kind of night in which random murders and rapes happen in the movies. An eerie stillness was in the woods around the house and the croaking of the frogs in the nearby pond was gone. I had heard the now familiar disturbance at first when everyone left for the vigil but now it was all gone. It was my first night alone in the house and I knew I could do it even though the house seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It was nothing difficult – staying home alone – because, I’m a man.
“Nothing would happen to me.” I kept telling my parents as they prepared for church, with my little sister.
“Are you sure you can’t try to come?” my mother had asked.
“No mom, I’m too sick to stay up all night. I need to rest.”
When they left, I laid down on the long couch in front of the TV. House of Wax was showing and I was about to cover myself with a blanket when the lights went off. That was a normal thing and I knew it would be back in a few minutes since it was our day on, so I stayed there and waited. And that was when I noticed the unnerving quiet. Continue reading “Bad Reaction”