By Jonathon Manning
They told me not to be afraid of the dark.
It’s hard, though, not knowing what’s out there when the sun goes down.
Is that the claw of a beast or the branch blowing in the breeze? A would-be attacker or a partially concealed signpost?
I see monsters everywhere, but I’ve learnt to ignore almost all of them.
The light flashes on. Then off. Then on again. The cycle repeats. He’s standing in the doorway, hand on the light switch. I see his silhouette and smell his breath.
Not everyone sees the shadows and not all monsters live in the dark.
A friend had a repeated nightmare in which she saw a scary woman with spiders crawling all over her. Years later she told her mother, who said ‘I saw her too!’
There’s a 101 word story in that. 🙂
Hello Jonathon,
. . . and all shadows lurking in the darkness are not imaginary monsters. Excellent piece with an evocative narrative voice.
Very unsettling. Nice work.
Creepy in such a good way.
That last line is so sad and haunting. Well done.
Jonathon, I love this. Congratulations on writing a micro-story that really pulls you in. I can’t wait to read more from you.
Congrats… great narrative voice…
Well done!
great narrative voice, as others have said. unpleasant to read.
Beautifully written.
Fear is very real. Great to know that someone else knows this.
Thank you for the kind comments. Hope you enjoyed the piece.
*Shudder* Brilliant and terrifying in equal measures. So good.