Unsettling Tales

Unfamiliar

I paused the YouTube video I was watching. Trying to listen if I heard a call from downstairs. Waited for a bit. Pleasant aroma infiltrated my room. It triggered my stomach to growl. The air was warm inside. Outside, as I saw my window, it appeared to be chilly, with the rain and the wind. I waited to hear a voice calling me. The rain was sweeping restlessly against the window. It was dark outside. I glanced at the date on my laptop screen. Its Tuesday, I realized.

"Are you listening Lisa?" I heard my mother ask from the dining room.

Her voice was softened as it passed through the floor and the walls of my bedroom.

"Yeah mom, coming," I replied hastily.

It was a calm evening. I heard my brother singing his song from his favorite show on TV. Luke was three years younger than me. He was nine. "Hey Luke, will you shut off that TV and come here have your dinner?" I heard dad ask in a little serious tone. Immediately I heard the TV noise reduce to silence.

There was no sound now.

Nothing except chairs moving, plates and spoons clattering at the dinner table, and the soft pattering of the rain, on windows and walls outside. I slammed my laptop shut. Pulled the door open. The soccer ball resting at the door surface rolled off to the side.

The sounds got much clear as I left my room, closing the door behind me.

I went downstairs and reached the living room.

The TV was off.

The front door was slightly open.

I reached the door, opened it.

The soft pattering of the rain on the pavement increased in amplitude as I put my head outside. The rain was pouring in sheets now. I checked if someone was there.

No one.

I looked down at the front steps to see if I noticed any wet footprints. Still nothing.

Not over thinking I closed the door, assuming one of the three family members had left it open. I suspected Luke. He is a genuine troublemaker.

"Are you going to join us today? Or should we fix an appointment?" mom teased.

I turned and walked to where they were sitting.

"Hilarious mom! I keep telling you, try for standup comedy," I said sarcastically, pulling out my chair to sit.

Luke and dad laughed.

"Ha-ha. Shut up and eat your dinner," mom scolded, eventually breaking into a smile. Luke started making fart noises. For some reason, he found farts to be the pinnacle of comedy. And today he was having a good time making the sounds.

I sat down and started eating. Mom asked us about our day at school. I shared about my day. Luke as always, complained about the teachers at his school being boring. Dad took a sip of water from his glass. "Umm... I think I saw something strange today," he said suddenly as he placed down the glass. We all stopped and looked at dad.

He looked a little confused.

From what he had said already, I could make out the uncertainty in his voice.

He looked at his plate. "While coming back from work, I think I saw some old guy at the side of the road, waving at me," he said with a confused face.

"Where?" mom asked, gently keeping down her spoon.

"You know the part of the road where the streetlights are broken?" dad asked mom.

Mom looked upwards. Stared at the air for a second or two, thinking. "Yeah, I got it," she said, staring back at dad. "But I don't think anyone lives in that area. It's mostly just trees," she added.