FNIA: Soul

What lies in the dark...

Mike tossed and turned in his bed for what felt like forever. It was a struggle to keep his eyes shut and for once, he could confidently say it wasn't his fault or that it was just life making things harder. It had to be due to the experience he had earlier that day.

Sometimes, I just have mixed feelings about her.

Mike crossed his arms as he looked up at his bedroom ceiling. He honestly could not understand what drives her to do such things sometimes. He wanted to think he was used to it; that nothing was different, but he knew deep down that wasn't the case.

All he could do now is let out a heavy sigh as he hoped the same thing would not occur later today.

"I have doubts about that however..."

Mike continued to stare at the ceiling, but no matter how long he watched section of plaster above him, nothing changed. He was still wide awake.

Maybe if I put some paint on it to dry...

He briefly considered that possibility, but in doing so, Mike came to realize something about his current predicament.

"I'm bored and yet I'm not tired. This isn't fair..." he softly complained.

Mike slowly sat up and slid out of bed. He crept up to his bedroom door and peeked through the open crack.

He felt both relief and curiosity when he saw nothing down the dark hallway. Urged on by those feelings, Mike opened the door and stepped into the darkness.

He once posed the question whether or not if leaving the safety of your bedroom at night was supposed to be as nerve wrecking like it always was for him. He was told that houses were always scary at night, especially basements, but that truly didn't seem the case for him. At least, it didn't seem as simple as that explanation sounded.

Whenever he left the safety of his room this late, he felt a chill, like something was creeping up on him. It felt like if he looked over his shoulder, then something would jump out of the shadows to get him.

He would then be asked, "What's the difference?"

The difference was that it wasn't hyperbole in his case. Most would just wander about for the nearest switch and let the light ease their concerns. He tried that of course, but in the end, that just made things feel more dangerous.

What he felt was comparable to some of his nightmares, only now, those feelings were brought into the real world.

It was then when, Mike started to question why he would leave his room if he knew this in the first place. Was it to scare the excess energy that kept him up away or was it something else. Pondering this question, he felt his legs slowly pull him back to towards his room.

He was sure that going to sleep would no longer be a problem, but as he tried to slide through the open crack, he heard a strange sound. It sounded like something was being dragged across the floor.

Paralyzed by the horrifying implications that came from below, Mike was reminded of a question that was posed to him: "What happens at night when children sleep?"

Closing his eyes, he could only imagine what the response could be and even to this day, he still wondered.

"One would assume that as an adult, I should know," he thought aloud. "I assumed that the timeframe was just a something kids made exciting, after all the prospect of what happens late at night was always enticing."

Mike opened his eyes and looked down at his phone. It was almost time for him to depart for work.

However, ever since I got this job... It made me wonder whether or not my life was too uneventful and that maybe the excitement was justified after all.