They say that the key to over coming your biggest fear is the face it head on. I disagree. Not because I enjoy being pessimistic, which I do, or that I'm too scared to actually try, which i'm not, but because I just know it wont work. Like I said, I'm not speaking to be that one stubborn person, I'm actually speaking from experience.
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That night was cold, not 'cold' like every night in Seattle, but the 'I didnt think it actually got this cold' cold. The wind howled as it tossed the tree branches aside every few seconds, allowing white light from the full moon to shine through in uneven patches. No matter how tightly I pulled my jacket around me, or how firmly I grasped onto Sarah, my body would not stop shaking from the intense nip in the air.
The streets were empty, but of course they were, nobody in their right mind would come in this neighborhood, not with the story about the Westin house.
According to local legends about twenty years ago the house at the end of the street was owned by a man named Martin Westin. He was somewhat of a recluse with not even so much as one living relative. He was not well known in town, that is until the incident.
He was so secluded from society that it took three months for somebody to find his body. The mailman alerted the police when his mailbox could no longer hold any mail, and when they looked inside they found his rotting corpse laying in bed with maggots and other insects gnawing at his decomposing flesh.
I'd heard the story a million times and never really thought of it as anything more than a scary story to prevent local kids from venturing into a falling down, potentially dangerous house, until the boy across the street disappeared.
Supposedly he got dared to go inside the haunted house and stay for ten minutes, and he never came out. It scared me for sure, seeing as I live a few blocks away from a killer house, but for some reason it affected Sarah more than me.
I've known my whole life that my twin sister had a much more active imagination than I did, but I couldn't understand why or even when she developed such a phobia of the house.
Earlier in the week the school counselor did a lecture on the importance of talking about things rather than holding them inside when someone asked if that was the same when it came to fears. She replied that the best way overcome fears was to face them head on, which is what led us face to face with the Westin house.
We stood with our hands clasped together so tightly that I couldn't remember a time when we'd held onto each other like that. An owl hooted near by giving us a start, but even then Sarah had refused to let me come inside with her.
'I can be brave on my own.' She had told me stubbornly. I shouldn't have listened. I should have insisted that I come with her, but if I had I wouldn't be able to warn you all.
The next time somebody tells you to face your fears, don't believe them. It might make them worse, or even get you killed. Just ask Sarah.
YOU ARE READING
creepshow (wattys2018)
HorrorHe's watching me. That's all he ever does. He stands on the other side of the glass and stares at me. He brings his friends and they join him in the pointing. They tap their fingers against the glass at me, the noise filling my ears, causing my worl...
