One More Night (Richonne Story)

Thorn In My Side

I was wide awake and I didn't know what woke me - but something had. One sleepless night, a week earlier, out pure of frustration, I'd unplugged my digital clock.

So now I had no clue what the time was.

One thing is for sure, it was clearly late. The clouds had moved on and the moonlight was casting a dim glow in my room from around the curtains. I lifted my head to check on Noah, he was at his usual spot on the floor. He was not asleep; his head was raised and his ears twitching.

All of a sudden he jumped to his feet and took off down the stairs. He was running so fast, his nails clicked and scraped against the floorboards. I laid back down and listened to him running back and forth along with the sliding glass doors downstairs. Something out there was exciting him. It's probably that fox, I reasoned with myself. Still, my heartbeat picked up.

A few minutes later he was back by my side, prancing on his toes. I sat up with a groan, flicking on my reading lamp.

"Need to pee-pee, boy?"

He yipped and took off back down the stairs. I retrieved my coat from the hook before wadding downstairs in my slippers to meet him. He was waiting impatiently by the sliding door, tail wagging at a million miles an hour.

"Hang on, Lil boy." I jogged to the front door and grabbed the leash from its peg. The last thing I needed was to be traipsing the woods in the middle of the night looking for him.

As soon as the door was open Noah was dragging me out onto the snow. When Noah was acting willfully he could be strong as an ox and I just about fell to my knees trying to keep up with him. His nose was down, ears twitching as he rapidly sniffed over the thick blanket of snow that had been deposited on the last day.

"Hurry up, Noah," I hissed trying to walk him over to a bush he particularly favored. Instead, he pulled me along the perimeter of the house and by the deck, his nose buried deep in the scent of something far more interesting than taking a piss on the tree. He stopped suddenly and looked up at the roof. I looked up also, I could see nothing but the thick cover of white that obscured the roofing tiles.

Adrenaline was starting to kick in and flight and fright were desperately shouting at me to get back inside. Noah pulled me again towards the tree line back on the trail of his scent again.

"Noah!" I complained. "Hurry up. It's cold."

And I am this close to pissing myself.

He came to a standstill and stared into the darkness of the woods. He was staring at something out there. My gaze traveled past him. There was something out there.

I couldn't see it.

But I could feel it.

I could feel it staring back.

That was my cue.

"Noah!" I gave a sharp tug and led him back inside. I practically leaped over the threshold before locking the door and running up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I threw off my outdoors layers and climbed back into bed and Noah followed suit, curling up in his bed too. I checked my phone. It was after midnight. I sighed and rolled over, hoping to fall back asleep quickly.

But it wasn't going to happen. 

Every familiar settling creak of the cabin set me on edge. Even the whirring sound of the wind and the crackling of the fireplace from downstairs sounded contrary rather than its usual comforting hum. My ears strained to hear anything out of the ordinary.

Get a grip, Michonne.

Take a breath.

Relax...