the series of r/nosleep | volume one: the {smile} series

{L}imbs

Click Click Scraaaaatch

"Did you hear that?" she asks. I pretend I'm asleep and let off a pair of semi-convincing snores into my pillow.

Click Click Scraaaaatch

"Ernest! Ernest, did ya hear that?!" She doesn't shake me, she doesn't nudge me, the old bat pokes me in the back of my head. "Ernest! I know you ain't sleeping! Did you hear that noise?!"

"Dammit, woman!" I hiss into my pillow. "I don't hear anything. Now go back to – "

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"There! There it is again!" she shrieks.

"You keep this up and you're gonna give yourself a heart attack," I say, but I know I'm not that lucky. Odetta will still be kicking around this side of the dirt long after I'm gone.

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She pokes me again. "Aren't you going check it out?"

"Now why in the hell would I do that?" I roll over to face her. "It's probably just the wind rustlin' them trees out front. Now go back to sleep or at least shut your mouth so I can!"

She opens her mouth to say something, thinks better of it, and then lays her head back down on the pillow with her lips pursed. She's quiet just long enough for me to slip back into whatever dream I was having.

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She's shaking me this time. This woman will be the death of me, I think. I open one eye, she's too damn ugly at night to get two, and lay on my meanest of glares. Her brown skin is practically grey in the near dark room. Fuzz from the tiny tv on the dresser splashes bits of color onto her terrified face. Ah hell, she really is scared. That just means I'm goin' to have to get up outta this bed and see whatever is causing –

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"That's it!' I say and swing my legs out from under the sheets. The cold wood floor makes it feel like winter, but that's still months away. My knees creak as my back spasms, and together they work against me as I try to stand up. "I'm going to show you it's just the damn tree branches." Old bones and joints crack and moan and bind as I hobble over to the window. I put two hands on the curtains to pull them apart when the doorbell rings downstairs.

"Ernest?" Odetta says softly from the bed. There's a tremble in her voice that makes her sound like a nervous frog.

"You just stay there, woman," I say, pointing a bony finger at her nose. "You just stay there and keep practicing not talkin'. I'll go see who's at the door." My hands leave the curtain and one reaches for the dresser to keep me upright.

Odetta sees me stumble and says, "Take your cane, you old fool."

I wave her comment away and make my way down the carpeted stairs. Each one sends searing pain up into my hips. I get halfway down and the doorbell rings again. "That better not be one of you damn kids from across the street!" I yell. Those kids are worse than their yapping mutts. At least the dogs can be put down after a few years. I smile at the thought, and the doorbell rings again. "I'm comin', I'm comin'. You'll wear out the damn button before I get there!"

I make it to the landing and cross the few steps to get to the door. I try to look through the peephole but it's dark outside. "What did I expect," I say to myself. "It's the middle of the damn night." Next to the door a beige light switch is flipped up to the on position. "Light must be out."

"It was working perfectly," a voice says through the door. It catches me off-guard and I almost lose my balance. I grab the knob to steady myself.