The Night

Chapter 1

Nighttime  is  supposed  to  be  peaceful  and  relaxing  for  a  weary  child;  for  me  it  was  down  right  terrifying.  While  some  children  might  complain  about  being  put  to  bed  before  they  have  finished  watching  a  movie  or  playing  their  favourite  video  game,  when  I  was  young,  night  time  was  something  to  truly  fear.  In  the  back  of  my  mind  it  still  is.

 As  someone  one  who  believes  in  proof,  I  cannot  prove  that  what  happened  to  me  was  real,  but  I  can  swear  that  what  I  experienced  was  genuine fear.  A  fear  which  in  my  life,  I'm  happy  to  say,  has  never  been  equalled.  I  will  relate  it  to  you  all  now  as  best  I  can,  make  of  it  what  you  will,  but  I'll  be  glad  to  just  get  it  off  of  my  mind.

I  can't  remember  exactly  when  it  started,  but  my  apprehension  towards  falling  asleep  seemed  to  correspond  when  I  was  around  nine,  my  dad  announced  that  we  would  be  moving  out  of  his  parents  house  into  a  trailer  he   found.

The  night  that  he  announced  it  was  an  like  any  other  to  tell  you  the  truth.  He  came  home  from  work  the  only  difference  was  that  he  was  extremely  excited  that  he  had  found  a  affordable  trailer,  and  announced  that  we  were  moving  in  two  weeks.

The  rest  of  the  night  went  like  any  other  we  ate  dinner  and  then  watched  Star  Trek  reruns  for  a  couple  of  hours  before  going  to  bed.

From that night I remember a strange feeling of unease creeping slowly into the back of my mind. I lay on the couch, staring down at my action figures and cars thrown across the white carpet. As imaginary battles and adventures took place between the toys on the floor, I couldn't help but feel that my eyes were being slowly drawn towards the window, as if something was moving in the corner of my eye. Something which did not wish to be seen.

The area was empty, and the noise slipping under my door from my parent's television, bathed me in a warm sense of safety and well-being.

I fell asleep.

When  you  awaken  from  a  deep  sleep  to  something  moving,   it  can  take  a  moment  for  you  to  understand  what  is   happening.  The  fog  of  sleep  hangs  over  your  eyes  and  ears  even  when  it's  a  lucid  dream.

Something was moving, there was no doubt about that.

At first I wasn't sure what it was. Everything was almost pitch black, but there was enough light creeping in from outside to outline the suffocating room. Two thoughts appeared in my mind almost simultaneously. The first was that my dad was in bed because the rest of the house lay in darkness, and silence. The second thought turned to the noise. A noise which had obviously woken me.

As the last cob webs of sleep left from my mind, the noise became clearer. Sometimes the simplest of sounds can be the most scary, wind whistling through a tree,  footsteps uncomfortably close, or, in this case, the simple sound of a bird cawing in the dark.

That was it; a bird cawing in the dark as if it was alone in the world. I lay there in disbelief thinking that the noise was my imagination, It was then that I noticed my door, shut as it had been as I'd fallen asleep.

Perhaps my dad had checked in on me, but I woke up halfway through the night. I sat up rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, for some reason that I couldn't put my finger on the room seemed more sinister.

Yes, that must have been it. I turned to face the wall, closing my eyes in the vain hope that I could fall back to sleep. As I moved, the cawwing noise from coming from behind me ceased. I thought that I must have disturbed the bird, but quickly I realized that the visitor behind was  less mundane than a bird that got in the house, and much more sinister.