The Girl Behind the Curtain
Hidden between the folds of the curtain, the little girl watched in horror, as the old man shook under the deathly grip of the monster from her nightmare.
Yellowed fangs, hollow eyes, a twisting smile full of lies.
Close your eyes and hold your breath, or you will meet a ghastly death. She blinked, the voice from her nightmare swirled through her head, laughing at her malevolently.
She wanted to move, to run, to escape, but her legs stood frozen to the ground like molded iron.
The old man’s head lolled to one side, the monster nodded and bared his claws. She couldn’t watch what came next, so she squeezed her eyes closed and bit her lip waiting in a terrified silence.
Crooked nose, grey black hair, none can escape his fateful glare,
Block your ears and clench your fist, or he’ll tick your name off his list.
Haunting voices and ghostly images swarmed into her memory. Her body shook and her stomach churned as she imagined what was happening to the poor old man.
A salty tear slid down her cheek leaving a pale water-track. There was a tiny splash as the tear landed on her bare foot, she gasped, anything could give her away now.
Pale grey lips, raspy voice, to turn evil was his choice.
Crooked shoulders, gnarled knees, a jangling bunch of rusty keys
More voices snarling at her. More mocking laughs, she’d heard before in that horrific nightmare.
No longer could she bare it, no longer would she bare it. She thrust aside the curtain and screamed as loud as she could.
She felt angry, upset, unjustified, hurt, because the monster’s victim was her Grandad.
Monster at Night
It’s 3am, I lie awake in my bed alone, restless. A tap drips in the bathroom nextdoor, otherwise there is silence.
Creak.
My wardrobe door slides open, I gasp and hide under the bed covers. The sound of feet padding towards me fills my ears. A clawed hand rests on my shoulder, another on my back.
Even through the bedcovers I can smell rancid breath. Like rotten meat and sour milk.
I imagine fangs dripping with blood hovering over my head. I think of the hungry malicious eyes boring into my back and tremble.
I try to scream but no sound comes out. My mouth's as dry as sand. A feeling of dread sucks all the happiness out of my body replacing it with a cold, black fear that engulfs my mind and body.
The monsters hand climbs up my neck and onto my head. Claws press deeply into my skull and a panting sound fills my ears.
I think about the monster, about to strike, readying his claws and fangs. I brace myself for what might come, biting my lip in fear.
I’m vaguely aware of a clawed hand pulling at my covers. I squeeze my eyes closed and bite back tears.
A cold chill passes over my head and neck as my covers are pulled away, I summon all my courage and turn to face the monster.
I am ready to see the blood-dripping fangs, the evil eyes and long sharp claws, except that is not what I see, I see the shape of a little animal, ruffled fur and scruffy ears.
I see the silhouette of my dog.
Lure
“Follow me, little girl, follow me…”
“We are we going?” the child asked brightly taking the grey bony hand in hers.
“Oh, that’s a surprise”,he said to her and smirked.
“I love surprises!”the little girl cried out and tugged on his hand. “Come on, let’s go to the surprise.”
“Of course little girl, of course.”
Hand in hand the grey shadow man and the excitable little girl walked down the alley and disappeared around a corner.
For a split second, a flicker of doubt crossed the little girl’s face but it quickly vanished when she remembered the surprise.
“Where are we going?” She asked.
The shadow replied with a gleeful but sinister laugh.
The child cocked her head to one side and gave him a questioning look.
“Where?”
“To the surprise little girl, the surprise.”
He lead her into a derelict building and up a flight of decrepit stairs, as he was opening an old, rotten door, she stopped and looked up at him.
“Mummy said I shouldn’t go in here”, she paused, an image of her mother pointing to the alleyway she was in and shaking her head. “She said it was a bad place.”
“Oh but this is my home, it’s a lovely place”, said the shadow man, his eyes full of sadness.
The little girls nodded, feeling bad and followed him down a corridor and into a dark room. He closed the door behind him and turned the key in the lock then tossed it into a corner.
It was pitch black and cold, the little girl felt sad, and in a trembling voice she whispered,
“What about the surprise?”
Mirror
A skeletal face emerged from the darkness, pale grey lips and searching eyes, a twisted neck and bent shoulders, bones showing through pale grey skin.
A gnarled hand lifted upwards and rested on a pronounced cheek bone. The lips curled into a smile. A broken laugh echoed through the room, breaking the silence.
Un-cut nails that were long and sharp scratched along the mirror, shattering the perfect glass. Shards landed with perfect precision around large bare feet, forming a mysterious sentence.
Welcome back to your former life, girl of untold happiness…
A spark of an idea, deja vu, blackness.
Thin eyelids flutter open, a memory planted in a possessed mind, a memory of a smiling child in a buttery yellow dress throwing a stick for a dog, laughing. A smiling mother calling and a grinning little sister with an out-of-tune ukulele in her hand.
A life of by-gone bliss.
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