When I was young and I thought that I didn’t need to be told anything because I already knew the answers; I made one mistake. I did not heed my mother’s warning. I was 15 and I was invited to a party at a classmates house. The party itself was wild and I ended up meeting a girl that I thought was going to be my girlfriend come Monday morning at school. It didn’t turn out that way, but believe me by the time school had rolled around, a girlfriend was the last thing on my mind. It was what happened after the party that is the focus of my story.
The party ended a little after one in the morning and everyone went their separate ways. I myself was left to walk back home all alone on Waipahu depot road. Taking the left turn on Aniani street I could see that the lights were off in my house and so I took my time to get there. That’s when I heard someone walking behind me, I turned to see a dark looming shadow that seemed to be changing forms from thin, to thick, to circular and then massive. All the while, there were two glowing red eyes in the middle of the dark shadow. Mind you, this all transpired within a matter of seconds. What made matters worse is that it ( the shadow ) called me by my name. I don’t remember if I screamed or not but I do remember running. It was only then that I suddenly recalled my mother’s advice, that if I were ever walking home late at night and I’d heard an unfamiliar voice call my name, I was to spit on the ground, swear a few bad words and run for my life. I knew I was in big trouble right then because I ran first without spitting or swearing.
Before I knew it I cleared the steps to my front door and I was in my house, safe and sound.
Wrong.
It followed me into my home! I remember screaming that time. My father burst out of his bedroom and came running into the living room yelling, “Honey stop!”
He was screaming at my mother but she wasn’t there; it was only then that I realized he was screaming at the shadowy mass. The undulating darkness shrank away from itself until it was completely gone and all that was left of it was my mother.
She was the shadow.
I don't remember much after that, I must have blacked out. The next morning I made my way to the kitchen and saw my parents sitting at the table enjoying their breakfast.
"There's eggs and toast," my dad said.
"Your orange juice is in the fridge," my mom piped in. "By the way, how's your head? We found you knocked out on the porch last night, you got a big bump."
"What happened?" My dad asked.
"I was running to get home on time and I tried to clear the steps in one jump; guess I didn't make it," I answered.
"Be more careful next time," my mother advised.
"Okay," I replied.
....
I've never been sure if I what I saw that night was real or if it was the nightmarish result of me bumping my head like I'd told my folks. All I know is after that night, I never disobeyed my mother again.
No comments:
Post a Comment