the Quiet game

the beginning and end

"Shhh. Now it's my turn to hide."

I yelled louder than I had ever yelled in my life. To my surprise, my mom came running into my room. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked, as I darted my eyes between her and the now empty corner of my bedroom. I couldn't answer. Was it a nightmare? Was my mind playing tricks on me? One thing was for sure; it was over. I shrugged it off as an all-too-real bad dream and went out to sleep on the couch in the living room.

Fast-forward about three weeks. It was around 10:30 and I was out playing "spot" with Phil and nearly a dozen other neighborhood kids (for those of you wondering, "spot" is a game of hide-and-seek played at night with flashlights). The rules were simple. We had to stay within our block, we weren't to go into backyards without permission and you couldn't stay in one place for more than five minutes. I had been gearing up for this evening's game all week. I had the perfect hiding spot and nobody would ever think to look there. Our next-door neighbors had a split-level house with a red deck off of the kitchen upstairs and plenty of room underneath for storage. Their yard wasn't fenced in, so it had easy access. I made my way under the deck and positioned myself behind their lawn mower. "No way anyone will find me here," I thought.

I had been crouched for around three minutes when I saw the beam of light coming from between the houses. My friend, Mike, was "it" and he was running with his flashlight, nearing my hiding spot. Without hesitation, he turned at the edge of the house, shined the light directly on me and yelled, "SPOT!" There's no way he knew I was there.

"How did you do that? Did Phil tell you about my hiding spot?" As I asked the question I could tell he was paying little attention to me while he searched the area.

"Where did she go?" Mike asked, a little hesitant. "I've been chasing her for half a block and I just watched her duck under this deck!"

I couldn't tell if he was trying to play a trick on me or if he was being genuine. Although I didn't want to know the answer, I asked, "What was she wearing?" As he answered, I felt a rush of cold all the way up my back, as if someone had splashed me with ice water. "She had a long, kinda grayish pajama shirt on. It was really strange. Must be somebody's little sister." I leapt out from underneath the deck and stared at him for several seconds, reading his expressions.

"Mike, I've been under here this whole time and you're the first person I've seen."

With the small amount of light from his flashlight illuminating only a portion of his face, I watched his color fade. "Whatever, this game's for babies anyway. I'm going home." he stated, visibly shaken, but doing his best to keep his composure. "You're it now." He shoved the flashlight into my chest and walked quickly in the direction of his house.

Although Mike was gone, I had a sudden awareness that I was not alone. Doing my best to avert my eyes from my once great hiding place, I pointed my flashlight back toward the street. My legs struggled to lift my feet. It was as if hands had emerged from the soft ground and clasped their menacing fingers around my ankles. In a desperate attempt to run, my legs had a different plan as I crashed, face-first, into the wet grass. I lied on the ground, stunned for what felt like only a few seconds. Gathering my wits, I lifted my head to see bare, pale feet resting only inches from my nose. "Aahh!" I screamed, suddenly sitting but leaning back on my hands. I had no words. That girl, the same one from my room, was standing over me. What once had been a vacant grin was replaced with a disgusting, angry snarl.
"That was MY hiding spot!" Her voice now a high-pitched shriek, like thick nails on a dirty classroom chalkboard. Her shadowed eyes pierced through me like a hot blade as she began to cry. She continued with a much quieter, more sinister tone, "It's your fault." It was at that moment I knew she wasn't talking about the game anymore. She lunged forward, flailing her arms while she fell on top of me. I struggled to grab at her frozen wrists and hollered for anyone close who might be able to come help me. I caught one last glimpse of those sinister eyes before everything went black.