"Have a good day at work." I called out to my husband. The night had been a long one for me. The sun had not yet risen as I waved goodbye to my husband. I must have only gotten three hours of sleep, if that.
Locking both locks behind me, I headed upstairs to check on my 3 month old daughter. She was so tiny. We had just gotten her home from the hospital. She was born early, too early, to be sent home right away.
But after 3 long months, we had her here, home, in the new townhouse that was perfect for us. She was no longer in the hospital, but safe in her crib, in our house.
I saw her there, asleep soundly in her crib. She looked like she was only a month old. Heavens, she was so small and frail, but stronger than any baby I knew.
I smiled at her, thinking about how much I just wanted to pick her up and hold her. But she was asleep, and as they say: Let sleeping babies lie.
So, instead, I left her door cracked open and went back to my room to try and get some sleep. I placed my phone and glasses on my bedside table, turned on the fan, and got comfortable in my bed.
It wasn't long before that warm, tingly feeling set in and I felt myself drifting off. I was comfortable and my body felt perfect.
But then I felt it. I don't know how long I had been sleeping for, but I wasn't anymore. What was worse, I couldn't move.
Wait...what woke me?
The fan.
It's not on anymore.
Did the power go out?
No...now the fan is back on.
Now it's off.
Now on.
What's going on?
My body wouldn't move, but my eyes could. I looked around my room. It was still dark. Why was it still dark? I know I slept long enough for the sun to come up.
Then I heard it.
Thunder.
It roared as the house shook and the fan turned off once again.
It was dark because of the storm outside. But it wasn't dark enough for me not to see completely. Unfortunately, I couldn't see well without my glasses.
Maybe the storm was what was causing the fan to turn on and off.
But no, I heard something else besides the thunder and the rain. Something that I could identify was what was causing the fan to turn on and off.
The light switch was being flicked on and off.
I looked towards the light switch. It was by my door. I needed my glasses to see clearly but what I saw sent ice to flowing through my veins.
A dark hand, from what I could see, was curled around the door way and flicking on my light switch.
I sucked in a breath of air and the hand stopped flicking on and off the fan. Had it heard me? I needed my glasses to see but I could not move to get them!
Then I heard the most inhuman sound.
A laugh.
A laugh came from beyond my door and it did not sound human. The flicking started again and so the did fan's spinning.
On.
And off.
On.
And off.
