Man in the Mirror

"The Filipino fortune tellers told me you'd never be alone, you're always being watched by the man in the dark."

"Hahaha... ok mom."

I'm sitting on my bed, woke up a few minutes ago. It's now about 3:14 am. The room is dark, besides the cracks of light from the moon and street lamps crawling through the window. Can't get back to sleep.

I swing my feet off the edge of the bed and stand up, stretching myself out. Do a little wiggle wiggle, a little hokey pokey. After that, I walk out of the room and downstairs. All the lights are off, but there's still the glow from outside. I navigate myself to the bathroom. It's small; a toilet to the left with a wall only about two feet in front of it, next to the toilet a circular sink, and in front of the sink: the door. The door leads to the wide hallway with some squared arches to the dining room, living room, and on the other side of the bathroom; the kitchen.

I open the door to the loo, turn on the lights, and look in the mirror. The glare from the bathroom lights up the hall a bit. And while gazing at myself my eyes flick to something behind me. It was in the hallway, almost directly behind me except for the edges of it. It was like some kind of jacket. Maybe on a coat rack? But we don't have a coatrack - maybe we got one and I never noticed - but we don't have a coatrack, we've got hangers. I didn't turn around, just tilted my head to the side to get a better look at it from the mirror. But when I did... it moved. It moved its "hood"... but jackets don't move.

Every single part of me is trying to think of something that could explain what just happened. Wind! In the house? Could be a coincidence! Or - y'know - something like that.

But I'm still freaked. Literally frozen stiff. I stand there a while, wondering if it was all in my head. Did that till I decide to lift my hand off the edge of the sink... and the thing behind me moves its "sleeve" almost in sync. Put my hand down, and it mimics.

If I run back to my room will it follow me...? So I stay still. Hold my ground. I stay there for so long my legs ache. I feel like I'm about to cry. I have got to stop scaring myself.

And about a few hours later... I hear my dad coming down the stairs. Thump, thump, thump. Relief trickles down my body. And as soon as he's in the hallway, in front of whatever was behind me so I can't see it, I duck my head and walk beside him into the kitchen.

He doesn't ask. He just does his morning routine. And I watch. Silent. The more time that passes, the more I start to believe that what just happened - didn't just happen. And maybe it didn't. It doesn't even feel real anymore, so maybe it wasn't...

"The Filipino fortune tellers told me you'd never be alone, you're always being watched by the man in the dark."

"Hahaha... ok mom."

Author Notes: actual story that happened to me-- 'xcept touched up a bit to make it more dramatic and scary than it actually was-

Buuuuut.. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Recommend Reviews (1) Write a ReviewReport