There was a shape at my second floor window.
I'd been lying there in bed for the past few minutes, trying in vain to figure out what had woken me up, when my gaze fell upon it.
My whole body tensed with realization. The blinds were pulled up, so I could make out the shape very clearly, backlit by a streetlamp of our quiet suburb.
I continued to stare, afraid to blink, trying to come to a rational explanation. After all, everything looks menacing in the dark, even sweaters on chairs. It was a sheer drop from my windowsill down to the front door, however. Ten meters of air between us. That made a logical explanation I bit more of a challenge
But the fact remained; something was definitely there.
A raccoon, perhaps, somehow grappling against the bricks of the house? Or maybe it was a bag, snagged on the eaves troughs, casting a shadow?
But the shape was keeping very still, not climbing forward like an animal or waving in the wind like a bag, and it was silent. More than anything, these facts encouraged me to toss aside the blankets and investigate. After all, if it wasn't moving, it probably wasn't a living thing. There was a silly explanation for it. There had to be.
It was as my feet hit the floor that I saw the shape move.
The angles of the shadow shifted, something turned, and very suddenly I was faced with a set of glowing red eyes looking in.
I was paralyzed, half-hunched with one hand pressed on the mattress and the other hanging in midair as I'd been prepared to stand. My heart was suddenly pounding in my ears. I stared back, unable to process anything but the naïve hope that it couldn't see me as well as I could see it. I struggled to breathe, slow and quiet, even though I wanted to gasp for air. The eyes shifted, or rather the head did, craning at an angle to observe me, and I felt my skin prickle and my palms grow hot.
Move, I told myself, but I barely managed to pull my extended hand into a fist. Run away, or scare it, or something, just move.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline I launched myself forward several steps, stopping just a few feet from the window. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe to startle it? But the shape did not budge. And that scared me even more.
This was a nightmare.
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