This is a short story that I wrote while taking a Horror Literature class at Cal State, Fullerton. It is about paranoia, how powerful it is and where it can take us; what it can make people do. I find horror literature and delving into the darker parts of where the mind can go to be very interesting.
A Good Night’s Sleep
“Dong!” The long reverberation of the city’s clock tower echoes twice. Another long night of working creeps into the morning. The moon decides it might be time to take some rest. At least one of us is capable of doing so. I have lost count of how many days in a row I have gone without sleep. They just seem to blur together now. Despite the hours, this new job seems promising. With the hours I have been putting in I soon will be able to escape the cell in which I currently reside.
As I make my way home I wonder if I am even headed in the right direction. The patches of fog tonight are thicker than the walls of my house. Moving forward I hear the heavy steps of what I assume to be a horse pulling a carriage. The noise of trampling on the brittle cobblestone street seems stranger than usual this night. It may be my lack of sleep getting to me.
The passing carriage must not have had trouble getting around the pothole in front of my house. I am surprised that no carriages have turned over in it yet. It is a sizeable gap. Speaking of the devil, through one of the many thick waves of fog I notice the mouth in the floor. It grins with an insatiable hunger as I walk by. Shaking my head, it returns to its empty, normal self and I realize that I am finally “home”.
I reach for my keys as I walk up the steps to the door I cannot shake a feeling of being observed. I look up and startle as the round, and only, window of my house blinks as if it were eagerly awaiting my return. My heart races as I rush through the threshold of the narrow, two story building. Standing in the pitiful combined kitchen/living room I catch a bit of calm and toss my hat and coat on the chair. As my heart rate steadies I head upstairs to the only other room of the house, my bedroom. Knowing that I have but a few hours before I must throw my coat back on I try to sleep, a seemingly difficult task as I have not been in this city long and everything other than the clock tower are foreign to me.
The tall, demanding tower speaks one more note than before. I look out the eye to see what my house sees. Squinting down the street I notice the flames of the streetlamps dancing wildly, a seemingly odd occurrence on this windless night. Hypnotized by the flames, I cannot stop staring. Curious enough they start to go out. As the next lamps go dark, the previous ones ignite. They extinguish in a line, rather hastily towards my direction. Taking a step back I lose my footing and fall on my bed. The moment the bed calms, a loud crash from the floor below interrupts the quiet night.
That must have been the door. Someone has broken into my house! As I jump up I feel my heart racing. Before I can even take a step forward I hear heavy and rapid trampling. The steps are much heavier than a mere human’s, and much faster. It sounds as if each step is breaking the wooden floor. The trampling continues, much louder! What size is this creature to break the floor with each step!
Enveloped in fog and hearing no ringing of the clock tower, my house stands still in time as the unknown being ravages the story below me. The vicious steps subside and the house is quiet again. I can hear the heavy breaths exhaled from the beast followed by the clicking of my knees as my legs shake, leaving me immobilized. Maybe the creature has decided it is done here. “Creeeak!” The lower portion of the stairs speaks as they relieve stress. A load off of them must mean the creature is coming upstairs! For me! How does it know I am here?! I have been but a mouse! I can feel It, Its strength crushing my ribs with but a single massive hand; or claw. Its aura is overwhelming. I am trapped! Trapped like the mouse I have been. At least I will be able to see my killer before I go, for the beam of light from the window shines directly to the top of the staircase.
How slowly it must be moving to have only made the one sound up the stairs. It wants to take me by surprise! There must be something I might be able to defend myself with! Looking around the room I notice the small glare of moonlight off the letter opener resting on the desk below the window. I leap at the semi sharp object and quickly face the stairs. In my hand the weapon feels miniscule and unfit for the task at hand. The creature has blasted down a door and made rubble of the floor, there is no way the letter opener will subdue the beast. My mind races as I envision myself, and all of the ways the shadowy giant will torture me. This cannot be it! It will be of my own choice when I make that final rest! Glancing down at the letter opener I have decided. I would rather get some sleep and never wake than endure what is to come.
Blood splatters on the floor as the dull blade enters my lower stomach. Rather having the terrible creature be the thing I dream of eternally I turn and look out the window. The fog has cleared. As weakness overcomes me I notice a horse standing next to an overturned carriage. The mouth grins, and with a feeble chuckle I smile back.
