A Short Story

A short story.

I never leave a light on. Making sure that I turn off all the lights in my house whenever I leave has been a habit of mine since I was a child, so seeing a small glow emitting from the window of my front room confused me a little. I had only left home for ten or so minutes to walk to the corner shop, as we had run out of milk. My daughter was in bed, and the house should have been quiet, given that we live on our own. Yet, there it was – a light in my front room, shining around the curtains. How peculiar, I thought.

As I drew closer to my driveway, a few suspicions came to mind. Perhaps a circuit had tripped, although that usually turns lights off rather than on. Alice shouldn’t have been awake but maybe she needed a drink. No – she has a water bottle upstairs and, besides, the front room was nowhere near the kitchen. Maybe I had just… forgotten? Impossible. Never. No way. I refused to believe that my childhood routine would be broken over such a small trip out. What could have happened?

A chill shot down my spine. Might there be an intruder inside? There hadn’t been any burglaries or similar incidents local to me recently, however. I shrugged the thought off as I approached my front door, but I couldn’t see through the curtains into my front room to further investigate. I would have to go inside. A sense of unease came over me, and slowly but surely my heartrate began to rise. Cautiously, I placed my key into the brass lock. The clicking sound would surely alert an imposter to the danger posed by the homeowner returning, and as such would provoke a reaction – some footsteps, a scratch, a creak, anything. I waited.

Silence.

I carefully turned the key, holding my breath and clenching my teeth. My anxiety had gotten the better of me. A small part of me regretted approaching the house without having phoned someone. Should I call the police? I didn’t know, and against my better judgement I slowly pushed the door open.

It made the familiar creaking sound as I held it open, looking left and right. The hall appeared as I had left it, except for a rather odd noise. It sounded somewhat like television static. The only television downstairs was in the front room, where I could see the light seeping from under the door. I took a deep breath, and nervously closed the front door behind me. I was inside. I was inside, and there was no-one who could remove me from my house. Unless they could. I suddenly remembered that - intruder or not - I was not at home alone. Alice. Where was she? Was she still in her room? I didn’t want to call out for her, that would worry her. I decided to deal with the situation at hand first, to make the house as secure as I could. Going upstairs would make a loud noise as the steps would creak under my feet. I had to enter the front room. There was no other option.

I took a moment to ready myself and placed my hand on the doorhandle. Gripping tightly, I counted to three in my head.

One.

Two.

Three. I swung open the door and braced for anything to come, steadying myself as I glanced around the room. The television was on in the corner – static, as I suspected. The loud, monotonous buzz droned on as I took a step towards the corner of the room in which it stood. Looking to my left, the paintings on the wall were still in place. On my right, the family photos on the sideboard stood as they had always done. Then, looking back at the mesmerizing grey and black shapes on my television screen, I noticed a small, scrunched up piece of paper sitting just at the base. My heart sank. This must be some sort of sick game. I could hear my own heartbeat.

On closer inspection, the paper appeared to have some traces of blue ink on it. Was it a note? Had the intruder described their intentions? Were they trying to trick me? My mind could not keep up with my racing thoughts, and I snatched the paper from the television base with no hesitation. With shaking hands, I unfurled it. There was a single sentence written on it, in scruffy non-cursive handwriting.

Look behind you.

I froze. I felt eyes burning into my back. This was it. I had fallen for a trap. Whatever was to come would almost certainly spell bad news for me. I could feel a presence, not in a paranormal sense, but in a way that one might suspect that they were not on their own. I had to find out what was there. I had to find the courage. Courage. Be brave. Turn around.

I shut my eyes, held my breath, and spun around.

“Boo! I thought that would scare you!” Alice chuckled.

Opening my eyes revealed my daughter stood before me, a huge grin plastered on her face. Once my adrenaline subsided, I couldn’t help but feel a smirk emerge on my own. She ran over to where I was stood and wrapped her arms around my lower torso. Overcome with relief, I sighed.

“You little prankster.”