The Worst Day Of My Life

I knew I shouldn’t have tried to beat the storm, it was coming in just too fast, but you could have called me Old Mother Hubbard. My cupboards were bare...literally. 

I got in on the red-eye last night. Even if I wanted to stop and shop, nothing near me was open that time of the night … or morning; whichever way you wanted to look at it. The plan was to go first thing this morning and get it taken care of, before the storm came in.  Well ‘first thing’ this morning ended up being 11 am. At least it was still morning, right?

I live in a tiny little mountain town, in the middle of nowhere. We have one stop light, and be damned if it doesn’t even work half the time. Everyone knows everyone, and that isn’t always a good thing. I was on a business trip for the last 3 months, so I had cleaned out all my perishables before I left. It seems that was about all I had in the way of food in the house. To be honest, I did find one frozen tv dinner, but I guess it had freezer burn, because it was not anything even nearing the definition of edible after I ‘cooked’ it. 

So here I was, putting on my snow boots as I peered out the front window. The wind had kicked up, and was blowing snow in three different directions simultaneously. Normally, this was the kind of weather where I’d hunker down with a nice cup of tea and watch the fire dance in the fireplace. The grumbling from my midsection told me that was NOT going to happen today.

Boots successfully on, I got up and grabbed my heavy coat, gloves, hat - all the things necessary to ensure that I didn’t lose an appendage going out in this weather. Perhaps I should have stayed in Florida for another month! It was too late now, no point in crying over spilt milk. Time to just suck it up and get it over with.

As I started to open the door to go out, the wind gave me a helping hand and flung the door wide open for me. A wall of snow greeted me, and invited itself into the house. Crap. I’d have to deal with that later. As quickly as I could, I waded into the snow already collecting on my front step and pulled the door closed behind me. There was no point in messing with trying to lock it behind me, no one would bother trying to get in while I was at the store.

The temperature was dropping quickly. Should I drive or walk? The store was not even half a block down on the other side of the street, but fighting the wind and snow and cold up the street didn’t seem like an appealing idea. I turned towards the drive, and caught a glimpse of my car. She was half buried under a pile of snow. Yeah, I think I’ll just walk.

I put my head down and started on my way. Normally, it would only be a few minutes walk, but today promised to make it a much longer walk. Of course, I ended up having to walk directly into the wind. Just my luck. I glanced up once or twice to make sure I was still going the right way. I just didn’t have the luxury to look around. That could be why I didn’t notice that not a single other soul was out. Of course, the blizzard coming in usually guarantees that, but still. It was just a tad strange. 

Just as finally made it to the door of Harry’s, it occurred to me that he might be closed. I looked up and the light was on, so I figured I’d give the door a try. If it was locked, then I guess I’d have to head home and see if perhaps there was a package of crackers or something hidden somewhere in my house. I took a deep breath and mentally crossed my fingers (there was no actual crossing with the gloves I was wearing). Pull! For a moment it seemed like it was locked, but it was just the wind pushing on the door and keeping me from opening it. I stumbled as the door pulled open, and nearly fell through the doorway. The wind slammed the door shut behind me. 

For a moment I just stood there, catching my breath, and then I started peeling off some of my winter weather gear. I looked like the abominable snowman, and that stuff is hard to see through! Harry had a table right by the door so you could set your stuff on in just these types of occasions. It was empty. I set my stuff down and grabbed a basket. I didn’t see Harry anywhere, but maybe he was in the back.

The store was eerily silent. I couldn’t even hear the storm raging outside. The entire front of the store was glass, for the most part. There is no way it should have been this quiet. Despite the completely creeped out feeling I now had, I needed to get food. And Harry had to just be in the back, or something. Perhaps he was opting to ride the storm out here, and he was bunked down in the back room. It wouldn’t be the first time.

I walked down the first aisle. Might as well go aisle by aisle real quick to find the things I wanted. Breads, cereals, and breakfast stuff. Harry kept his things organized in a way that made sense to him. We’ve all learned to deal with it. Some bagels sound good. I’ll grab some cream cheese from the dairy section, too. But there aren’t any bagels. Perhaps Harry has some in the back, or he moved them somewhere else. I need to get home - it will be faster just to ask him where they are.

I start walking towards the back of the store, looking for Harry. I stick my head through the door to the back, but no one is there. All of the lights in the store flicker. Creepy. Likely just the wind threatening to pull down some power lines. Just great. 

“Harry?” I call. Towards the back edge of the store room, it’s pitch black. I’ve never seen it like that before, and I’ve been back there plenty of times. “Harry?” I called again. Still silence. “Are you here?” At this point, I’m yelling pretty loud. If he were there, he’d have answered. Perhaps it’s just time to go. I can grab a few things and pay him later when the storm breaks. He won’t mind.

I turn to head back to the front, and I hear a strange sound. Was that … a baby? It couldn’t be. If Janet were here, she’d have said something. She’s the only one with a baby right now. Even if someone else got pregnant while I was gone, they wouldn’t have given birth yet. I didn’t even realize I’d done it, but I had stopped and was standing still, holding my breath and listening. When I couldn’t hold my breath any longer, I inhaled and started breathing like a swimmer that just came up for air.

“You are losing it,” I said to myself out loud. “There are no babies just hangi….” Baby noises! What in the ever-loving hell is going on? It sounded like it was a few aisles over. Creepy or not, I started looking for where the sound was coming from. Nothing in the bread aisle. I knew that, I had just been there. Nothing in the dry goods aisle. Nothing anywhere. The only aisle left was the fridge/freezer area. 

My footsteps slowed. The dread was palpable. I know this town, why am I scared? “There is nothing there, it’s just your imagination. Maybe it was the wind. Just look, scaredy cat!” I said to myself out loud again. Perhaps the sound of my own voice will help shatter this silly feeling. I took a deep breath and walked around the corner.

And there it was, sitting on the floor in a car seat. All alone. Was that a boy or a girl? I couldn’t tell. It looked dead at me, big blue eyes wide and innocent and alone. What. The. Fuck.

My heart was racing. There was no earthly reason I should feel terrified of a baby sitting alone in the store. I should be worried for the baby’s safety. But for some reason I was worried for my OWN safety.

“Hello?!” I yelled. Mom or dad has to be in the store, right? “Hello, is anyone here? You forgot your baby in aisle 1.” You forgot your baby? How stupid did that sound! Still I was only greeted by silence. The baby had not made a sound. He … she? … how am I supposed to know what it was, I’m not a baby person …  was chewing on it’s gloves. Looking dead at me, like it knew me. Like it wanted something. My heart was racing so hard I could hear it. 

I backed a step away from the baby. It was still completely and unnaturally silent. I could not hear the wind I could see blowing by the front windows. Why can’t I hear anything other than my own voice? I took another backward step. I felt like I was fighting against gravity to move away. The expression on the baby’s face changed from that kind, open, curious look that babies have to what I can only describe as mad. Eyes narrowed, mouth tightened, nostrils flare. Like it was mad that I was moving further away.

“Hey, uh, dude,” I said, taking another step back. “I’m, uh, gonna go look for your mommy.” I’ve gotten two more steps away. I take another step and start to round back to another aisle. Out of sight of that … thing. If I can just get where it can’t see me, I’ll be ok. I’ll be ok. 

OH FUCK! The lights flickered again, and I swear the face on that THING was not human. What was that thing, a demon? Shit. Shit. Shit. I can’t move. I have to breathe. Breathe. Breathe NOW. It is still staring at me. Glaring at me. What is going on?! 

It’s eyes narrowed more … like it was concentrating on something? What is it doing? Does it have mind control or something? I took another step back. It felt like I was trying to walk through wet tar. 

OH MY GOD, the lights went OUT. Not just a flicker, out. Pitch black. There is no light from anywhere. I can’t see that thing, where is it?! I took off running for the front store. Even stuck outside in the storm is better than in here with that thing. Is that thing what happened to Harry? 

I tripped and fell over my own two feet. I was never very graceful. Or did it trip me? I could feel its breath on the back of my neck. Crap. I really, really shouldn’t have tried to beat the storm. I should have just stayed home and starved. That would have been far preferable to this. Well, too late now.