Knock Knock

Another sleepless night took over Jessie once again. She began to wonder if this was her punishment for having stayed up late. Late was only 11:00pm. It was still dark outside and she didn’t dare look at her clock. Instead she tossed, she turned, and tossed some more. Then suddenly, a knock. A knock? At this hour? Who could that be? Should she stay in bed? Lie as completely still as possible? The knock was heard again. She froze. Feeling the need to pull the blanket over her head. Could she do so in silence? She began to pull it up as the sound of the blanket tugging slowly seemed so loud in such a quiet environment. Once the blanket was successfully over her head she tried to slow her heavy breathing. After all, she was alone.

She lived in the city but today, well, today was her first night out at a cabin alone. She only wanted to get away from all the people, the internet, the social media, everything. Wait. Did she lock the front door? She began to wonder where she left her phone. Scared to poke her head above the blanket in fear she might see something in the shadows. Suddenly, another slow knock, knock, knock. She didn’t much like the dark but the knock came from outside. From the front door, right? She slowly grew anxious as intrusive thought after intrusive thought began to take over her mind. What if the knock wasn’t coming from the outside? What if it was actually inside with her? Did she close the bedroom door? Does the bedroom door have a lock? What if- but before she could finish the thought, sounds of scratching and tapping on the bedroom window could be heard.

Tap tap, scrrrraaatch. Tap… Tap… Tap… Scrrrraaaaatch. Then, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. Almost as though it knew she was there and wanted to get inside. It only got louder and louder until… it stopped. What should she do now? Where was her phone? Why didn’t she tell anyone where she was going? The knock started again. Knock, knock. This time it was right outside the bedroom. Could she slip under the bed if she moved slowly enough? What about the closet? All this requires looking out from under the blanket. Would she see anything? Would there be nothing? She would only have to try to find out. As she finally began to lift her head from the covers she looked around the dark room to try and find any glimpse of light. Nothing. It was too dark. She could just make out the shape of the door to the room. She had to make a decision just then. Stay in bed or hide. The closet was an option but the floors were creaky. Whatever was out there would hear her. Under the bed? It was worth a shot but also very cliché. That would be the first place to look. Anyone who’s anyone knows that. She could fight. But could she? She doesn’t have the strength to hold someone back if she needed to. Scratch, scratch, scratch. This time the scratches could be heard from the bedroom door. What was behind the door? Who is out here?

She began contemplating whether or not to threaten the person potentially behind the door. Could she be threatening? She asks herself as she remembers a time her friends said she’s the least threatening friend of the group. Did she have a choice though? She clenched the bed sheets and sat up. Her pride taking over.

“Who’s there? I have a gun!”

Silence.

If she was going all in she’d have to go all in. She quickly stood up and stomped around to the door.

“You better leave or you’ll be getting hurt I swear to god!”

Visibly shaking she turns the light on in the room.

“Well?”

Nothing. She takes advantage of the silence to look around the room for any sort of protection. Above the bed is a pair of oars placed in an X. She quickly grabs one and finally, with every sort of fear taking over she opens the bedroom door with such a force.

She looks down.

“Meow”

An orange tabby walks into the room and jumps on the bed with a purr-meow. Confused she looks out into the hallway, back at the tabby, then back into the hallway. Utterly confused she closes the door and angrily walks up to the purring tabby that is now making biscuits on the bed.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I was just about to shit myself!”

The tabby unbothered begins to suckle on the bed.

“Is that all you have to say for yourself? Jesus”

She takes a deep breathe and sits on the bed.

“Jesus Christ, who do you belong to?”

She starts to search the cat but it doesn’t have a collar.

“Who just abandons their cat in a cabin in the middle of no where?”

She picks up the cat that continues to purr in her arms.

“How did you get in? Did I leave a window open?”

She continues to pet the cat. Her anxiety whisked away by literal whiskers. Forgetting that she was just terrified not moments ago. Finally, the exhaustion starts to kick in. She begins to wonder once again, where is her phone? She still didn’t know what time it was but she could see through a crack in the curtains that the sky was beginning to change colors indicating it was dawn. She had spent half of her night afraid of a cat coming to kill her. She decided to leave her phone wherever it was and turn the light off. She set the cat down on the bed next to her.

“What should I call you? Is this the universe telling me to go home with a cat?”

She shrugged it off and pulled the covers over herself as the cat got comfortable next to her. She begins to shut her eyes, comfortable in knowing that it was just a cat, all along.

Knock. Knock. Knock.