A nice dog walk

Exactly at 9:20 Hanna would change her clothes to the ones that were considered to be home garments, also known as a pair of ripped, old jeans, an oversized navy raincoat that had experienced good and bad times of her former life, and sneakers that were perfect for mud stroll.

It was a nice evening for a dog walk. There is some magic in autumn evenings when the trees are dressed in brown-red-yellow coats and street lights make them shine with mystery and romance. Fluff did not care for all that human interest- his purpose was to find what triggered his nose and smelled. He would start his search for something precious, either a stray cat's poo or a bird's feather, which made him move fast, till he found one special spot. Invisible and uncompressible for the human being, and that is when he stands for a few minutes exploring, Hanna waiting patiently.

When they passed a couple of houses along the roadway, Hanna heard some strange noise that made her smile in amusement. And also fear of confusion. She could not understand whether it was someone having a noisy and passionate night or if someone was hurting. Could it be both?

       -What the fudge? Hanna whispered, looking at the Ericsons' house and trying to make Fluff wait before moving for another dog matter.

The noise continued and, in a moment, Hanna felt like she was looking into someone's sex life, so she moved on, feeling awkward and hoping it was sex, and not something else. Or maybe that kind of sex that required strangling and other violent things. She shook her head. She always did that, as if it helped to shake the persistent paranoid thoughts out of it.

A few steps down the road, a realization grabbed Hanna- they did not have lights on. Nowhere. Fudge! Her curiosity had this power that could freeze all that portion of rationality she had, and turn it into an adventure. Well, if spying on neighbors is an adventure.

The petite girl tied Fluff's leash a bit further down the road, as he was not born a spy dog, but rather a cuddly-friend dog. She urged him to sit down, thus making road bushes hide him from curious eyes. What an irony- when she was the one with curious flame herself.

The road was empty like she liked it in the evenings. The road was muddy. And there were houses along both sides of it. Houses guarded by bushes and trees with yellow and red autumn- leave drapes. People in these houses were watching TV, and others eating or sleeping with curtains down. Then there was it again. All of a sudden, out of the mystery of nowhere, a scream, what Hanna assumed was Mrs. Ericson. This time it felt rather scary. It made Hanna move carefully, but swiftly.

Within seconds she turned away from the road and walked down the path that led down to the riverside. There used to be another path, many years ago, but now it has grown into the jungle. A jungle that led to the backyard of the Ericsons' house. She ducked down next to a bush that gave her a perfect spying spot and was waiting. The house was empty, no lights, not even a car in the driveway. This was more than strange that gave her chills. She could not enter their property, but that would not stop her. Not Hanna. Something made her wait. Intuition wave that was hiding what she was about to uncover. There was no one in the house and no one was being sexually abused. But she was so sure, she heard her. TWICE. Admit it, she was thinking. You were hallucinating. Sugar overdose. Fudge! That cake she had before going out, was way too much. But really- who would refuse a chocolate cake?

She got up carefully and looked around. Quiet breeze and almost darkness. She felt smoke. A cigarette smoke. She was not alone there. It was that heavy feeling of being watched. She looked back and saw a shadow a few meters behind her. Her fear broke out of its deepest cave and formed a cloud of bad scenarios. One of them would make her lose consciousness and wake her up in a huge cage in the middle of the forest. Fudging FUDGE! Tall, dark clothing, and a hood. He was smoking and observing her, she concluded whilst pacing back to the road.

When she and Fluff finally got home, she locked the doors and checked them 3 times. Being a paranoid person, this felt enough. For now. Cold chills spiked her skin. She did not see his face, but something in the darkness that was inside this hood felt so real. He was staring at her from the darkness. He was darkness. What were his interests and what was he doing? Who is he? What if he is still there? What happened to the Ericson's women? So many questions, but no answers. She felt so strange and scared. He felt evil. An entity of the unknown world. What if he took the Ericsons? What if he hurt her?

That night Hanna could not sleep, so she got up several times and walked around the house to look at every window for something. Maybe to find some answers...In the morning she fell asleep and slept till she heard a knock on the door.

The police came over to ask a few questions about the robbery at Ericson's house. ROBBERY?

'The Ericsons weren’t at home yesterday?' she tried to act normal.

'They had gone for a weekend away and someone had broken in and torn the place.' a policeman said. He felt careless about this situation.

Hanna did not tell them anything that happened last terrible night. It might have sounded like she was using something. A cake maybe, or some drugs most likely. That is what policemen think anyway.

And she was not sure if she could accept this reality. This did not feel like truth. Because the truth also has weight. And what the police gave her, this version of it felt plastic, light, and cheap. She was tempted to go back to where the shadow-stalker-crazy thief was standing yesterday and check if the cigarette ends were there, but on the other bank of this situation, fear was standing. Hiding. Yes, curiosity and fear were pulling her by each arm. No, she will not go!

Hanna pushed the shadow-stalker-crazy thief at the back of the head and tried to enjoy the day. At least Ericsson’s were fine, only robbed. WAIT! But who was making those strange sounds?

That night Hanna woke up at 4.20 when she heard a knock on the door. It took a few seconds to realize what was happening. It was the middle of the night and someone was at her door. Fluff was awake, too. She could not let him go downstairs as he always barks. Instead, Hanna lit up her phone screen, thus not letting the light in her windows expose herself to the unknown outside. She was sitting on a bed, with Fluff beside, and listening. There was another very mild knock. Scared, but trying hard not to let Fluff react to her despair. She waited. They waited. In a cold silence. No more knocking occurred and she felt a tiny bit safer. Now she needed to go down and peek through the windows to see if anyone was still there. She left Fluff in her bedroom and headed for the unknown that both boiled and froze her blood at the same time. There was no one outside. She looked at the road, it was empty. What if this was a dream? Or what if it is the shadow-stalker-crazy thief who was about to break into her house in the middle of the night? While she was building ‘what if’ scenarios, another mild knock filled the house with terror. This time from the other side of the house. On the window.

She was scared of being alone, without a blanket and slippers on. These were the things that would make a person feel safe indeed. She did not move. She could not go and look at him, but she knew it was him.

Another knock. Hanna was still by the door, next to the wall by the window and the door. Now she felt like a spy. She peeked out, back to the roadway. There was someone. The same shadow. The same guy, the same shadow-stalker-crazy thief. How the fudge did he get back to the road within a few seconds? Now Hanna had a chance to watch him go away like he was watching her, but he stopped. FUDGE! Why is he stopping? He took something out of his pocket. A cigarette. Lit it up, smoked it for a few seconds, and dropped it. The little red flame dot still shining.

When he suddenly turned around, Hanna's heartbeat was insanely fast. She hid behind the wall, staring outside, but not exposing herself. The shadow-stalker-crazy thief was staring at her house, at her. He knew she was spying on him. He was still, wrapped in silence around him. Just standing and watching her. Faceless hood. Thank God, it was a big distance between them.

Hanna was breathing heavily, till she noticed Fluff had come down and now was standing next to her and trying to look outside, too. Small, sweet creature. He loved when Hanna was stroking his head. And now he eased the panic. She was not alone here. She did not want to look back at the road. She was standing by the wall, trying to let go, trying to restore peace of her mind and heart.

She was standing by the wall, looking at Fluff and smiling at him. Enough with this madness! She was trying to calm him down, or herself.

She was standing by the wall. Next to the window.

On the other side of this wall, was standing him…