Winter Wonderland

The night sky twinkled with the litter of a thousand stars. The stillness of winter had set upon the boxed houses with the silence of a library. Large snowflakes the size of golf balls drifted blissfully into gravity’s inescapable pull, fluttering and flopping in the thick air, until they hit the ground, lost in a blanket of white. The sidewalks were covered in a heaping sheet of fresh powder that crunched with each step. 

The silence of the outdoors soothed my soul as I walked, head filled with fleeting thoughts of the day’s experience. Cold air burned my nostrils with the power of fire, sinking deep into my lungs. 

What if I just made the move an went for it? I thought to myself. 

What’s the worst that could happen? She says no? Well how many times have I been told no before?

I was bargaining with myself. The girl was tormenting me in my own head. A girl that I had never even spoken to before.

Unbelievable… 

I was about to let my thoughts overtake me once again when I heard it. A repulsive sound that broke the blissful silence as a hammer would shatter glass. It filled my eardrums with displeasure, smashing my concentration, but curiosity began to mount quickly.

It was coming from behind me, that much was clear. I had reached the end of the cul de sac and begun to loop around the opposite side of the road. 

The alarm wailed loudly still and I wondered what might have caused it. I turned to look for which house it was emitting from. I felt my bladder fill to an uncomfortable level, and hot blood rush to my extremities, instantly warming my cold body. My adrenaline was peaking. 

The flashing white strobe-like lights told me it was coming from the house on the corner nearest the main road. 

The Pierce’s, I thought to myself quickly. They’re out of town I think. Probably in Florida for the winter. 

How I suddenly knew that, I couldn’t say, but curiosity took over as the sudden rush to urinate dissipated. I cut across the cul de sac, sinking low into the bushes as I did so to avoid the bright street lamps above. If I were to show myself in the light, I would surely have been spotted. 

Call the police!

The thought screamed at me, at the top of its lungs, as though it were not my own voice screaming. I ignored it, and curiosity spiked once again, driving my steps forward up the snowy road. 

Movement stirred in the blackened windows of the empty house, only visible with each fleeting flash of white light. 

The urge to urinate rushed back, and suddenly my curiosity turned to fear. 

There’s people in there! Turn around! My head screamed at me, but I was too far up the yard to turn back now. I had to see what was happening. 

I tiptoed my way up the yard, trying with all my effort to keep the crunches of snow to a minimum, all the way to the large window at the front of the house. Peering inside I could see the great wooden table, hand carved with masterful finishes of bearded faces on each corner, and human looking legs complete with muscle tone and visible striations, each with their own uniqueness to them. At the bottom of the legs were human feet, carved from wood. Some bore sandals that reminded me of a Spartan warrior, and others were barefoot. By my count there were at least eight human looking legs and feet. I found myself wondering how heavy this table must’ve been for it to need eight legs.

The detail was so incredible that I almost forgot about the movement inside. Until the silhouettes began to move in the shadows again. It made me jump back away from the window. 

The way they moved was eerie, almost as if they knew I was there. Their shadows danced and weaved through the dark room with lightning quickness. 

They’re playing with me, I thought. The curiosity was too much. I had to see their faces. I had to know what they were doing. I glued my face back to the window to watch the shadows dance once again. 

“What are you doing here boy?” A scruffy voice said from behind me. I whirled on the spot, and my eyes deceived me. A hooded figure with eyes as white as the moon stared back at me. The shadows covered the figure’s face so that only the bright eyes were visible, like floating stars in the night sky. A glint of metal flashed at the end of a long staff in the figure’s hand, and I saw the curved, triangular shaped blade fastened to the staff. 

A flash of light blinded me, and the hooded figure moved with impossible quickness. I felt a heavy push on my chest. I staggered back into the window, which shattered at the lightest touch of my back, sending me toppling into what I thought would be the table, but my backside never met wood. Instead I was falling, swallowed whole by ever present darkness. I looked up to see hooded figures standing over me as I plunged deeper into darkness, further and further away from their terrifyingly bright white eyes. And then they were gone. Everything was black. The only thing that remained was my sense of agonizing falling…

I began to panic. Kicking and screaming, trying desperately to latch onto anything that might stop my fall, but there was nothing except endless black. I couldn’t see the bottom, but my head told me it was coming. I closed my eyes. I did not want to see what I might hit.

Suddenly, I kicked awake. My eyes still stained with darkness as I saw the miniature sticker of the hooded figure of death, holding a gleaming scythe, stuck to the bottom of my dresser. 

I fell off my bed… I said to myself. Sweat poured down my forehead.

But I’m alive… it was only a dream!