Shadows

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake my insistent feeling of being followed. I tried and tried to ignore it. Pass it off as unnecessary worry. I maintained my claim that I was just overreacting, but I just found myself thinking more and more on it, only making it worse. I found myself startling at every little thing: a door slamming, a tap on the shoulder, a dog bark on the walk home—it was endless.

I did all my homework quickly, trying to keep my mind off the creeper in my yard. Unfortunately, I had little to do afterwards. I piddled around, watching TV, surfing the internet, reading my English book due the next week. My attention was like a flighty bird; I could only concentrate for a few minutes on each thing before flying to the next.

My mother got home late, as always. She apologized profusely, saying she meant to get home hours ago, but got tied up at work. I waved it off and handed her a bowl of hot soup. She brewed a cup of coffee before retiring to her office with a whole new stack of files. She worked as a secretary for a slave-driving lawyer firm.

After another hour of doing nothing in particular, I snuggled down in my covers, willing sleep to come, but dreams to stay at bay. For some reason, the eerie feeling settled in to stay, and I had a hunch that my dreams would bring this into far too vivid focus. Of course, my wish didn’t come true.

I was dancing around outside under the stars. Spinning, leaping like a ballet dancer. Twirling in a circle, watching my shadow in the moonlight. I giggled girlishly, fancying myself of pixie royalty at a ball, dancing with the royal prince. What an odd and pleasant dream, I thought to myself. Spin, twirl, leap. In the middle of a pirouette, I feel flat on my butt, which struck me as unusual. This is my dream, I said to myself whimsically, I should be as graceful and beautiful and pixielike!

A prick in the side of my neck stung like a bee sting. I clapped my hand to the side of my neck thinking it was very odd that I should feel pain in a dream. Something was most definitely awry, but before my sleeping self could reason, my dream faded into blackness.