One by one they peel off walls. I know, because I’ve seen them. They live in corners with wispy spiders, conspiring.
At night, when parents are dreaming of taxes, these casual specters slip from their hangers: amorphous voyeurs; skulking ink spots; Negatives.
A scream takes too long—every kid knows this. Better to hold your breath. Better to pretend to sleep.
Let your eyelashes kiss but not intertwine.
The door is open. I could run across the room to the hall → living room → kitchen → dining room → and finally, my parents’ room. 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕥𝕪.
No. Better to become small. Better to not draw attention to myslef.
They glide past me, sliding across the room to my sister Brenna’s bed. She’s dreaming of ponies and Rainbow Brite. Glitter and glue. Easter grass and chocolate coins. The Negatives surround her and confer—they’re in agreement: Brenna is special.
The house is holding its breath, waiting for me to unravel. My eyes are dry but I keep them open. The Negatives don’t know I’m watching them. If they did know, what would they do?
A Negative slides out from behind the door, shuffling toward the foot of my bed. A spider circles the room. I scream because a prayer would take too long.
Notes:
Hello, reader. Thanks for taking the time to read my work! This particular piece is nonfiction. As a wee lad, I saw Shadow People strolling about my childhood home. So did my sister Brenna! When our family eventually moved to another house, neither of us saw these figures again.
Am I still afraid of the dark? You bet!
X💀X💀 Seany
PS - Probably a gas leak, right? ;)
Jesus. I was reading this, and I thought "Sean's mind, man." THEN, when you said you and your sister saw them, the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. Still creepy but you shocked me with the "oh this is a true story BTW" 😂
It's not a sleep disorder, I am special! - Great writing. I love the line about eyelashes kissing. Perfect description of peering through closed eyes.