Airel - Aaron Patterson [26]
The moon was full and made long scary shadows on the walls. There was a big oak tree right outside my window, and in the moonlight the shadows looked alive. I normally loved the moonlight. There was something soothing about it. Tonight, though, it wasn’t a good moon. It was somehow dark and had its own agenda.
I rolled over and closed my eyes. I needed sleep. I had school in the morning, and if I was up all night I would be a zombie. I turned over onto my stomach and thought about math. Nothing like math to put you to sleep. Boring, blah, blah, boring, nonsense, boring. I’m tired. I—Am—Tired.
Crap. Tossing the covers off, I slipped into a warm pair of slippers, stole down the hall, and tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen. It was almost as bright as day, moonlight splashing off the tile floor through the window.
I opened the fridge and took out the milk carton, pouring myself a little mug and nuking it for 30 seconds. Mom used to make me warm milk like that when I couldn’t sleep as a kid. I sipped it slowly, trying to relax.
My pink pajama bottoms and brown t-shirt weren’t super warm. I shivered a little bit. The night air was cool... on the border of being cold. I hoped it might get me in the mood for sleep once I crawled back into my nice warm bed.
I was restless, though. I found myself wandering around the living room, looking out the front windows at the lawn. I took my little mug of milk and stepped to the front door, being careful to turn the deadbolt slowly so I didn't wake anyone else up. I slipped out onto the front porch, closed the door, and looked out over the neighborhood.
It was so very quiet. Some sprinklers a few doors down hissed and popped up unexpectedly and I hugged myself, chilled by the night air. I finished my milk and left the mug on the porch rail. My thoughts turned back to my upcoming math test and I remembered that I left my backpack in the car. I walked down to it at the curb and tried the door.
Locked.
Great. Now math and homework all seemed like too much work. I just needed to breathe, to calm myself. But walking around alone at night was like being in one of those stupid hacker movies. Some dumb blonde running around as a killer stalked her slowly. Not exactly real life.
The neighborhood was quiet and most of the houses had their lights off, but I could see everything with the moon looking over my shoulder. My slippers made a smacking sound with each step and I thought of each house, how they had someone inside them sleeping. It made me feel alone, but I didn’t mind. I kinda liked that feeling sometimes. It was a little exciting, even, like I was cheating, being up and awake for a part of the night that most people slept right through.
I stopped.
Something crashed in the alley in between the two houses to my right. I looked over into the dark alley and saw a glowing pair of eyes. My heart was pounding a mile a minute. I looked into the bright yellow eyes, a million thoughts running through my head, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up on end. A dark brown cat ran from the shadows and took off down the sidewalk. Stupid cat! It was weird. I had crouched down into my defensive stance. Kickboxing’s really starting to pay off, Dad. No worries!
I was scared, and the more I tried to fight it the worse it was. I tried to calm down but couldn’t. Just like trying to sleep. Here I am taking a walk because math couldn’t make me sleep. What next? Now everything in the dark was scary and a hidden killer lurked behind every trashcan on the street.
I started back to the house as my heart beat harder and harder. Don't run! That will make it worse. I took off running anyway. I was now completely terrified. I