Day 1: J - Oneword: Nightlight
An echo of wind glided through the house ruffling the curtains and pushing little sleeping heads further under their covers. It was typical for the floor boards to creek in a house that old. It was typical for it to groan, shake with the wind and shrink with the cold.
Someone was calling her name. Hollow whispers caressed her ear, luring her to get out of bed, follow them down the stairs, past the kitchen, along the back wall to the cellar door. To please let them out because it’s been so long and they’re so restless and hungry and want to play, just play.
A great gust of wind pushed against the brick and a shriek of pain came from beneath the stairs. The floors protested and groaned under the strain and she snuggled deeper into the covers grabbing Louise, her stuffed bunny rabbit, close.
Her brother’s breathing was deep; he could sleep through anything. He never heard the voices. They didn’t call out to him like they did her. It made him think she was crazy. All the chocolate she would eat before bed would not only rot her teeth but her brain too. When he said mean things like that to her, it would make her cry. It wasn’t just because they were mean, but maybe they could be true too.
Hearing voices was for mad people. People who couldn’t sleep through the night and who let the evil words eat through their brains and take over their soul. She had listened to when Father Joseph said this at church last Sunday. His voice was low, like he was telling a secret, like even speaking of such maddening things would turn people right there in their pews.
Gabriel wasn’t listening. He was playing with his dinosaur, ripping the corners off pages in the bible and pretending that Rex was eating them for breakfast.
Lilith
She squeezed her eyes shut so tight that little circles of lights spotted behind her eyelids.
Please come play
She wanted to shout “No!” She wanted to scream that she didn’t want to play with them. But her mouth would not open, her lips would not move. An icy hand was firmly against her throat, choking her into silence. Little tiny fingers were sneaking their way up the ends of her bed sheets, clawing at the corners and pulling them down. The chilled air bit her toes, ankles, knees but she kept her eyes closed.
Maybe if she prayed, they’d go away. Father Joseph said that God was always watching; he was always there.
The whispers got louder as she shouted a prayer she remembered from Sunday last. It didn’t matter that it was about confessions and sins. It would work, right?
Please someone else. Please someone save me, she begged
The fingers reached for her feet, encircling her ankles and tugging slowly.
Come with us
It was a plea, a beckon, a demand.
Now
With a violent jerk she was ripped from her bed. Her body heavily hitting the floor, an invisible force dragging her down. Her eyes flew open and she saw the faint form of Gabriel sleeping peacefully in the glow of their nightlight. A scream threatened to escape her but the grip on her throat barreled down on her windpipe crushing any sound.
Father Josephs words echoed in her head against the constant flow of whispers fighting for possession.
“When evil takes a hold of you, the devil has won. And if the devil has won, you are lost forever.”
Someone was calling her name. Hollow whispers caressed her ear, luring her to get out of bed, follow them down the stairs, past the kitchen, along the back wall to the cellar door. To please let them out because it’s been so long and they’re so restless and hungry and want to play, just play.
A great gust of wind pushed against the brick and a shriek of pain came from beneath the stairs. The floors protested and groaned under the strain and she snuggled deeper into the covers grabbing Louise, her stuffed bunny rabbit, close.
Her brother’s breathing was deep; he could sleep through anything. He never heard the voices. They didn’t call out to him like they did her. It made him think she was crazy. All the chocolate she would eat before bed would not only rot her teeth but her brain too. When he said mean things like that to her, it would make her cry. It wasn’t just because they were mean, but maybe they could be true too.
Hearing voices was for mad people. People who couldn’t sleep through the night and who let the evil words eat through their brains and take over their soul. She had listened to when Father Joseph said this at church last Sunday. His voice was low, like he was telling a secret, like even speaking of such maddening things would turn people right there in their pews.
Gabriel wasn’t listening. He was playing with his dinosaur, ripping the corners off pages in the bible and pretending that Rex was eating them for breakfast.
Lilith
She squeezed her eyes shut so tight that little circles of lights spotted behind her eyelids.
Please come play
She wanted to shout “No!” She wanted to scream that she didn’t want to play with them. But her mouth would not open, her lips would not move. An icy hand was firmly against her throat, choking her into silence. Little tiny fingers were sneaking their way up the ends of her bed sheets, clawing at the corners and pulling them down. The chilled air bit her toes, ankles, knees but she kept her eyes closed.
Maybe if she prayed, they’d go away. Father Joseph said that God was always watching; he was always there.
The whispers got louder as she shouted a prayer she remembered from Sunday last. It didn’t matter that it was about confessions and sins. It would work, right?
Please someone else. Please someone save me, she begged
The fingers reached for her feet, encircling her ankles and tugging slowly.
Come with us
It was a plea, a beckon, a demand.
Now
With a violent jerk she was ripped from her bed. Her body heavily hitting the floor, an invisible force dragging her down. Her eyes flew open and she saw the faint form of Gabriel sleeping peacefully in the glow of their nightlight. A scream threatened to escape her but the grip on her throat barreled down on her windpipe crushing any sound.
Father Josephs words echoed in her head against the constant flow of whispers fighting for possession.
“When evil takes a hold of you, the devil has won. And if the devil has won, you are lost forever.”
Love this
ReplyDelete