Weekend Alone
“It’s only for the weekend, mom. I’ll be fine.” I give her and dad a kiss. Rolo, the neighbor’s dog runs toward us when he hears the kisses.
He jumps at mom, dirtying her coat a little. “No! Bad Rolo. Shoo!” He leaps away joyfully.
Dad gets in the car, “Julian has stayed alone in the house before, Carla, he knows how it is.” Mom still looks worried but finally gets in the car, mumbling that one night and one weekend is not the same.
I wave goodbye until the car isn’t visible. They left to attend a family wedding in Ohio. I stayed because the plane tickets were too expensive, and I didn’t even want to go. I’ll have a better time watching movies.
I enter my house, it was already getting dark. I get into my pajamas and prepare for a movie marathon, Harry Potter edition. Tonight will be epic.
I wake up to the sound of a loud knock at the door. Oh great, I dozed off in the fourth movie. I look at the time, 3:48 AM. “Who’s knocking doors at this hour?”
Should I answer it? No, better not. All the lights in my house are turned off, the only light is the one emanating from the TV, but it’s not visible from the outside. The audio isn’t loud enough to be heard outside, either. I can ignore it.
KNOCK KNOCK
My heart almost jumps out of my chest. Thieves, it could be someone trying to steal. No, why would they knock? That makes no sense. If it’s one of the neighbors, I’ll just ask tomorrow and explain why I didn’t answer.
Or maybe someone needs help.
I can’t go around thinking that way, though. Because then I’ll turn into the person that needs help. There are too many bad people in this world. And one of them could be whoever is knocking at my door at 3 AM.
I turn off the TV and gather my things to go upstairs to my room. The house feels so different right now. It even feels different than when I’m alone after school. It’s probably because I know I’ll be sleeping alone tonight. I’m just being paranoid, but with good reason.
I tiptoe my way to the staircase, which is right in front of the door, I hear a light scratching sound like someone trying to claw at the front door – it makes me nervous. I don’t want to pass through there. I’m completely alone. What if the person has a knife or worse, a gun and shoots me? What if they can sense I’m passing through there and become aggressive. The silence of the night enhances the sound of the door knocking.
Everything looks black, a small yellow light enters through small gaps in the curtains.
The curtains.
I can look through them to the outside without being noticed by whoever is there. My curiosity is stronger than my fear. And in this case, it might be justified. If I go to bed and try to sleep, I wouldn’t be able to, knowing that someone could enter the house at any moment. If I check, sleep will come easier.
I walk slowly to the side of the door. A tap tap tap goes on. My breathing shortens, and my movements become rigid. Fear is holding me back. They say that fear is good, that it’s there for a reason. It helps us stay in order. But fear is also very dangerous, it makes one do desperate things, and that’s why I have to control it. I need to peek carefully through the blinds, so the person doesn’t notice me. I have to stay calm. My pulse must be very high, I can even feel it in my eyes. My vision pumps at the time of each heartbeat.
“Stay calm, Julian,” I tell myself out loud. Mostly to hear something other than the door noises. I crouch down and peek through a little gap. There’s nothing there. There’s no one touching the door. Where did those sounds come from then?
I pick up my blanket and run up the stairs, imagining a demon following me, making me climb faster. This weekend alone is giving me a lot of anxiety.
When I get to my bed, I throw myself at it. The knocking noises disappear. Maybe it was in my head imagining the sounds. All those things mom always says now play with me.
I lay there, completely covered from head to toe with a comforter. I imagine a demon lurking through my room and waiting for me to uncover myself. After the door thing, I’m not letting my guard down. Did the noises really come from the door? I had just woken up, so it could be that my brain was foggy, and I was just imagining it straight out of one of mom’s stories.
The A/C is on, there’s no need for me to uncover. My heartbeat is still really fast, and my breaths are cut due to the stairs and the scare.
When I’m finally calming down, I hear the noise of feet walking around my bed. I’m going to die, whoever it was must have got in from the kitchen window, and they’re going to kill me. I grip my comforter harder toward my body, my nails digging at it.
I shut my eyes and try to think of anything else, but the person is circling my bed slowly. What are they waiting for? They’re probably savoring my fear. “Please, just get it over with,” I think to myself.
My phone is on the nightstand, I’d have to break my comforter barrier to reach it and I’m almost frozen on the spot. I can hear the person’s breath, it’s loud. The hairs on my arms stand up and I get nauseous. All types of effects hit my body simultaneously. I get butterflies all over, nausea, stomach pain and start to sweat.
The thief grabs the bottom right corner of my comforter and pulls at it, fighting with my pulling.
“No! Leave me alone!” I shout at him or her, my body still covered. They keep pulling and my body reacts. They let go of the comforter and sprint outside my room. Having gotten up so quickly, I get tangled in the bedsheets and fall face first.
I scramble and fight with the sheets to escape until I notice the silhouette of the person.
It’s not a person, it’s a dog… it gets close to me and shoves me with its head.
“ROLO!”
Written and Published by Govinda Chaddha
