12 - Zack Rabold - Silent Observer

It lurks in corners and on walls. Slowly crawling it’s way around the room. I’m oblivious to my watcher, unknowing of its presence. I relax for a moment until something catches my eye. “Something’s here,” my mind tells me. A shadow flicks across my vision and escapes before I can make out any details. Maybe it was nothing. Perhaps a piece of my imagination. The hairs on my arm raise and I get an eerie feeling across me. As soon as I could convince my nerves to die down, it reappeared even faster than it had vanished. My whole body now tingling as if it’s sending an invisible message. A warning. “Run. Hide.” my body seems to be yelling. I give in and I stand up. My initial scan around the room doesn’t find anything. “Check Again.” I’m urged. I look again. Slower this time so as to not miss any detail. This time a small black circle no bigger than a half dollar creeps against the floorboard towards the couch. I approach it slowly until I can make out its shape. It’s fat and hairy. 8 spiny legs protruding from its body. I feel disgusted, and try to decide my next action. I see a pair of shoes across the room and run to grab them. When I returned my observer had retreated. I can’t go back to relaxing knowing it’s prowling nearby. I move furniture out of my path searching for any sign of it. Feeling hints of its existence across my hands and they pass through webs. I feel worried. Where could it be. It is sneaking up behind me. Or maybe on the ceiling. Waiting for the moment I look up and it can finally attack. My eyes lock onto a dark figure running across the room and my instinct kicks in. I stride across the room and it starts to change direction. It's made the decision to attack. For a moment I’m caught off guard and freeze. It advances faster toward me. My last moment surely approached with each scuttle from my attacker. My brain clicks and I swing the shoe high above my head. As I bring it down each beady eye seems to widen on my hairy aggressor. The shoe hits the ground with a boom and the adrenaline flushes out of the body. It’s over. I have nothing to fear anymore. I lift the shoe and scrape the corpse of my enemy into the trash. Closing it with satisfaction. The room seems brighter. No more dark shadows creeping in the corners. I can finally relax and close my eyes. For Now. 439