Dark+Nights

Some things are closer than they appear, like the essay for the newspaper that I frantically stayed up late writing. Tomorrow the paper is due. Having not even thought about it before then, I realized was a big mistake. Writing by sunlight became difficult as the sun sank behind the hills while dark clouds rolled in. The darkness lurked nearer, the strange, black storm approached. Quickly I grabbed my candle and light it with one of my matches. Outside, the animals were hidden and silent, as if they are hiding from a monster. Tomorrow I will be finished with the dreaded paper. I worked faster under the dim light of my candle while thunder rumbled in the distance, warning me of what was to come. Small spears of light pierced the black clouds and flashed in the corner of my eye. I closed the shutters and latched my door. The silent wind became a strong wind, but I felt safe within my home. Now, pitch black outside, that night reminded me of my most feared memories of the night. Shuddering from the memory, I quickly went back to my work, shaming myself for thinking about that terrible night.

Then I jumped out of my chair as I heard a banging on my closed window. It is just a branch blown against my window, I thought, sitting back down. The wind howled on, I heard the rain start to come down, and it came down hard and fast. I could barely hear myself think over the rain pounding on my roof and thunder crashing overhead. In the small circle of light that my candle was emitting, I felt trapped, surrounded by darkness on all sides, with no possible escape.

"Why," said a faint female voice which, unfortunately, I recognized.

It's just in my head, I reassured myself. This voice is not real. My hands started to shake, thinking about how upset this very familiar voice sounded. I need to get a hold of myself, I thought, my hands stopped shaking a little.

"Why didn't you?" said the voice, this time it was closer, practically screaming in my ear, sounding as if she wase on the verge of breaking into tears.

Startled, I jumped up out of my chair, knocking it over, flinged my arms and jumped around to look behind me, trying to find the owner of the voice I know so well. My hand bumped over my candle. I flinched when the candle blew out and hit the floor. Tomorrow this voice will be gone. Darkness surrounded me, everywhere I looked there was nothing but emptiness. The wind roared, the rain poured, and thunder crashed so loud that my house shook. Tomorrow the storm will have passed. My eyes were wide with fear, searching for any sign of light. I was shaking hard. I could feel my trembling in my bones. I was too afraid to even move, and my knees shook so hard that I couldn't stand any longer. My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor.

Lightning flashed outside just bright enough that it shone through my shutters. For a brief moment I saw the faint shadow of my candle on the floor on the opposite side of my desk. In the dark, I was crawling slowly with plenty of difficulty, my wrists and elbows shaking violently, toward the general area that I saw my candle. Making little progress, I heard the thud of my forehead against my desk, brought my hand to my face, my forehead stung. Then I continued under my desk, this time crawling on my forearms. Reaching forward, I felt the waxy texture of my candle. I felt a small sense of relief, I would be back in the light again soon. With trembling knees I tryed to stand up, holding onto my desk to help me. Disoriented, I looked around for any light to help me, finding none and not knowing exactly which way I was facing, I stumbled around trying to find the drawer which I kept my matches in. My heart started to beat faster, my breathing quickened, finding my drawer was going to be difficult. Tomorrow the sun will rise and I will be in the light again. Feeling around with my hands in front of me, my heart felt as if it might have bursted out of my chest. I finally found the drawer, opened it and felt around for the small box with my matches in it, finding it, I had trouble opening the box my shaky hands. Fumbling for a match, I felt that I only had one left. I set the candle down on the counter and struck the match.

"Why!" screamed the voice, coming from down the hallway.

Slow, light footsteps approached, the owner of the voice was coming. Terrified, and still in the dark, I struck the match a second time. She was coming and I had no escape.

"Why did you let him?" said the voice echoed through the hallway and rang in my ears.

Violently shaking, I struck the match. A blindingly bright light shone throughout the room, a heavy weight lifted from my shoulders. I had light the candle. My heartbeat slowed and the trembling stopped. Relieved, I leaned against my counter and sighed. The presence of light made me feel safer, and somehow, calmer. Not taking my eyes off of the twinkling light, I thought, I will go to sleep now, it has been a long, dark night. A large crash of thunder boomed, lighning flashed, and my door flew open, the latch had come undone, then crashed against the wall. The violent wind swirled my paper and blew out my sacred flame. Again, my bones trembled, my heart beated even faster than before, and I started breathing hard. For the rest of the night I will be trapped in the harsh prison of darkness. Tomorrow the sun will rise and tomorrow my fear will be gone.

A dim light glowed from the hallway. A small, shining woman walked into the room through the doorway. She shone dimly with a white tint, and she was slightly transparent. Her skin was pale and her hair even lighter than before. Terrified, I leaned against the counter to hold myself up from the shock of seeing what had become of my old friend.

On a night almost exactly like this, I was with my best friend, Carolina. We were walking to her home in a thunderstorm late at night after work. In the forest near her home a man, which I knew quite well, jumped out of the bushes and stabbed Carolina with a large silver knife. Terrified, I ran home and never looked back, at the crime scene or at my memories of my dear friend Carolina. About her murder, I did nothing, for fear that the murderer would turn on me.

Carolina walked towards the door and, amazingly, she latched it with her white, transparent hands. The wind circling the room stopped, and she turned to walk towards me wearing a serious look on her face. My heartbeat quickened to an unnatural pace, I thought she was angry that I did nothing to avenge her death.

"Why did you do nothing, nothing at all!' she yelled walking closer, slowly.

Frozen with fear, I imagined her revenge, I didn't take my eyes off of her angry face. Tomorrow the sun will rise and I will not be alive to see it, I thought. Tomorrow my dead body will lay blue and cold on my kitchen floor. Carolina, then only paces away from me, she glared into my eyes, gave me images of her death from her eyes. A chilling breeze blew through the room, goose bumps raised on my skin. Leaning against the counter, I braced myself for the end of my life and the beginning of her torturous revenge.

"Why did you do nothing, Katie, to stop my murderer? Why did you not stop him from killing others and why didn't you punish him for taking my life? Why?" Carolina yelled, her strong words repeated in my head.

Too frightened to even think, I couldn't form the words in my head to my lips. I was so scared that my face went numb.

Carolina stepped closer to me and said, this time quieter, "I would be terrified as well, if I was in your place, but I am not like you. Katie, you are braver than me. You are the only one that witnessed my death, you have to report my death. He knows that you were there, he knows that I wouldn't walk alone in a thunderstorm at night. He is going to come after you eventually, to stop you from telling. He knows you are not too scared to do something about it, so I have remind you that you are capable of anything. I trust you. I miss you, and will you do me another favor?"

"Yes, anything."

"Remember me."

She was very serious about what she said, and I believed her. My friend would not die in vain, I was going to make sure of it. Carolina left and the storm died down. In the morning the sun rose, and I did what I should've done before. Tomorrow we will see our enemy hanging from a tree.