Day 9: The Girl in the Window

“Who are you?” I mutter into the hallway, the place where the noise was coming from.

There is another bang from the living room and I creep forward very slowly, so as to catch a glimpse of whoever is there before I make a move.


“Hello?” I repeat. Perhaps the sound was just a pipe, or the foundations of the house. It was surely nothing to worry about, and yet there were goosebumps on my arm and I felt a pounding at the back of my head telling me to run far and run fast.

Tiptoeing forward, the mirror in the hallway shows much of the living room, so I peer into it, watching carefully for any signs of movement.

This time there is a thump, then a wail, as if the intruder – if that was indeed what they were – had stubbed their toe.

“Are you alright?” It was foolish of me to ask, especially since I was mere inches from the door. If they had a pipe, or any other sort of weapon, I would be easily overpowered.

“Are you him?” The voice replies and dread curdles in my stomach. There was something ominous about it, as if it were both young and old, light and heavy, girl and boy, all at once.

“Who is him? I am, a him, but perhaps not the him you are looking for?”

“He will return soon.” The voice trembles.

In the corner of the mirror I spot a woman in a long dress with a handkerchief at her side. She faces the window, her black hair shining in the moonlight, but I can feel her eyes burning into my very soul as if she were only standing inches from me.

“He will return soon.” The voice whimpers, “he has to.”

“Who is it you are waiting on?” I ask, waiting for the head to turn around, waiting to gaze on whatever face existed on the other side of that sleek black hair. Compulsion consumed me as I took another step forward, I had to see what manner of thing had formed inside my living room, I had to know what lay await for me.

I took a broad step into the room, anticipating the fear to swallow me whole. But there was nothing in sight, no figure illuminated by moonlight, no handkerchief, just an empty seat by the window.


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There are two things that are very obvious about this post;

1) I was home alone in my aunt's house (and a little afraid) 
2) I had been reading some Gothic novels
3) I need to stop doing 1 and 2 together because then I write things like this, scare myself and struggle walking down the corridor without breaking into a sprint.

This was Day 9 of my NaNoWriMo project where I am writing a new short story every day in November! Originally all of these were posted to instagram, but the 300 word limit was a little confining so I've come here to post everything I've written and a little bit more!