Lurking Shadows (standard:horror, 1180 words)
Author: J. F. Naples	Added: Sep 24 2002	Views/Reads: 3569/2316	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Do you think that you sleep alone at night?

Tommy Burrman breathed shallowly, as if in sleep.  His mother touched
his cheek with her lips, his father gently mussing his hair.  With good 
nights said, the pair stepped out of his room, leaving Tommy by himself 
in the near darkness, in the near darkness where monsters thrived, 
where they stalked, where they fed. 

Tommy stood sentinel.  For three weeks he manned his post with utter
diligence.  Never nodding off, ensuring the shadows remained empty, 
making certain that he would see the rising sun come morning, and then 
would he sleep; during the day when it was bright, when it was safe.  
Tommy knew that the monsters disliked sunlight, thus he moved his bed 
underneath the window, and when the sun would peak over the grassy 
hills at the horizon, the sun would begin to warm his feet, and slowly 
cover his whole body with its shroud of light. 

It was three weeks ago when Tommy first started his watch.  Three weeks
passed when his sister, Kayla, was taken from him.  And he saw what 
took her soul, her life, and Tommy was unable to do anything to prevent 
it, because he wasn't prepared.  But now he was. 

In the darkness, Tommy watched for anything out of the ordinary, a
shimmering shadow, movement of sorts from his stuffed animals, or the 
faint creak of the floorboards shifting underneath weight.  The little 
light that came into his room was enough to keep him from crying out 
load when he heard something.  That dull sliver of light that came from 
the nightlight outside of his room, through the inch gap that his 
parents left open every night that he could remember since he got his 
own room. 

And it was that light that had gone out three weeks ago that told him
something was amiss. 

Tommy was underneath his covers.  Perched upon his elbows, tiny
flashlight in his mouth, guiding him through the adventure's of 
Spiderman.  This was a new comic that his father had bought for him 
earlier in the day, but waited until after dinner to give it to him, 
right before his bedtime.  Being the patient boy that his parents had 
raised, he put the comic on his dresser to wait until the following 
morning to delve into the new adventures.  But before sleep would come, 
his comic called out for him, and patience lost. 

The Hobgoblin was watching Spiderman from on top of a building when
Tommy heard the floorboards outside of his room creak.  Quickly dousing 
the light, he slipped it and his comic underneath his pillow.  Slipping 
his head out from underneath the covers slowly, as to not arouse 
suspicion, he got into position to show that he could be asleep. 

A minute passes slowly.  It seems like an eternity to Tommy.  With his
eyes closed, he feels the sandman on him, lulling him to sleep, but 
Tommy wanted to see what the Hobgoblin was going to do, and he didn't 
want to wait until morning to find out.  Silence lingered. 

Slowly opening his eyes, Tommy peered through his eyelashes to the
sliver of light slipping into his room from the open door.  Noticing 
nothing, believing he is reasonably safe from being found awake, he 
opens his eyes completely. 

A shadow passes across the light, then darkness. 

The sandman that was singing quietly to Tommy turned silent.  His heart
thrummed in his chest, and through the utter darkness, Tommy felt 
himself panic.  As he was about to call out, he closed his mouth, and 
flipped his covers over his head, and closed his eyes, hoping sleep 
would come, but it wouldn't. 

“I'm a big boy now,” Tommy whispered quietly to himself.  “And big boys
are not afraid of the dark.” 

With confidence somewhat anew, Tommy slipped his head from underneath
the covers again, and looked into the stifling darkness.  “I am not 
afraid of the dark.” 

A small creak sounded, and Tommy felt the panic try to take over, but he
held it at bay.  He knew that there was another spare nightlight in the 
bathroom across the hall; therefore, Tommy decided that he would go to 


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