No Bump In The Night

At the time, I was in the eighth grade. My old bedroom, which was far smaller than my current one, was square shaped and painted purple. It was cozy in many ways, especially when the sun shone in during the day and I got to curl up in my little reading chair. However, at night certain aspects of my room were unnerving.

The entrance to the attic was in the corner on the ceiling above my door, and across from my bed was a large full-sized mirror that faced me at night. I was always afraid of the dark, and out of all honesty, I still am. Thankfully, right across the hall was my mother's bedroom, which gave me some security knowing she could get to me quickly.

On no special night in particular is when it happened. It was a warm summer night as I recall, and I had kept my window open just a crack that let in a nice breeze. I left my bedroom door wide open, as I always did, and left the bathroom door open just a crack in the hall with the light on the give me some light. I could never sleep with the house completely quiet because I feared the sounds my old house made at night, so I always had a fan on. I snuggled under my soft covers, glancing over at my mother's bedroom door through the hall which I could see from my bed, and fell asleep easily.

I awoke in the middle of the night pretty suddenly, glancing over at my clock which read around 2 a.m. Something seemed a little, off... A few things did actually. The familiar sound of my fan whirring softly was silent, and although my curtains swayed slowly in the breeze, I could hear nothing. Everything was utterly silent. Then, out of the corner of my vision, a movement caught my eye. Clutching the covers tightly, I slowly turned my gaze towards my open bedroom door and peered into the hallway. Then, I saw it... A bare-footed, tiny girl wearing a pale blue dress shifted down the hallway. She had hair as dark as the night, which cascaded over her unrecognizable face. Her movement was slow and drawn out, and ever so silent. She did not stop walking, she kept shuffling past my door as if I was invisible, and walked out of sight.

Paralyzed with fear, I could not scream for my mother's aid, nor cry or do anything. All I could do was just stare and wonder where she could have gone because you see, the way she was moving led straight toward the end of the hallway and right into a wall.

To this day I hope this was just a nightmare, but who's to decide what was really just a dream or reality?