In the Rear View

I hate getting wet, but I just couldn't get what happened, out of my head as I walked slowly up to the door. As I stepped inside of the dark house I reached over to turn on the light. The room came alive, and I slowly walked from the foyer towards the kitchen. As I walked through the house, I could feel the cold rain running down my face. I placed my keys on the table and walked into the bathroom. The hinges creaked when I opened the closet door. The sound reminded me of grade school when Mrs. King would drag her nails across the chalkboard to quiet the class down.

As I pulled the towel from the shelf I could hear the storm getting worse. The thunder sounded like the house was about to be blown apart and the bright flashes of lightning made shadow creatures dance on the walls while the wind rushed by the window. I placed the towel on my head to dry my hair when I heard a muffled noise. I'm not sure what it sounded like, but I immediately stopped rubbing my hair with the towel.

"Hello?" I said as I peered around the closet door. I didn't see anything or anyone. I finished drying my hair, and as I turned around and closed the door this large creature came flying at me. It was my German Sheppard, Charlie, jumping up to greet me. I screamed as I stumbled backward. I slipped and fell into the bathtub. As my head hit the tile I felt a shooting pain go down my back. I tried to get out of the tub, but found that to be rather hard with Charlie jumping in with me to try to lick my face. I was finally able to pull myself up out of the tub and decided that I would just get a glass of milk and then head off to bed.

I went into the bedroom to change clothes and headed into the kitchen. The rain was beating furiously against the window as I poured the cup of milk. While I was on my way to the bedroom, the house went dark, and the lightning and thunder were plangent outside. I couldn't believe it. "Could my night get any worse?" I said as I started to walk slowly around in order to get my flashlight, and then, I heard the sound again. I called for Charlie, but didn't think it was he. Then I heard it again, but it was clearer this time.

"Why didn't you help me?"

I called out, "who's there, hello?" but as I looked around I didn't see anything. I turned around and saw my shadow on the wall in front of me being cast from a bright white light. I slowly turned around to find a figure standing behind me. It was the little boy from the street. Flashbacks from the incident immediately plagued my mind as I dropped the glass of milk. It went crashing to the floor and the milk and broken glass were everywhere.

"Why didn't you help me," asked the little boy as he reached out for me. I stumbled back as he started to glide toward me. "Stay back," I said as he kept coming closer.

"Why didn't you help me?"

"I tried," I said in a trembled voice. "I got out of the car, and when I went back you weren't there. How the can I help you when I can't even find you?"

The thunder and lightning outside kept getting more intense as the small child floated towards me. I rubbed my eyes in hopes that this wasn't really happening and that he would go away.