I still remember the day when I went on a freaky nocturnal expedition. This whole thing happened 3 years ago.
I was at my grandmother’s house. It was the month of January- pretty cold. It was almost 2 am. I was sleeping peacefully snuggled up against my aunt in a huge quilt with my grandmother on the other side. Something happened and I suddenly woke up. I don’t know why but I just woke up. As I turned around to face the door, I suddenly saw a man running from the kitchen towards the other rooms. I saw him because he ran right in front of our bedroom door.
At that hour of the night, all kinds of crazy ideas danced in my head and I thought it was a ghost. But on second thoughts, I realized that the silhouette of the thing was very human-shaped so I assumed it must be a robber. I tried to wake my aunt up but she didn’t wake up. So, I got up sneakily, put on my thick sweater and went to investigate. I first checked the kitchen but nobody was there and nothing was even moved over there. Then I checked the drawing; the same result. My attention was caught by a faint light coming from the washroom next to the drawing room. When I nervously opened the door, I saw a candle. It was honestly never there. Like who would ever put a candle in the washroom?
I was about to enter the washroom and blow the candle out when I saw an eye from behind the candle. It was redder than blood. I ran faster than Usain Bolt to wake up my aunt and grandmother. They woke up and were worried to see me almost hysterical. Trying my best not to cry, I told them that there was someone in the washroom. They tried to hush and comfort me saying that I just had a bad dream. I asked them to check the washroom. My aunt groaned but finally left her quilt to go and check. Holding her shawl, I followed. There was no one there, not even the candle.
I was absolutely stunned, I couldn’t believe my eyes. They told me to go back to sleep. But I just could not.
Then suddenly, I shouted.
I was sitting in my bed, all sweaty and breathing heavily. My aunt and grandmother woke up with a start and offered me water. They asked if everything was ok. Realising I had been dreaming, I told them the whole dream. They comforted me and told me that bad dreams come to everyone. After they had comforted me; I finally slept.
The next morning, when I woke up, I saw that my grandmother and aunt had already left the bed. I could hear them from the kitchen. It was almost 7 am and I had to go to school. Lazily I pulled myself from the bed and went to the washroom. In the washroom, the same candle was there in the exact position waiting for me to blow it off.
Writer : Dia Ochani
Grade : 9 (Year 2023)
Place : Christchurch, New Zealand
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