It's been quite some time since that terrible night and my leg has finally recovered. It feels fantastic to walk and not feel a sharp pain stinging your bone every time you take a new step. Best thing however is that I can finally return to my hobby of going out for a jog every morning. I love jogging, it wakes me up and filling my lungs with fresh morning air really helps me think clearly.
So, as usually I went out to jog yesterday and while I was looking at people's houses, as one does, I soon noticed something very human-looking laying in someone's yard. It was an odd sight to behold in the middle of the winter... there was currently no snow, but it was way too cold to just lay on the ground. I got closer and realised it was a man in his fifties... with almost no clothing but pajama trousers and a t-shirt.
''Hello?'' I called out to no response.
I opened the rusty iron gate to his front yard and as I went ahead it closed with a loud screeching noise that made the hair on my neck stand up. I slowly approached the man. Is he still breathing? What's wrong with him? Am I literally standing in front of a dead person?
I kneeled down to see weather he was still breathing or not... thankfully he did. His breathing was shallow and slow yet seemed pretty stable. I have never been on a first aid course, however I did remember what position I should be putting an unconscious person in. My hands were shaking as I grabbed his freezing cold sleeve to roll him to the side.
I frantically searched for my cellphone. The sight unnerved me to the point that I completely forgot which pocket it was in. I called the ambulance and as I was waiting for them to arrive I nervously looked at my surroundings. The man's front yard was nicely kept, yet extremely plain... like a desert of grass, not a single other plant... quite a contrast to what I was used to. I looked at his house, a very generic one, white facade, a crappy concrete balcony... then I looked at the windows and realised - one of them was opened.
I felt an invisible force press down on my lungs. My knees suddenly decided they no longer want to support my weight and I almost fell. The man was laying directly underneath it... I did not want to believe what I was seeing. It has to be a coincidence! Despite everything I told myself, my mind kept reminding me of that night. I prayed for the ambulance to arrive as soon as they could and I let out a sigh of relief when they did.
They asked me if I knew him and I told them I did not, but since the man lived alone they told me to give them my phone number... just in case they need some extra information from me. I gave it to one of the men and watched as the ambulance rolled away with flashing blue lights filling the mist they disappeared in. My morning jog was over. As I left the man's property I threw a quick glance at the open window behind which his long gray curtains slowly moved along with the wind that blew in and out of the house.
''Poor man...'' I said to myself as I walked back home still reliving all the pain I felt that night.
The rest of that day was terrible. I couldn't get my mind off of that scene and kept having haunting flashbacks of the black figure in pretty much every darker part of the house. While studying I could hear footsteps in the hallway, but as I went to see what my parents were doing... they weren't there. It creeped me out, but as I checked every single corner of the house I realised that there was noone but me and my parents. Despite obvious evidence of no intruders I kept my light on during the entire night. My overwhelming fear proved to be of no use... I was perfectly safe, but no matter how much I tried approaching my fears rationally, they just wouldn't go away, and the more thought I gave them, the more they grew.
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