“I’m glad it’s a weekend,” Mom sighed as she picked apart my bedsheet that I had wetted the night before. “You are going to be sleeping with Mommy and Daddy tonight.” The bedsheets would take about a day for it to be clean because mom liked to hang them outside to dry.
A smile bloomed on my face. I was glad to know that at least tonight, I would not be sleeping alone.
I cheerfully dashed out of my room and headed to the bathroom to go brush my teeth and start the day. Dad had just begun to shave when I popped into the bathroom. As soon as he saw me, he patted my head and laughed.
“Hahaha! I guess you are still too young. Well, don’t be making messes for Mommy, okay?” Dad said as he handed me my toothbrush with a dab of toothpaste and a cup of tap water.
Using the toilet as my sink, I brushed my teeth. After a minute or two, I handed them back for dad to wash. He patted my head as I left to eat breakfast.
The rest of the day was nice and sunny. I sat outside enjoying the sunshine while watching my mom clean. Occasionally, I would pick up random bugs, twigs, and leaves to present them to Mom as a sorry gift only for her to slap them out of my hands.
The sky began to dim greatly but I did not care. Because I would be sleeping with Mom and Dad tonight.
Dad came back from work and Mom had cooked up dinner. As dad complained about his day at work, I munched my food with enthusiasm. After watching a 30 minute kid’s cartoon, I grew sleepy and decided to crawl into my parents’ bed to sleep.
Pitch darkness. Awake a second time. But this time, I was
not alone. I was sleeping smack in the middle of the bed with mom and dad right
beside me. I felt confident.
Unprovoked. Un-
“Creeaakkkk”
Afraid, maybe...?
The floor creaking sounds seemed to make its way to my room. At the third creaking sound, it halted.
The breath I did not know I was holding in, escaped through my lips as tensions in my muscles relaxed.
I quietly snuggled closer to mom as I curled myself up with the shared blanket. I was safe as long as mom and dad were with me.
The relief was broken with a deafening sound that croaked in this very bedroom.
I grab onto dad, instinctively.
A piercing gaze settled on me. It knew I was awake.
I tried calming my breath and continued to pretend that I was asleep.
Still, the gaze never left me.
I tried nudging Mom awake with my elbow. I tapped Dad’s foot with my feet to wake him up. Both refused to acknowledge these attempts since they neither move nor made any sounds.
Why haven’t they notice this thing? Could they not feel it staring or was it only targeting me?
If elbowing Mom didn’t wake her up, maybe tugging on her hair would?
I slyly slid my hand towards Mom’s head as I turned my body as if I was still asleep. My hand landed on Mom’s head, and I was about to curl my knuckles when I noticed that there was no hair.
Mom wasn’t bald. She certainly had hair. If she wasn’t Mom… then was he Dad? But “Dad” didn’t feel this skinny…
I pretended to toss-and-turn in my fake sleep and placed my hand on “Mom”. “Mom” also didn’t have hair.
It made no sense. Both parents shouldn’t be bald…
Then I realized. I had gone to bed first. I fell asleep on my parents’ bed and never saw if it were really Mom and Dad who slept next to me.
Who -or should I say- What was sleeping next to me?
They weren’t making any breathing sounds. Their bodies weren’t moving. They were also cool to touch. I had thought it was just my sweaty hands.
I became still. Too scared to move about. Too scared to make another movement.
Because I knew it is still watching me.
Was it amused about my discovery? Did it know that I knew I was completely alone?
What did it want from me?
I continued my act of sleeping.
Deep slow breaths.
Biting my lips.
Try not to move a lot.
Sweating.
Scared.
Yet, somehow, I would be sleeping when morning came.
“You are going to be sleeping in your own room from now on,
okay?” Mom said sternly.
“You kept tossing and turning. It was hard to sleep,” Dad muttered, “You kicked me in the shin.”
“Sorry Mommy. Sorry Daddy.” I got off the bed sluggishly.
“Not to mention you tugged my hair and it hurts,” grumbled Mom.
I quickly turned and stared at Mom who had her hair down. She was kneading her head to release the pain from the pulls on her hair.
They were sleeping next to me last night.
But it couldn’t be… I clearly remembered that there was no hair to be pulled.
But how? Why did they feel so different last night?
Was it all a dream? Did I dream it all up? But it felt so real?
“Oh my! Your lips are bleeding. Let me get some tissue paper,” Mom said as she hurriedly left the room.
I stood still. A thought came to me.
The darkness followed me even though I was sleeping with mom and dad…
It followed me even though I didn’t sleep alone.
It wasn’t about my room nor was it about me sleeping alone…
I stared at a dark corner of my parents’ room.
The problem wasn’t about being alone, it was the darkness itself.
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