The Intruder
I jolted awake. My eyes sprang open, and I scanned my lake house bedroom. An apparent power outage obliterated all lighting, leaving me shrouded in darkness.
I jolted awake. My eyes sprang open, and I scanned my lake house bedroom. An apparent power outage obliterated all lighting, leaving me shrouded in darkness.
The early summer rainstorm ceased. But, dark clouds remained and hovered above the sparsely populated street. Rainwater trickled into the storm drain below and lured the brown, slimy creature to the surface.
Debbie haphazardly parked her SUV in the middle of the curvy canyon road. She jumped out and sprinted toward the edge of the ravine.
Kurt stands on his backyard deck and watches the sunset through the winter-bared trees. He stares at the vacant house across the pond, as he has each winter evening for the past nine years.
Kurt hides under his backyard deck. He peers through wooden beams to keep watch on the house across the pond. Knee-deep snow and frigid temperatures cause him to shiver, but he refuses to go inside his home.
Howling winds gust through trees, forcing branches to graze the house’s siding. Their finger-like limbs taunt and tease, and Harlie bolts awake.
Fifteen-year-old Rowan creeps into his house and eases the kitchen door closed, hoping not to alert Gary, his abusive step-father, of his arrival.
Headlights shine in Sara’s rearview mirror, forcing her to squint on her Friday night commute home from work. Grumbling over November’s early darkness and persistent glare in the mirror, she reaches up to adjust it.
Brisk winds propel two demon spirits as they soar through the moonlit skies. Tony and Frank howl and guffaw on their journey toward a Halloween party hosted by the living.