Ominous

It was a gray and lowering day. Clouds seemed to almost touch the ground, blotting out the light and making trees into shadowy shapes. It was the kind of day to stay inside the house, light a fire, and lose myself within the pages of a book. Only, I couldn’t do that because there was this strange, insistent tapping somewhere in the house. Inside or outside? It was hard to know.

I tried to locate the noise and to follow it, but it was so distant that it was hard to tell where it came from. Was it moving around?

Getting up from my chair in front of the fireplace, I went from room to room, turning on every light. Just as I finished, the electricity flickered and the lights went out. I gasped and groped for a flashlight. A cold rivulet of fear traced its way down my back.

Photo by Missy Day Albrecht