Sleep Rough Tonight

• Sophia Coulson, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2016

It was Friday 13th, 11:42pm. Home alone with only my little dog Max to comfort me. My parents were on a holiday so I was responsible for the dog and the house for a couple of days.
It was an unnerving night as thunder struck, rain was pouring down hard. The house was as dark as coal, the rain fell like pebbles hitting against a tin shed, the thunder was as loud as a lion’s roar. The cold, misty air slipped through the cracks of the house, sending shivers through my body, and every breath of cold air I took goose bumps grew on my arms.
I quickly arose from the couch with a shock, Max barked powerfully as he sat in front of me with an anxious look on his face. He kept peeking out the window at the front of the house, then looked back at me, I made sure he was okay, and then I fell asleep.
Max barked again and woke me up, I was concerned. I scanned my eyes around the front, a black shadow was slowly moving behind a bush, I looked at Max then back outside, the shadow disappeared, I went back to the couch and slept again hoping there was no more disturbance.
Max started barking again at the front window, I looked out, the same shadow had appeared again moving slowly towards my window, I had a gripping moment of chilling fear and I instantaneously closed the blinds, holding a trembling Max in my arms.
I turned on the TV and put on the late night news, they said there was a serial killer on the loose in the area, so I locked all the doors and windows in the house but left one window open to get some air thinking no one could get into or find the window I left open.
As I was lying down, I heard a gentle tapping sound coming from the window at the front of the house. I anxiously peeked through the blinds… it was just a broken blind flapping in the wind causing its corner to tap slowly on my front window. All of a sudden the basement door slightly opened and a provoking shriek came from upstairs.
I immediately went to the phone to call the police and gave them my details, they said they would be at my house shortly because they tracked down the serial killer to my street. As I was waiting for the police to arrive, I heard footsteps gradually coming closer to me, they stopped…I closed my eyes and stayed still, I took silent fidgety breaths, It felt like someone was breathing on me, then a hand crept onto my shoulder. I continued to shake in fear, another hand covered my mouth, I tried to scream as loud as I could to get attention for help, but… it was too late…