I Can't Sleep At Night

• Maeve Suter, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2013

Last night I was woken by a furry dark shadow brushing past my face. A tiny scream escaped my mouth as I slowly reached for my bedroom light.
My dark gloomy room turned bright. I waited for my eyes to adjust. The first thing I noticed was my window wide open with my curtain blowing in the strong wind. I was shocked again to see what had woken me. There stood a small creature about the size of a cat, with three gleaming red eyes.
I lifted myself out of bed and waited for my feet to brush against the ground. I moved slowly. The creature stared into my eyes. It had a large forked tongue, oily fur and vicious claws scraping against my wooden floorboards. I slowly backed away. Giving a nasty hiss it walked daringly towards me.
Suddenly the creature sprung onto my face. I tried screaming but I couldn’t make a sound. Its sharp claws were digging into my skin. I couldn’t see. I stumbled blindly around my room searching for a weapon. Suddenly I felt its grip loosen. Without letting go, it bit me on the nose.
It looked at me one last time before it scampered away. A sudden gush of wind blew my window shut as I stood there in disbelief.