He Was There.

• Jasmine Siddall, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

He slowly approached. A mammoth of a man. Large rough hands, hair protruding in tufts around his bony fingers. Strong muscular arms with red stains almost completely covering them, I did not want to know what those stains were. His most hideous feature was his eyes, black pits of darkness, one could get lost in them and not find their way out. Not in a good way. I trembled, he was going to kidnap me and murder me in some dark alley with his own two hands. Yep, those were blood stains on his arms.
I let out a silent scream as he advanced closer. I was going to die; I was going to die. His arms swayed slightly at his side as he stopped just short of my feet. He leaned over me, using his obvious height as an advantage. I could smell his breath, it crept up my nose, making me gag. I was terrified of this man. His chapped lips moved to my ear, I shivered at his close presence, I wanted to scream at him, push him away and run, but my limbs were not agreeing with my brain.
His hand took a tuft of my hair as he whispered my name, “Willow.” I gaped; how did he know my name? “No” I croaked softly. He leaned back, grinning maniacally, yet still grasping my hair like his life depended on it. “Yes.” I staggered back, “no no no…” this was not happening, I was not going to die in the hands of this beast. He released my hair and stalked towards me, so he was inches away from me.
“Willow” I twisted my head around, this, this was my mum’s voice. “Willow.” I closed my eyes, no, it could not be her, but if it were this psycho was going to get her too. When I reopened them I was in my apartment. “Willow, my dear are you ok? You were yelling and I did not know what to do” she looked genuinely worried, but I had more important matters to focus on. “Mum look out, he is coming, he will find us, call the police, hurry before he gets us and…” I stopped talking as an overwhelming wave of anger flowed through me as I looked at my mum’s worried face. “You think I’m crazy don’t you…” I laughed, somewhat maniacally, maybe I was insane. “Honey, I don’t know what your talking…” I stopped my laughter. “Didn’t you see him?” she shook her head sadly. She didn’t see him, but he was here, right here, wasn’t he? No, my mum was the crazy one, not me right… I saw him, he was there. He. Was. There...