Stephanie sniffed loudly as she wiped her small crinkled nose messily. She peered up at the gloomy sky, blackening with stormy clouds and blocking out the sun. Shrugging, she looked back down to the toboggan she was dragging behind her, her stuffed rabbit Scamp lying limply on its back.
"Terrible weather, isn't it, Scamp," mused the five year old playfully, tugging on the toboggan's rope handles. It jerked unevenly through the dirt and leaves of autumn, throwing Scamp quite a bit around.
She was briefly but suddenly blanketed with blinding white light followed by the thunderous clap and rumble.
"Eek!"
Her tiny lips let out a small, terrified shriek as she tumbled onto the toboggan behind her, clutching for Scamp. Sniffing again she stood nervously, wiping her nose on the worn purple jacket and jutting out her lower lip.
"Let's go home, Scamp. I don' like storms none." She pulled at the toboggan once more just enough to maneuver it between repelling sticks and twigs on the forest grounds.
Another flash of lightening shot off to her left and she sucked in a short breath. She hesitated and looked fearfully up at the growling skies while the thunder followed again, louder and longer.
Her little feet pulled her faster through the dampened woods as fat raindrops rolled down her young face, growing more consistent. Her breaths sped up and she gripped her rabbit as tightly as she could, pushing herself forward and out of the woods. The storm had begun so suddenly; she regretted choosing to play pretend in the woods today.
She squinted and smiled with a sort of accomplishment as her tiny eyes finally spotted her speckled driveway, raindrops falling faster. She picked up the pace and Scamp dangled feverently from her tight grip, safety only yards away.
Suddenly a huge wave of lightening seemed to strike right in front of her, causing her to let out a short but terrified scream. She blinked in terror and widened her eyes at the tall black silhouette that towered in front of her tiny shape. Clutching at Scamp she gasped in fear as lightening struck again, illuminating his blank, white face that, even without eyes, seemed to bore into her, his thin, gangly arms snagging themselves towards her enshadowed by what appeared to be immense tendrils emerging from his back.
She was just about ready to release another scream when a third lightening strike snapped the skies and he vanished, as if he had never even been there, and she stayed frozen, breathing sharply. Dropping the toboggan's rope she sprinted off into the house and fled into the living room and curled into the sofa, leaving the door open.
"Momma!" she gasped, digging herself deeper into the couch's cushions and cuddling next to her mother's seated warm body.
"What is it, Stephanie, darling? What have I told you about playing out in storms?" Her mother's smooth voice scolded lightly.
Stephanie whimpered. "Momma, there was a man, an' he had tentlicals or somethin'…"
Her father scoffed from behind his newspaper. "Stephanie, don't be ridiculous. We're the only house for two miles."
Her mother frowned. "But Atticus, what if-"
"I'll hear nothing more of it. There is no man, and even if there was, there isn't any way he can hurt us with the guard dogs." He stated in a firm voice, standing and locking the back door in one easy movement.
Stephanie peeked over the couch and out of the kitchen window. Did she dare? Her eyes combed the gloomy, rainy woods as rain streaked the window messily.
After she was sure the white faced man in a black suit was no longer there, she bade goodnight to her parents and crept upstairs and made it to her room, hugging Scamp tightly. She opened the room door slowly and closed it behind her, yawning sleepily as she entered the unlit room and approached her bed.
She snuggled in, and, upon noticing the discomfort in the lack of light, stood and crept back to the lightswitch.
She flicked it on and her small hands flew to her mouth in a gasp; now hanging from the back of her pink door was a messy note, scribbled in pen- and although she was only five, she could make out what it read: 'Always watching, no eyes'. Stephanie cocked her head and reached forward to grab it, just as the lights in her room flickered and quietly shut out all at once, consuming her in darkness.
Lightning flashed outside her window, illuminating her room- and the tall black figure who lingered in her window. She inhaled sharply, but her little face hardened and she glared right on back at the gleaming white face that slowly twisted toward her. Suddenly the room was dark again, and little Stephanie clutched at the note as a reminder of the tall man in the window. Yawning, she stuffed the note in a drawer and clambered in to bed, sleeping a dreamless night once again.