I really don't know what to say about this, but I hope everyone enjoys!


It was late, nearly two o'clock in the morning, and the house had lapsed into an unnatural silence. The TV was off, and not even the hum of electricity could be heard lingering in the air.

A five-year-old boy crawled out from beneath his covers and slowly slid his bare feet down off the bed and onto the floor. He had awoken to a sudden chill in the air, and the feeling that someone had been standing over him. He grabbed his glasses off his night stand and cautiously looked around the room with big hazel brown eyes.

"Hello?"

He almost turned back to his bed when he got no response, but froze when he saw a shadow move pass the door outside his room.

"Gazzy?" he called, hoping his four-year-old sister had gotten out of her bed and was currently wandering the halls.

"Is dat you?" He asked, taking a few hesitant steps forward so that he was now directly in front of the door.

He reached up with his small hand and turned the knob, tensing as he pushed and it slowly creaked open. From what he could see, the hall in front of him was empty, and his sister's door, which was located across from his, was still closed shut.

He peeked his head out, his pointy black hair being the first of him to emerge from his room, and he looked back and forth down the hall.

"Hello?" He asked. "Is anybody out dare?"

When no one answered, he walked out into the hall and began to look around curiously. He was sure he had seen something move outside his door, and he couldn't get back to sleep until he found out what.

He walked down the hall and stopped at the top of the stairs. The living room was void of any lights and so it looked like the stairs went down into nothing but pure darkness. Being more curious than fearful, he used the wall as support and ventured down the stairs, barely recognizing the place as his home now that the sun had gone down.

When he reached the bottom, he couldn't see much of anything, and he felt like he did whenever Gaz stole his glasses off his face and hid them somewhere in the house. He frowned at the thought, even though his dad had said it was just a phase, he couldn't help but think his sister would always be this mean to him.

Distracted, he stumbled on the living room rug and let out a slight whimper when he fell on his face. He got back on his feet and rubbed his cheek, gasping when he heard something in the basement below him.

'A monster?' he wondered. 'Or a ghost?'

The door to the basement started to creak open and the little boy hurried behind the living room couch and covered his face with his hands. He could hear the creature as it made its way into the living room and came closer toward his hiding spot.

'Oh no,' the boy thought. 'Its gonna eat me!'

He slowly pulled his hands away from his face and dared to look up from where he was hiding.

'I'm a big boy' he told himself.

However, his eyes widened in fear when they looked up into the bright glowing eyes of the creature standing in the middle of the room. It was dark, and so the eyes were all that could be seen, floating amongst the darkness. The eyes looked around, as if searching for something, and then finally began to move forward. The boy crawled out of his spot a little further, in fear and fascination. It sounded like the creature had hit the end of the table, 'cause it let out a frustrated grunt and turned it's eyes in the other direction; exactly where the boy was watching.

With a slight yell of surprise the boy covered his face again.

"Don't eat me!" he cried, unable to move.

He could hear the creature's steps coming toward him, and he jumped when he felt it touch the top of his head.

"AH!"

Pushing himself back against the wall, he watched as the eerie glowing eyes looked away, and the sound of the lamp switch soon followed.

"Son, what are you doing up at this hour?"

The area around him became visible and he felt relief wash over him as he stared up into his father's goggles.

"Dad!" he jumped forward and hugged his father's leg, earning a pat on the head.

"There, there, son," his father said, his voice barely expressing the concern those words were meant to hold. "Why aren't you up in your room?"

The little boy let go of his father's leg and looked up at him in excitement.

"Dad, you won't believes it! I saw dis shadow and I went to 'vesitgate!" he exclaimed. "I bets it was a ghost, like on TV."

His father shook his head and the boy's smile faded.

"There are no such things as ghosts, son," he told him. "You should be watching more fundamentally educational shows."

The boy blinked, confused.

"But...I saw it." he replied in a low tone.

His father bent down on one knee in front of him, so that they were now at more equal heights.

"What you saw was an hallucination brought on by lack of sleep," His father explained placing a hand on his sons shoulder. "Or perhaps even a nightmare, hm?"

"Oh." the boy frowned. "I guess so."
"Good then" His father stood. "Now hurry up to bed, son. You're a growing boy and your brain needs sleep in order to function."

"Will you come tuck me in, dad?" The little boy asked, hopefully.

"Sorry, son," His father replied. "I'm already behind schedule and they need me at the lab immediately."

"How come?" The boy asked. "Can'ts they wait?"

"Of course not." His father laughed, but the look of confusion of his sons face told him that the joke was obviously lost on him.

He sighed.

"You'll understand when you're older." He told his son, who looked somewhat disappointed.

"Oh."

"Now hurry up stairs and don't wake your sister." His father patted his head again. "I'll have breakfast made when you get up later."

The little boy sighed as he watched his father turn to leave, certain that breakfast would be served by some mechanical drone and he would be greeted by his father's face behind a computer screen.

"Bye, dad," He said as his father reached the door. "I loves you."

"You too, son," His father called back as he shut the door behind him.

Once again in the dim lighted room, the little boy frowned and started toward the staircase.

As he trudged up the stairs, one of his hands using the wall as a guide, he wondered again about the shadow that had passed his door. He hadn't been having a nightmare, and he was wide awake when he saw it...and if his dad was down stairs the whole time...

'It had to be a ghost'

Almost immediately his fathers word came back to him, a phrase that would unknowingly stay with him throughout his whole life.'There are no such things, son.'

He made his way to his room and crawled back into bed, leaving his glasses on so that he could admire the stars outside his window.

He felt his eye lids get heavy and pulled the cover close to him, protectively.

"G'night" He whispered to no one, and he smiled when he felt the cover pull closer around his shoulder.

Despite what his father had said, and whatever logic he had used, he refused to believe that he was truly ...alone.


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