Monster in the Snow
She could feel it: a gaze locked onto her every move. No matter where Amelia roamed in her small home, it was always there. It had been there all night, even while the snowstorm obscured the view outside, the normally vibrant environment of her neighborhood simmered down to a dull gray in the dead of night. The scariest part of it wasn’t the way the snow battered and slammed against her windows, glass panes threatening to burst inwards. It was the way they, whoever it may be, were obsessed enough to wait in that kind of weather.
Amelia had told the police when it first started, struggling to keep her composure in their interrogation office as she recounted seeing the same car in every parking lot she went to, no matter what she was doing. Her hands couldn’t stop shaking when recalling the envelope mailed to her house that had seemed so innocent until she opened it to discover dozens upon dozens of candid pictures of herself. She finally broke down into tears as she described the messages she had been receiving through social media, the anonymous sender gleefully explaining the ways they would break into her room just to watch her sleep.
But the police looked at her and shrugged. They said they couldn’t do anything. Not until it became ‘serious’, at least. Yeah, right. That just meant they weren’t willing to do anything until she was dead, so they could have the honor of solving the higher profile crime of murder rather than stalking.
Amelia got up from her couch, turning the lights off behind her as she drifted up the stairs, a ghost in all but physicality. Her mind felt far from her body as she walked into her room, as if she was a cameraman filming herself from behind rather than being the one in control. She settled into bed without bothering to change her clothes, pulling the covers over her head while repeating the same mantras from when she was a child, begging for quiet to persist through the night.
“Mama, I’m scared!”
She cried, toddler brain unable to tell which dangers were real.
“There’s a monster under my bed!”
If someone entered her room right now, there would be no escape.
Amelia’s mom smiled warmly.
She tucked her daughter under the blankets, patting her head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you a special trick to help.”
Her door was only wide enough for one person, making it easy to block off. Her closet was much too small to be a feasible hiding place, likely only sparing her a few seconds before being found. If she jumped from the second floor, she’d most definitely break her bones, leaving her a still snow angel whose wings couldn’t fly her to safety.
“If you pretend the monster isn’t there, it’ll go away in time.”
Her mom winked at her, one lone pointer finger held square over her lips.
“All you have to do is wait.”
Amelia closed her eyes and went to sleep.
The door slowly creaked open
