A Knock At The Door
The Mind Can Play Terrible Tricks
What do you do when there’s a knock at the door?
Normally you will go and answer it, see who it is , invite them in or send them on their way. That’s what any normal person in a normal situation would do.
This was not your normal situation.
It was not unusual or impossible, it just wasn’t normal.
It wasn’t something knocking or banging against the door , the weather was a bit wild, but there was nothing near the door that would cause this.
It was a definite insistent knock. The door didn’t have a knocker , those were knuckles hitting the outside of the door insistently.
He sat on his chair , clutching his book , looking at the door. Every five minutes the knocking came again. Ten insistent raps, almost feeling like they were hitting his forehead. Then there was silence, well just the sound of the rain and wind against the window pane.
Maybe it would stop, but no , five minutes later the knocking started again. He clutched the book , it was his own Bible , well one he had picked up from an overnight stay somewhere when he was still able to travel, and left by the Gideons.
He opened the Bible at a random page and read this line:
“Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Is that who was knocking at the door?
He was sure it was no natural presence.
It couldn’t be.
Not here
He shut the book , he was more frightened than before, he was scared that the knocker may want his soul. He was alone and scared.
Why wouldn’t he answer the door , and open it to find out who was knocking.
When you are on the fifth floor of an isolated lighthouse and that door is only used to bring up supplies and provisions on the crane then you definitely become wary of someone knocking who must be floating in fresh air and not obeying the normal laws of gravity.
He definitely felt threatened and under duress, who or what was at the door?
Did he dare go down to the lighthouse base and see what he could see?
He felt sort of safer where he was , but he knew he couldn’t stay where he was while the knocking kept happening.
He had no way to contact anyone , he had to wait another week till the next relief came and he could go back to the mainland.
He needed to pretend that the knocking wasn’t happening, he needed to block it out.
Was it his imagination ? Could there be a rational explanation?
He clutched his Bible like a shield , but every time he looked into it he was convinced he was damned.
The knocking started again , rapping the door , insistent but it wasn’t going to break the door down.
Then it stopped.
……………
We picked him up last week. His family said he was obsessed with the lighthouse. We went out there hoping to find him. The place has been deserted for years, we found him on the top floor.
His knuckles were bloody and bruised , he’d been knocking on the crane door for god knows how long, I haven’t a clue why. The door was battered from the inside and his blood was all over it , it was lucky he wasn’t able to open it, that would have been a fatal fall.
He said the Devil came for him, but all that seems to be gone is his mind.
We took him to the hospital , they have him now.
He’s now safe , as long as he doesn't escape again
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Excellent storytelling
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Comments (1)
Whoaaaa! This story was mindblowing! It was so suspenseful and creepy! Fantasy story! I loved it!