BLACK

Sarah finished the dishes in the white porcelain sink and looked out the kitchen window toward her neighbor’s apartment. She could see her neighbor sitting alone at his card table, draped with a white sheet, eating his TV dinner. Their apartments were so close, she could read the package of his meal; Salisbury steak with green peas and instant mashed potatoes. It was a warm summer’s night and Sarah could feel the sweat dripping down her back, making her wife-beater tank top cling to her body like a small child to his mother’s leg. She ripped off a paper towel from the roll that lay next to the sink and wiped her hands, then wiped down the cracked white tiled countertops. As she stood there she could feel the day weighing heavy on her body like a weighted blanket that had been draped over her shoulders. She thought about all the things that still needed to be done before she went to bed and wished she had someone to help her, but that someone always came with a price she reminded herself; a price she was not willing to pay. She’s made that mistake once, twice, three times before and had paid her dues. Now she has chosen to be alone and carry the weighted blanket like the cape of a Royal Queen. Deep in thought, Sarah heard a small voice yell out,

“Mommy, are you coming?”

She smiled and yelled back at her son,

“Yes, be there in a minute, Maxy!”

She opened the white cupboard door, quickly grabbed one of the two green plastic plates, and put it on the counter. Then she opened the fridge and took out what was left of the food, one apple, and string cheese. She remembered that tomorrow was the first of the month and she would be able to go to the store and buy groceries. Until then, the final two soldiers, the ketchup and mustard, would have to stand guard in her barren fridge. She sliced up the apple, removed the skin, and cut the string cheese into small bite-size pieces. She grabbed the plastic green cup her son had left on the counter and filled it up with water from the sink then turned off the kitchen light and headed towards the hallway. She checked the front door to make sure it was locked then decided to leave the windows open for cross ventilation. She felt safe doing this since they were on the second floor and the thought of closing them with this heat and no air conditioning seemed stifling.

Sarah walked down the hall and heard the familiar jingle of Sammy’s collar and knew he was getting up out of his dog bed to meet her at the door to her son’s room. Sarah remembered when they got Sammy. It was when the nightmares started. She really didn’t want any more responsibility, but Max begged her for a dog and the nightmares had gotten so bad she was willing to try anything. Luckily the landlord said yes to Sammy, but only after tremendous begging on her part and a substantial check for a pet deposit. Sammy was the first dog they saw at the pound. Max had an instant connection with this brown and white scraggly wire-haired terrier with its long skinny legs and hyper energy. I think it was the constant licking and affection that Max loved the most. Sammy definitely had plenty of both to give.

Sarah entered Max’s room, scratched the top of Sammy’s head, put the plate on the floor next to the bed, and watched her son as he played on the floor with his plastic dinosaurs. His golden wheat locks hung down in front of his face as he continued to make his two dinosaurs battle each other. She could hear the sound of their plastic feet tapping on the hardwood floor as her son bashed the two together. Sarah leaned down and touched the silky golden hair as Max looked up and smiled at her; his emerald eyes glinting happily. Her heart hurt thinking about what those five-year-old eyes had seen. He was so beautiful and innocent; the opposite of what his life had been so far. She swallowed hard to try to dislodge the lump in her throat that had suddenly appeared.

“Okay time for bed, little buddy.”

Sarah picked him up and carried him to his bed.

“But my dinosaurs didn’t make-up mommy and they need to be friends.”

“Well, I am sure that while they are in their box tonight they will make up.”

“Did you bring a snack?” Max asked.

“Would mommy forget the most important part of bedtime storytime?”

She playfully dropped her son on his bed and tickled his tummy. Max started to giggle like a hyena and rolled side to side, trying to get away from his mother’s hands. The sound of his laughter made her giggle as well. Sarah then stopped, letting him catch his breath.

“That’s enough now. I don’t want you all riled up so you can’t go to sleep.”

“More, more, more!” he shouted.

Sarah ignored his pleas, pulled back the covers, and then sat down next to her son to read him his favorite bedtime story. She reached down, picked up the plate of food, and handed it to her son. She smiled at him and started to read, “If Rhino’s Could Surf”. Max knew the story by heart and was reciting the words before they came out of his mother’s mouth. He sat eating his snack with one hand as his other held on to her leg. She could feel him clinging more and more to her as the story approached the end. The change in his grip on her thigh showed the fear growing inside of him. She finished the last line and put the book down on the floor. Before she could lift herself out of bed, Max grabbed her arm and pleaded with her.

“Please don’t go, mommy, please, please, I’m scared. Please sleep with me, please, mommy, please.”

“Max we talked about this. Remember what the lady said to do? If you start to get scared and think you see something you just need to tell it to go away. Tell it you don’t want it here anymore.”

Sarah knew that it would probably be another sleepless night for her. Max’s nightmares didn’t seem to be getting any better and his nightly pleas were becoming worse. She didn’t know what else to do. He was convinced that whatever he saw was real. She knew she had nightmares as a kid, but nothing like this. She didn’t believe in dark energy or ghosts, but Max did.

The nightmares started about six months ago. At first, Sarah thought that they were night terrors. Soon though she realized that Max was not asleep when he said he saw this thing, he was wide awake. He said it lived in the corner of his room and would just sit and look at him. It never tried to come near him, it was just there. After about 2 weeks of waking her up every night screaming, she decided to let him just sleep with her, but she knew this needed to be a temporary band-aid. That was when she decided to get a dog, Sammy. At first, it was better with Sammy in his room. The nightmares seemed to have stopped and things were back to normal. Then a week ago Sarah was woken up by Max screaming bloody murder. She bolted out of bed and ran down the hall, her own fear now gripping her mind. When she entered the room Sammy was standing stiff as a board, growling towards the corner. Max ran to her, jumped into her arms, and now every night since then he has been back in her bed.

Completely frustrated, Sarah decided to make an appointment with the crystal healer her friend recommended. She didn’t believe in that Namaste, natural healer crap, but her friend said it was the only thing that worked for her daughter who also struggled with nightmares. At this point, she was willing to try anything to help her son and get a good night’s sleep. She wondered if she should tell the healer about Max’s father. Now that monster she knew was real. Max’s dad was a drunk and would beat her up on a regular basis. Her final straw was the night he went for Max. She jumped in front of her son and crouched on top of him, letting the blows hit her back, as she shielded her son. When the beating was over Max’s father fell on the bed and passed out. Sarah quickly grabbed her only piece of luggage, threw whatever she saw in the case, and then picked up her son and his diaper bag and left. She ended up going to the police station, filed a restraining order, and then moved to another state to start over. It was not easy for her. She had no money, no job, and no support. It didn’t matter though, she knew if she didn’t leave she would be dead soon. Was this what made Max scream? Did he think his dad would come back for them? Did he think his dad was in the corner?

The appointment was set and the following day Sarah took Max to see the healer. She was warm and welcoming and Max instantly seemed drawn to her. She asked him to pick out some crystals from a box and bring them to her where she stood by a mat. The mat had pretty colored crystals inside of it that you could see under the clear plastic top. She then asked Max to lie down and close his eyes while she began to lay the crystals that Max had picked out around him. She then turned and whispered to Sarah,

“I will start the session now and ask for you to step into the other room. I cannot have your energy in the room while I try to read his. I hope you understand.”

Sarah wanted to argue but decided against it. She walked out of the room, looking at her son as she closed the door. Thirty minutes later the healer came out to talk to her. Max was still in the room playing with the crystals.

“Your son has a black entity attached to him. This is what is causing the nightmares.”

“What?” Sarah said.

“There is a black entity that is attached to your son. This is what is in the corner. I am not sure why it has chosen him, but I have given Max the tools to try to get rid of it.”

Sarah's head started to spin. What was this crazy woman talking about? Black entities attached? She started to think that this was a big waste of time.

“So what does he have to do?”

“I told him that when he sees this thing, he needs to tell it that he doesn’t want it there and wants it to go.”

“And you think that will work? Like it will just listen and go away?”

“They only want to attach to people who are weak, so if your son shows strength, it will leave.”

Sarah thinks how unfair it is to ask a five-year-old boy to be courageous enough to stand up to his fear. She is a grown-ass woman and could barely do it herself. She thanked her for her time and left disheartened and fifty dollars poorer.

She sat on the bed and looked down into her little boy’s teary eyes and felt helpless. Sarah wiped the hair back from his angelic face and said,

“Honey, no need to cry, Mommy’s not going anywhere. Everything is going to be okay. Now let’s tuck you in.”

She pulled his favorite dinosaur blanket up to his chin and pushed the sides down, slightly tucking them underneath him, making him look like an Egyptian mummy. He grinned at her and inhaled twice as he tried to catch his breath after crying. She then slid under what was left of the blanket and clapped her hands two times. She laughed to herself how a gag gift had become the best thing in her apartment. She continued to wipe at her son’s forehead as she sang his favorite lullaby and watched him slowly lose the battle as he fought to keep his eyes open. As soon as his eyes were closed, Sarah laid down resting her head on the small flat pillow, and quickly started to feel the day melt away as she too surrendered, waving her white flag, to sleep.

She slowly dozed in and out of consciousness, letting her muscles relax, feeling the common twitches of her fingers and toes, and the fluttering of her eyelids, when suddenly Sarah felt something. At first, she was not sure if she was dreaming or still awake. Either way, the feeling of someone lying on top of her was definitely there! She tried to open her eyes to see if she was conscious, but her eyes would not open. She tried to move her arms and legs, but they would not move. She started to panic not understanding why she couldn’t seem to wake up! Or was she awake and paralyzed? Her mind started to race, scrambling for any thought of what to do to get out of this situation. She heard Sammy start to growl. She could feel him right next to her and could hear his collar jingle. She realized she must be awake if she could hear his collar. Sammy started to bark causing Max to bolt up. Sarah could hear her son start to yell,

“Get away from my mommy! Leave her alone!”

His voice grew louder as he continued,

“Go away! I don’t want you here!”

Sarah felt the weight lift off of her and her eyes opened wide. She started to gasp for air like a fish out of water, as her body shook. She lifted herself up and grabbed her son trying to calm him down as he continued to yell over and over the words the healer had told him to say, repeating himself like a broken record skipping in place. She held Max in her arms and slowly rocked him back and forth. She started to think about what had just happened. What the hell was that? Was she dreaming? She thought that it couldn’t have been a dream, because the dog had reacted to something and was barking. So if not a dream, what? Sarah decided the best thing to do was get the hell out of there. She picked up Max, walked down the hall, and turned on the light to her room. As she placed Max in her bed Sarah was hit with a wave of nausea and bile started to creep up her throat. She swallowed hard to keep it down and knew she needed to get to the toilet fast. She looked at Max.

“Mommy isn’t feeling good. I am going to go to the bathroom really fast and I promise I will be right back.”

“No mommy I don’t want you to leave me! He is going to come in here too.”

He pleaded with her not to go, but she promised to keep the light on and quickly turned and ran towards the bathroom. Her legs felt like they were made of jello and she found it hard to steady herself. As soon as Sarah stepped foot in the bathroom, she dropped to the ground and heaved into the bowl. Tears streamed down her face as the retching continued until there was no more in her stomach to dispense. She sat back onto the cold tile floor and felt her body shaking uncontrollably. Slowly she lifted herself back up and went to the sink to wash her mouth and face. She turned on the faucet and looked at herself in the mirror. She then turned her head towards her son who was sitting on her bed, his eyes wide open in fear. He was whimpering and holding the covers up to his chin. She called out to him,

“It’s okay. Mommy is okay. You don’t need to be scared. I was just not feeling well but I feel better now.”

She smiled at him and noticed it didn't seem to be reassuring him like it usually did. He continued to whimper and stare at her. She then lowered her head towards the sink, opened her mouth, and put it under the faucet. She felt the ice-cold water on her lips. After rinsing her mouth three times, she splashed her face, then grabbed for the towel next to the sink. She started to rub her face when she thought she heard the sound of footsteps on the bedroom’s hardwood floor. She thought to herself that Max must be getting out of bed to come to her. She lifted her head out of the towel and looked over to see Max still sitting on the bed.

“Did you just get out of bed?” she said.

Max violently shook his head no and continued to whimper.

Sarah’s hair stood up on the back of her neck and her heart started to beat hard in her chest. She knew she needed a moment to figure out what was going on. She had never been one to believe in ghosts and now would not be the time to start. She started to rationalize everything that had just happened, saying that there was a logical explanation for all the events. There was no ghost, no black entity, nothing to be worried about. She put her face back in the towel to dry it one more time, lifted her head, and looked in the mirror.

Max called out for his mother, but she just stood looking in the mirror. He could see she was not moving. He wanted to run to her, but he was frozen in fear. He called for her again, but she did not move.

Sarah could hear her son call out to her, but she could not talk. She was frozen, her mouth not able to produce sounds. She wanted to tell him to run, but she couldn’t. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Everything was starting to make sense now, but it was too late. Sarah attempted one last time to move or scream before she felt what stood behind her wrap its arms around her neck and then all she saw was black.