The Leaves

I walked swiftly down the quiet sidewalk. All the stores on the street had closed for the night. Not another living soul was around me. The buzzing from the neon signs in the window of the corner liquor store paired with the lights above as they flickered their last breaths… one burned out behind me and I jumped at the change in shadows. My walk became a slight run. I could feel the heaviness of the darkness behind me. The nightmare I had the night before haunted me. But all I could remember were leaves swirling around my feet… it was daunting.

I stopped at the corner as I waited for the light to change… leaves… the leaves swirled around my feet. I panicked and could feel my heartbeat quicken as I looked up to thankfully see the light change. I swiftly walked across the dead residential street. I dare not look from left to right for fear of what I would see in the dark… what would it be? What would I see? I couldn’t remember anything but the leaves. They danced… whispered to each other in my dream.

Minutes later I finally made it into the safety of my apartment. I looked around the darkness and felt around for the light switch. As I felt the fear creep upon me from the darkness, I clicked it on illuminating the living room. The living room was just as I had left it that morning . The books neatly stacked on the coffee table, the half full cup of coffee on my little dinner table next to my dream notebook, but it didn’t look the same. I cocked my head to the side and over analyzed the situation.

That dream last night was really getting to me.

I jumped as I heard a deep humming car blasting a low vibrating bass… it shook my apartment. As it sped away I relaxed and began my nightly routine.

I sighed in relief of calm normalcy. I needed it.

That night, I felt better. The thoughts of the nightmare had all but dwindled completely. I had read a bit of a lighthearted comedy while drinking a cup of sleepy herbal tea and it helped lift my spirits. I yawned contentedly as I readied myself to go to sleep.

As I laid in bed, thoughts of the day swirled in my mind… the business at work and all I needed to do the next day… as well as me finally leaving the office too late… then the walk home… I heard a creak from somewhere in the distance of the old apartment building. All of the happy thoughts were futile, for at that moment is when sleep embraced me. My coherent thoughts had instantly turned dark and unfortunately for me, the sandman worked his magic right at the time when I looked down to see those foreboding leaves swirl around my feet.

And there I stood.

I looked forward. The street didn’t look familiar, but I knew I had been there before. Empty and dimly lit street lamps… patches of light along the sidewalk with the promise of something lurking in the darkness between them. The store fronts all looked distorted… nothing like the generally busy street I walk every day to work.

I stood at a corner and waited. I was completely alone. The wind gently whispered its howl as it brought the tinkling of leaves… swirling around my feet.

The light turned green but I couldn’t move forward. I had no choice but to turn to the right into a quiet residential area. I was going to… to babysit…

I walked in the middle of the dimly lit street. The dampness in the air clung to me as I walked. I looked down to see the leaves dancing, swirling, pushing and pulling me along to my destination. As I walked I could hear my footsteps change from a swift click of my shoes to the crisp crackling of leaves under me. The leaves thickened around me. Swirls piled up until I was walking almost knee deep in them.

No cars lined the street. No life was felt anywhere around me. I felt secluded. The sporadic lights in the other quaint houses claimed that no one was home, anywhere.

The street curved to the right and I followed. Most of the houses were modest single story homes with well kept lawns, except for all the leaves. There were so many of them. I felt the chill of autumn as I continued to walk.

Then I arrived to the house. It was out of place with the rest. A two story country looking home with a large porch. One light lit the front door, but I knew to go into the side kitchen door. As I entered, the children’s laughter resounded around me. They were alone.

I locked the door behind me.

I called out for the children. There was silence.

The warmth from the kitchen fogged up my glasses making it hard to see. I took off my coat and hung it over a light blue painted wooden chair at the matching kitchen table and waited for my glasses to clear. Then I heard them giggle.

The wind picked up outside and I could hear the leaves rustling from a distance. I looked through a window and saw a shadow of leaves standing across the street as tall as a person under a single street light. The leaves, in the form of a person, started walking towards the house. It was looking right at me. The footsteps from the second floor above paired with the movement of the leaves moving towards the house.

Trying to stay calm, called the three children’s names. Silence. I called for them again. And again, there was no answer. Seconds later, I heard whimpering. I turned to a door that had appeared in the kitchen. Was that wall there before? I knew it was to the basement.

I looked back outside and the leaves were steadily dancing from the wind. The intimidating figure of leaves was no longer visible. I felt unnerved. I knew he had to be closer to me than perceived. I feared he may have even been in the house.

I heard whimpering again… it came from the door in the kitchen.

Footsteps upstairs tried to occupy my attention, but I knew I needed to go through that door. Did I hear a wind chime play it’s music as I opened the door? I thought it was until I could see knives hanging on hooks on the walls of the stairway. The occasional gusts of wind moved them causing them to clank each other.

Cautiously, I walked down the stairs. In their movement, the knives taunted me as if they were ready to cut me on command.

The whimper sounded again. This time, it echoed. It was farther away. Where did the child go? I looked down the stairwell to the basement. The dim light made it difficult to see where I was headed. I looked up, back towards the kitchen where it was suddenly calm and serene. I knew that if I went back up, the knives would attack me and I would die. I turned and continued down to the dimly lit basement.

The basement was a cluttered work shop. There was a long wooden work table in the middle of the room and many trinkets and crafty materials filled shelves on the walls. I was alone. There was no other way out except for the stairs which I had just descended. At least, I didn’t see any other way out. I looked around for what seemed like hours trying to find a hidden door to where the whimpering child would possibly be.

Then the knives started rustling. I heard the melodic wind chime play as the wind howled ferociously outside.

And then there were footsteps on the stairs. Slow. Steady. Footsteps. I looked towards the sound to see a shadow steadily coming down. I heard no breath, no moans, no sounds other than his steps.

I could feel the panic rise within me. There was no place to hide. Nothing to use to camouflage myself… though I had a feeling he would see right through the façade. I knew who it was. It was the leaves in the form of a man… It had to be.

I heard the whimpering again… the echo. This time, the whimpering came from inside the room where I stood. Where were the children?

I looked down to see leaves swirling around my feet, and when I looked up, there he was, right in front of me about an arms distance away. I didn’t hear him move. He had to be taller than six feet and he was all dead leaves that varied in autumn colors from head to toe. But his face, darkness with small ember glowing orbs for eyes… his eyes… I will never forget them.

I gasped and tried to step back but couldn’t move at all. My body felt frozen. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t even whisper. I was at his mercy and he had all the control.

The figure smiled maliciously as the darkness in his eyes held me captive.

I could feel my heart beating quicker. I kept trying to scream but my mouth couldn’t even move. The scream I heard loudly was coming from within my own mind.

He stepped closer.

“When you wake up, run.” He said calmly in a quiet distorted deep voice. It was ominous.

I screamed. It was all I could do.

I woke up gasping for air, my heart beating wildly in my chest, eyes unable to focus. The birds chirped happily in their nonchalant existence… the sun warmed my face… I rubbed my eyes realizing the sun shouldn’t hit my face in my dark bedroom. Bright light blue was all I could see above me.

I sat up in a rickety old bed with chipped paint on the frame, in the middle of a dandelion field… an out of place tall dilapidated three story grey house in the distance… The birds suddenly stopped chirping.

There was rustling in the trees behind me. I turned to see wild movement among the green leaved branches when suddenly a stream of dried autumn leaves explode out of the darkened forest. My eyes widened then shut before any particles could enter them while the strong blast of wind and leaves pushed me down onto the bed.

And then I remembered… Run.