Romance in the spotlight

What was that?!

I spoke the words out loud, although there was no one With me

I was in the living room watching some murder mystery in the dark the whodone it kind they’ve never solved Everyone else had gone to bed and I, again, Couldn’t sleep. It’s not unusual to hear sounds that aren’t really anything when you’re worked up from a scary show. Your imagination gets the best of you, but this time….there was something!!

Going against any good sense my mother had beaten’ into me, I decided to check it out.

Like an aged detective on the beat, I tiptoed to the window. As I peered into the darkness, I could vaguely see a figure. It was getting foggy and difficult to make out, but something was there, sitting on a stump at the end of the road, looking back at me. As I moved to the door to investigate further, I squinted my eyes to focus but it was gone, simply disappeared. I grabbed my shoes; this needed more attention.

As I stepped outside, I became acutely aware that I was not alone.

The air was thick from the fog and eerily quiet, the kind of quiet that’s a little too noisy, ya know? The house sat about a block from the stump that I had seen the figure sitting I could barely see the stump and the light was a hazy flicker now

The porch had two sets of stairs, one that led to the drive and security light and the other that led down a stone paved sidewalk into wooded area and disappeared around the back the house.

I could hear, just out of sight, a clicking sound, as I turned to walk in the direction of the noise there was another sound to my left, by the shed. It was a sound like you would make, clicking your tongue against your cheek, and maybe snapping twigs, racoons I thought, probably here to eat the cat’s food. It got louder and I began to question my decision To be out here, as I turned to go back inside, fate had another idea.

In my haste to play detective and explore, I had pulled the door too tight, and locked myself out. There I stood, half dressed in my t-shirt, untied hiking boots and a ball cap. Not as prepared as I originally thought. Turns out I was better prey than predictor.

As I took a moment to pray… it dawned on me that there was a flashlight in my trunk, in a bag with a candy bar and bottle of water for just such emergencies. Well, maybe not THIS kind of emergency, but I was not going to challenge the answer to my fright filled prayer. I hurried down the stairs into the lighted area, to my car, popped the trunk and viola…. light!!

Feeling a little braver, I made my way back toward the clicking, which by the way was now a trio. The sound behind the house was joined not only by the one at the shed, but now also in the tree above my head. The clicking was louder and faster or was that my heart…as I stepped into the yard to shine the light at the tree, a dark shadow breezed by my head, knocking my hat to the ground. I threw my arms in the air to block whatever might come at me next, and screamed a scream worthy of an award.

As the neighbor’s dog began to bark, I thought, this is good what ever is out here will be scared and go away and surely someone heard me scream and will come to check on me. But there was no one. Just me and this flying aggressor

Anyone with any sense would have gone to the door and knocked until someone woke up, but I was never one with any sense. I instead proceeded to shine my flashlight at the noise, now an obvious figure in the tree. The shadowy figure readjusted itself turning away from me and the light, making it impossible to get a good look

The clicking continued. It sounded like a song, but had a distorted rhythm. Just off beat. As I stood there shining my light at the faceless creature, I was hit again in the head from behind. This time it was a hard-enough blow to bring chills over my entire body, but not enough to make me stop. The noise was getting louder and closer. I began to talk to the figure at the top of the tree, saying, what are you doing, what do you want, won’t you go away?

All of a sudden, the faceless creature turned it’s head seemingly all the way around and glared at me.

It wasn’t racoons as I first thought, they were owls and I apparently was interrupting a mating song and dance. As I began to make my way out of yard and back to the porch, I was swooped at again. I’m screaming at the top of my lungs now running, thinking about how I would explain being facedown in the yard covered in scratch marks and feathers. Wondering why no one is coming to help me. A mixture of laughing and crying and whimpering is all I can manage to get out of my mouth as I imagine the menage a trios I had gotten myself in the middle of. The neighborhood wildlife was in the middle of a wild time and I show up uninvited with a flashlight and snacks!! I deserved the fly by smack in the head.

To this day, I am unable to look at an owl without hearing them say “who la la” And have a new respect for birds of a feather