Delusions After Midnight

It is there.

I know.

It knows I am here.

It knows. I know that it knows I am here.

Feet sloshing in puddles in the

early morning hours, a Mickey-D’s Egg McMuffin

from their after-midnight menu,

crunched in my fist.

The wrapper rustles as

I clip along, trying to get home.

My stomach is rumbling, but I can’t eat

with that thing, following my feet.

I zig up the short street,

and shadows

loom over me.

Am I hallucinating? Is something really following?

Streetlamp glows near, but a scuttle

back there

drives shivers up my spine.

I drop my food.

Something drags it away,

but it is a movement behind that frightens me, continually creeping closer.

I’m sure it knows that I know,

that it follows me.

Delusion?

Where shall I go? I must lose this

sticky tail,

a thing that wants to glue to me.

Stomach rumbles, and then I stumble,

as I hit the wall at the end of an alley.

How did I turn this way, to a dead end?

Why did I enter this dark and spooky lane, unlit and strewn

with garbage and urine from men?

Sloshing footsteps approach

and I back into a corner, rain slithering down the wall,

sewer rats scrambling, hissing, fighting.

Heavy boots are strewing the rats under its feet.

I huddle quietly, shuddering, wet and alone,

still unable to see what entered my zone.

Copyright © 6/12/2026 by Andrea O. Corwin Thanks for stopping by! 😃 If you like ♡ my scribbles, hit the subscribe button. Please consider leaving a comment. ✍️❤️