That One Night

It was a cold starry night. Lights outside the streets have already dimmed, shining in the alley. All the doors and windows of every neighborhood have been securedly locked tight. Not a single trace of shadowy figures and sound of footsteps could be seen and heard disturbing the silence of night.

It was almost the time for the Beast to come out that lurked around the dark shady forest from the north. A place forbidden for humans to enter, due to its danger in nature. Every midnight, the Beast sauntered its way out its den to hunt. For food.

And only when the sun rises, it runs back to its den and waits for its prey until dawn. Intercepting its claws together, shaking in vigor, and couldn’t wait to take its chances.

***

Logan kept his eyes open as he lay down on his bed. He couldn’t sleep. He lets out a deep sigh. It was always like this.

Austere and cold, and sterile. Like a blank canvas. Plain and void.

A loud crash bolted him, making him fully awake and alert. The sudden distress outside the house forced him to drown his sombered thoughts earlier.

Logan rose out from his bed slowly then gently, he held the grey curtain covering his room’s window. Then he carefully peaked behind those dark-tinted glass.

He looked at the direction where the loud crash happened. But it was too far away from where he was and the alley was a bit dim because the lights from the post were flickering.

Logan stared in confusion. Was it the loud crash he really heard? Or was he only hearing things due to sleep deprivation on consecutive days?

He glanced back to the door and saw it remained shut. His parents may not have heard the sound as they didn’t saunter their way to his room in concern. He turned back his gaze on the streets. The neighbor’s door remained shut. All their lights inside, still close. As if nothing has disturbed their sleep.

A straight line formed into Logan’s lips. Hesitation and disbelief plastered in his face. He might just… misheard things.

Although he remained guarded for a reason and waited for a few minutes just to be sure. He glanced at every corner of the streets his eyes could reach. In the neighborhood.

Everything is undoubtedly quiet.

Logan began to contemplate his thoughts. He only saw dark in the alley. He may have heard a loud crash but afterwards, there was none. It was like the sudden intrusion of disturbance earlier never really happened.

“There was nothing in the alley. So it was nothing,” Logan mumbled to himself.