Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-25980905-20150324090443

Cogito Ergo Sum

"I think, therefore I am." -René Descartes

It was after my neighbour, Darren, started acting weirdly; as though he wasn't himself.

I remember feeling cold when I first saw it. A figure in the distance, it made my innards cold and my blood run thick with poison. It stooped there, hunched on two legs, just beyond the boundary of the backyard fence. At the time, only a silhouette, I could never see its eyes. But I knew it was watching me. The figure gave no positive emotion; I couldn't read its body language. It just stooped there, hunched over the fence with its arms dangling limply. There were no words to describe the vibes that this thing sent me. It was fear. It was rage. It was entropy. Should my neighbours have been home, I would have run to them screaming. But they were not there. No one was there. Just me and it and silence. I think it was beginning to notice because it slowly reached out, imitating my arm as I reached for the chord that would inevitably close the curtain. I pulled the chord and the curtains shut with a loud snap.

After a month it became obvious that something was stalking me. I began going places that were more public, more in the open where the world bore me witness. It didn't help that this was Albany, Western Australia, and I lived in a superb surrounded by tree plantation a fair distance from the main city hub. I stopped going for night walks and my morning exercise routine was heavily altered. Sometimes, I'd be walking down a street and I'd hear heavy footsteps behind me, just out of sync with my own. I'd turn around and no one would be there. But things would change. I began picking up on small details. Sometimes I'd pass a single trash can only to turn around and find there were now two.

Questions began filling my mind. Was that tree always there? Was that painting always so crooked? Have I ever owned paintings? Did something just move in the corner of my eye? Since when have I owned two hairbrushes?

I couldn't go to the police; I knew they'd never find anything. I couldn't reach out to friends; they would call me crazy. I couldn't speak up; for fear that my stalker may become more aggressive.

I began second guessing everything.

Mapping out the paths I walked and the town I lived in became first nature for me. Keeping track of everything I owned became vital to my state of mind. I sold off as many of my possessions as I could afford, limiting the places it could hide. I wrote lists every seventh day to ensure I knew exactly what I owned and how much of it I had.

It was on such a day, as I was writing my list in the safety of my bedroom, that a shadow seeped through my window. Wondering who could possibly be in my backyard, I turned to look. It was the figure. This time it stood within the boundary of the backyard fence, head cocked to the side in what I wanted to believe was not interest. It slowly began to walk towards my window, more fast and less awkward than I had ever seen it move. The way it moved was familiar and yet I couldn't place it. As I had done in our last encounter, I closed the curtain. Before the curtain made that reassuring snap sound, the figure almost seemed to wave. Flashing me a smile that was familiar but at the same time alien and horribly wrong.

That night, I was awoken by the sound of frantic knocking on my kitchen window. At first, I was hesitant. As soon as I heard the scream for help, however, I was running for the kitchen. Funny how you can never recognise your own voice. I burst into the kitchen, alert for any and all disturbances. There was nothing. I walked cautiously towards my window and was soon greeted by my reflection. At first, I thought I was looking in a mirror. The only mirrors I own are in my bathroom and bedroom. I screamed as a perfect mirror of myself waved, flashing the same grin it had given me that day. That grin that was both familiar but, at the same time, entirely wrong and crooked. I screamed and it ran away, changing into an owl before my eyes and flying off into the distance.

Ever since then it has never shown itself to me; but I know it's still there.

I saw Darren yesterday, he waved his arm in a way that could have been a greeting. That familiar way he moved his arm, as though he was pulling on a curtain chord.

Things have calmed down considerably here.

But sometimes, I still see doubles.

I'm in the final editing faze of 'Anything for your Future' so I decided to take a bit of a break. I wrote this in my spare time, however, it feels a bit like an exoskeleton. I might expand on it a little bit later, wondering is any of you had suggestions on where to expand it. Hope you're all enjoying March. 