Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-30891328-20170304164508

I never saw his face because he was wearing a  black  mask, but I bet he was never  up to   any good . He followed me, I'm not saying he chased me, he just kept appearing the  disappearing at random times in my life. My first memory of the figure was when I was ten years old. I woke up from a bad dream and noticed that me  water bottle  was  empty. I slowly walked down the stairs and to the kitchen, as I  refilled  my plastic bottle I heard the sound of a  branch <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> breaking  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">outside. Now, normally I would think it  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">was <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> a dear or a bear because we live in the woods but I  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">checked <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> just to be safe. I turned on the  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">outside <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> light and looked out the sliding glass door, what I saw scars me to this day. I saw a tall man dressed in all black, even a black  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">featureless <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> mask like I said. I  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">screamed <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> at the top of my lungs like the little kid I was, he must have heard me because he turned around and ran out of sight. My parents came rushing out  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">of <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> their room and asked me what I was doing up so late. I told them what I saw and agreed to call the police. When the  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">cops <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">arrived <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> they searched the whole  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">surrounding <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> area, but the he was  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">nowhere <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> to be seen. How did he get away so fast? I didn't get a minute of sleep after that. <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> The next two  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">appearances <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> was three years later. I was on F <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">acebook <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> when I got a message, the name was just  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">some <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> random numbers but I remember the  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">picture <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> being of that same darn mask on a  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">wooden <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">table <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">. <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">The message said, "I hope you  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">remember <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> me.", then they  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">signed <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> off. <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">"Well, that's odd." I thought, until I looked a <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">t <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> the mask and I instantly  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">remembered what I saw three years ago. <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">The next day I was  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">waiting <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> at the school bus stop, the only thing on my mind was the mask and the message. <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">I kept asking myself, "Is  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">he <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> watching me?". <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">A few minutes felt like thirty, before the bus  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">finally <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> came and picked me up. When we  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">were <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> picking-up the last kid I looked out the window and saw, you know who,  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">standing <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;"> next to a tree. Thank God we were only there for a few  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">seconds. <span class="EOP SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;font-size:11pt;line-height:18px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;"> <p class="Paragraph SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;word-wrap:break-word;font-weight:normal;color:windowtext;" lang="EN-US"><span class="TextRun SCX184979863" lang="EN-US" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;line-height:18px;font-variant-ligatures:none!important;" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">Two years later I saw on the news that there was a murder at a house. The police found the same  <span class="NormalTextRun SCX184979863" style="user-select:text;-webkit-user-drag:none;-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;">featureless black mask lying on the living room floor. I don't know what the mask was doing there, but maybe I don't want to know. <ac_metadata title="The man in the mask"> </ac_metadata>