The Girl in the Middle of the Road



     I just moved into a new row home in Philly. It's one of the nicer neighborhoods, so all I really have to do is keep my doors locked. What I have noticed is that there are very few people who live on my street. The ones who do live here don't usually sit outside, and they hurry into their houses. No one ever walks down the sidewalk and even stranger, all of their bedroom windows are covered.

     I found this slightly unsettling. All of my life, I've slept next to a window. I enjoy looking out the window, day or night. I never bought any curtains or anything. I was done setting up some stuff in my room and it was finally time to fall asleep. I nodded off for a bit, but I suddenly had the urge to look out the window.

     In the middle of the street was a girl. She was wearing a black dress and looked about 13 years old. She had shoulder length brown or black hair, and seemed skinny, almost a bit malnourished. After about 15 minutes of me looking at her I blacked out.

     I woke up in a cold sweat with the girl on my mind. I sat up and looked out the window. Nothing but an empty street. I had a slight headache for the rest of the day, and I couldn't get this girl off of my mind. My boss noticed that I seemed slightly edgy and kept looking out the window, which he brought up a week later.

     I got home and continued my day normally. I took some advil, watched some T.V., and sat on the computer for a bit. When it was time to go to bed again, I made sure to check outside for the girl. After twenty minutes of an empty street, I went to sleep. I woke up suddenly and knew what I had to do. I looked out the window and saw her. She was sitting on my sidewalk. She hasn't moved in an hour.

     I didn't sleep at all last night. I just sat there, staring. I couldn't look away. I felt like she would do something if I did. I blinked for a second and she was gone. I looked at my clock and realized that I was an hour late for work, so I just called in sick. I walked up and down the street today, knocking on doors to try and see if I could get some information on this girl, but no one answered the door. I just sat in my living room and waited today.

     Night time came. I went up to my room and tried to fall asleep. I looked out my window and noticed something unusual, she wasn't there. I turned and looked at my clock and when I turned back, she was right at my window. She was floating ten feet off of the ground in front of my bedroom window. She had her hair covering her face, but I knew she was looking right at me. We sat there and looked at each other for what seemed like forever. I finally passed out. It has been a while since I last slept properly anyway.

     I went to work today, but pretty much spaced out the whole day. My boss kept trying to ask me what was wrong, but I told him I was fine. I said I didn't feel good and went home early. I got a few phone calls asking how I was and what was wrong, but I would just say I was fine. Night fell and I went right to the window. After an hour of not seeing anything, I went to sleep. The whole time I was sleeping, I could feel something watching me. I knew something was watching me, but I was afraid to look...