A Bedtime Story

a very old story I wrote when entering high school...I may have to do some editing on this one.

I nearly slipped on the wet tiles as I hurriedly got out of the shower. It was already six-fifteen and I had to baby-sit for the Fawkers tonight. I threw on some jeans, a long sleeved shirt and black beanie hat.

When I got outside, the icy wind slapped me in the face causing my eyes to water. I barely got to wave goodbye to mom as she pulled onto the car porch. Time was moving way too fast, yet I could only go as fast as my legs would carry me. By the time I had reached the Fawkers residence it was already after six-thirty.

“Hey, you made it. I was just about to call you,” said Mrs. Fawker greeting me at the door with a smile. She did not seem upset at all. However, she usually wore a smile no matter what. She was a skinny figure with no cheeks, just cheekbones really. This made her look quite eerie in a sense.

“Good, you’re here,” said Mr. Fawker rushing out with his briefcase at hand.

“Honey, lets get going, I’m supposed to be hosting tonight’s showing at the museum.” He was a tall, nerdy type of guy. Always looked like he was concentrating or worried about something.

“Okay, Alex already had his dinner for the evening. There’s plenty of food there so help yourself okay?” Mrs. Fawker said this as she got into the car.

I nodded my head as a quick assurance. Then they were gone.

I went inside and rested my stuff on the couch and looked around for Alex. I found him propped up in front of the television.

“ Hey snot,” I said.

“Hey,” he replied distractedly.

“I’ll be in the living room doing some homework if you need anything okay?”

“Okay.”

He was pretty much one of the easiest kids to watch. Unlike most ten year olds, he never wandered or did things he knew he should not be doing.

I sat doing my math homework for about an hour when Alex came in carrying a huge book under his arm.

“Come on chump, you’re not going to make me read you a story out of that thing are you?” I teased.

“No,” he said excitedly as he sat next to me.

He laid the big book on his lap.

“Check this out. Dad brought this from the museum today, said some weird guy brought it there a few days ago.”

“Oh really,” I said pretending to be interested.

“Yeah, apparently, the guy believes this book is cursed. Whenever someone reads it, it traps his or her soul. That is until someone else reads it.”

“Your dad told you that?” I asked astonished. ‘What a story to tell a kid,’ I thought to myself.

“Yeah!” His eyes lit up as he began to open the book.

However, as he turned through the pages there appeared to be nothing written in it. Only blank sheets of paper filled this big, ancient looking book.

“Well I guess it’s harmless since there is really nothing to read.”

He slammed the book shut, got up and placed it on the table.

“I’m going to take a bath now.”

“Okay,” I said.

While Alex went to take his bath I did the usual, checking to make sure everything had been in order. Afterwards, I got on the phone to talk with my boyfriend for a while. Yet, he seemed to have been interested in something else so that our conversation was cut short. I decided I would confront him about it later. By that time, Alex was done with his bath so I put him to bed just a little after nine. Without Alex being up or the television being on, the house had gotten quiet and so my nerves began to relax. It was not long before I had fallen asleep on the couch.

It must have been just a few minutes later when I was awakened by an odd dragging sound coming from upstairs. It sounded as if a large piece of furniture was being pulled or pushed across a room. Still half asleep, I sat up thinking of a logical explanation for what I was hearing but nothing came to mind. Suddenly, the dragging stopped and there was a blood-curdling scream. It was Alex. My heart stopped for a moment.

There was no way anyone could have gotten into the house really; there was the house alarm and the burglar bars. However, I was beginning to doubt myself and so I quickly got a knife out of the kitchen and ran upstairs. Alex had only screamed once and I did not have time to speculate in the dead silence. I threw open the door and flicked on the bedroom light as quickly as I could. Alex was sitting up in his bed panting as if he had just finished a race. He heaved deep breaths wide eyed as he looked at me standing in the doorway.

“What is it?” I asked shakily.

He did not answer me. Instead, he slowly pointed towards the dresser across the room. There it was, that big, creepy book! For a quick second I opened my eyes in disbelief. Then I composed myself and rolled my eyes.

“Not funny Alex, I thought you were in trouble.”

Alex did not reply, he just sat up in his bed without another reaction.

I walked over to him frustrated and tucked him back in bed. Then I went over to the dresser and tucked the huge book under my arm. I decided to leave the door cracked open this time and went back downstairs.

This time I also placed the book in a china cabinet. Whatever Alex was playing at I was not in the mood for contemplating. I flopped back on the sofa and it was not long before I got back to sleep.

I don't know how long I was asleep before I heard the dragging sound again, but this time I pitched up confused and irritated. Once again, Alex’s scream pierced the silence.

I marched upstairs to his room and found that the door had been closed.

"Alex, open up!" I screamed as I banged on the door. The dragging sound stopped and I could hear the door unlock. I quickly opened the door and switched on the light.

To my surprise, Alex was not in his bed and this caused me to panic.

“Alex!” I called with a cracked voice.

There was no answer and I felt my body go weak. I quickly scanned the room with my eyes and could not believe what I saw. The same book was laid wide open on top of the dresser. Slowly I walked up to it in disbelief. The pages were just the same; blank, except one of the pages was torn out this time. I slammed the book shut and when I did I heard a whimper from behind.

“Alex?” I called spinning around.

I could now see a bit of Alex’s pajamas peeking out from under the bed. I rushed to his bed and knelt down. He was curled up and his face was now pale. His eyes were opened wide and for a moment I thought he was not breathing. When he finally blinked I let myself breathe again.

“Alex what are you doing under here?”

Alex just kept staring as if I was not there. I pulled him from under the bed and laid him down in bed. His eyes remained on the book. I had to call his name several times before he looked at me. I then noticed that one of his fists were clenched shut.

“What’s in your hand?” I asked not expecting him to answer.

I attempted to open his hand and see for myself but his grip was stronger than I had expected. As I pried his hand open he did nothing but stare back at me.

In his hand I had found the torn page balled up.

Just then I heard his parents car pull up in the driveway. My mind ran on Mr. Fawker and I knew they would never want me looking after their kid again if I told them exactly what happened. I sat on Alex’s bedside and watched him for a moment; he seemed to be dozing off already. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. Alex was a smart kid who did not play like normal kids; maybe this was his way of having a little fun.

Whatever the case was, I felt as if I was hallucinating somehow, like I was in a surreal type of dream.

“How did the show go?” I asked smiling at the Fawkers as they got inside of the house.

“It went great,” answered Mr. Fawker giving a short smile as he removed his coat placing it into the closet.

Mrs. Fawker was already smiling like usual.

“How did Alex behave tonight?” She asked pulling her wallet out of her purse.

“Good, as always,” I answered right away.

She handed me my pay with extra like she always did and Mr. Fawker gave me a lift home.

When I got home mom was already in bed so I ate left over dinner and took a shower. I dove into bed and closed my eyes letting my arm dangle from the side of the bed.

Still something felt strange as if another’s presence was lingering. I opened my eyes slowly to see the strange book lying across from me. I pitched up in horror and panted as I caught my breath. My nerves were on fire and my body trembled uncontrollably. However, despite my urge to leave the room, I felt myself being drawn to the book as if I almost had no control of myself.

I opened the book and to my surprise, there on the first page was a picture of my house. Slowly, I turned the page and there was a picture of my front door. By now I wanted to dash out of my room but my body would not let me. I felt like I was hypnotized!

My hand slowly turned to the next page. This page had a picture of the stairs in my home. I began crying, as my fingers fumbled against my will to turn to the other page. This time, it was a picture of my bedroom’s door.

“Please, please… don’t make me,” I pleaded in between sobs.

My hands turned onto the last page where there was a picture of me, kneeling before the book.

Reviews

[blueyedany72]

This is fantastic! Your narrator is very easy to relate to and very likable. I was worried for a moment that this was going to be one of those "It was all a dream" stories, and was pleasantly surprised that it was not. You did an excellent job with the dialogue as well. It felt very real. Your secondary characters of the parents were a little two dimensional, but in a story short as this it can be hard to truly develop the minor parts.
All in all, you did an excellent job with this story. It is suspenseful and I love how it ends with such an ambiguous ending.