Waste Not Want Not chapter IV

He didn’t go far, he didn’t really know his way around here yet. He stopped under the shadow of a huge, old oak and surveyed his surroundings. A chill shuddered through him. “It’s spooky out here in the dark,” he thought, only half in jest!
He stepped out into the moonlight which was for the moment not obscured by the fleeting clouds. Bathed in the silvery light he peered into the thick undergrowth amongst the trees and saw the gnarled, twisted branches reaching like demonic fingers grasping into the cool air.
Deep within the thicket he saw …what? Something? He looked intently. Did he see something, or just shadows?
“Anyone there?” he called into the dark. There was silence, disturbed only by the rustling wind.
He shook his head, reproaching himself. “Of course there’s nobody there,” he thought. “ I must be getting weak headed!”
He turned went back inside and sat down in his plush recliner which he had sent there for his pleasure.
“I need a night cap!” He went to the bar and mixed a drink. He made a stiff one and quickly tossed it down. He put his pajamas and went to bed.
Sleep came but it was not restful. He slept fitfully and after awhile, awakened. He lay there less than half awake, in a near dream-like state. Childhood fears, he hadn’t felt or remembered for years crept over him. It was as though he was a small boy again and afraid of the dark.
In those days his vivid imagination helped him to see fantastic demons and monsters and huge hairy creatures that slowly crept towards his window on dark, stormy nights. He felt they were real then and they were there, waiting for him in the dark waiting for him to come outside or trying to get in and tear him to pieces! Those nights were spent in terror until he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

WNWN chap IV page 2
Now such fear seemed to grip him again. He could not rouse his rational mind. Paul felt embarrassed. He certainly had never lacked for courage. He saw combat in two wars, he had hinted dangerous game on many continents and had guided his companies very successfully through the cut-throat corporate world and had held his dealing with U.S. and foreign governments in very competitive and sometimes hostile business and political environments.
Instead he remained in this unreal stupor and felt his fears running away with his psyche. Again he felt that dull terror and forced himself to look outside, through the bedroom window.
Again he saw something! It was terrifying, un-named, without definite form but he feared it was really there! He felt as though he was a small boy again peering fearfully into the darkness. He feared that it waited for him to make a mistake or show weakness. It waited, eager to spill his guts! To lick his blood!
Fear paralyzed him. Unable to move, he thought, as he had done in his childhood, that he must remain motionless, then the monster wouldn’t know he was there at all. And, as in his childhood, he shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to see. He began to sweat, a cold, clammy perspiration that beaded allover his body, especially in the small of his back. Fear tingled up and down his spine.
With his eyes tightly shut he began to hear the beast. He could hear it rustle through the dry, dead leaves and grass. He could hear it coming closer, closer, dragging it’s bulk nearer and nearer to the house. And with it came a stench! An overwhelming smell, worse than a polecat, filled his nostrils. His heart was beating so hard he was sure the creature must hear it. It must know he was here, cowering beneath the sheets.
“There!” He heard a thump on the porch. Again he heard it as it came nearer.


WNWN chap IV, pg 3

It was standing now on the porch, he thought, right by the door which was open leaving only the flimsy screen door to protect him! He had left the door open to let the breeze filter in.
“Oh what a mistake that had been,” he thought.
He could hear it breathing as it’s foul breath came in measured gasps. Then what? “It’s scratching the screen door!” How long would that hold him outside?
He could bear it no more. He was now fully awake, all reason gone and fully in the grip of the nightmare. He sat up quickly, bolt upright in his bed. He was ready to face it come what may. He rose silently from the bed and slipped thought the darkened room over the floor to the door and looked out. He saw nothing. He still didn’t have his wits about him but it seemed that nothing was there.
“A nightmare?” It seemed so real. He walked outside onto the porch. The moon was gone now and all seemed quiet. Nothing there, no sign of anything. “Whew! Nothing there!” he thought.
“Of course there was nothing there,” he thought. “You are a grown man with most of your life and career behind you and you are behaving like a small boy!”
He was ashamed of himself. With this he returned to his bed and fell fast asleep.
He was awakened by the first full light of the morning. Only an uncomfortable, vague memory of the night lingered. He really couldn’t remember exactly what had happened in the night, only that he had had dreams and felt really rotten this morning. He was in a bad mood.