Eyes From Behind-A Short Story

The moon's faint golden light barely cut through the thick blackness of midnight. No stars were showing as the girl walked through the dark streets of a small town. Her pace was brisk, her breathing labored. She could see her breath in the chilly air as she traveled home from work. She shivered and wrapped her coat tighter around her body. For a brief moment she could feel eyes on her back but the feeling quickly dissipated. The night seemed strange, almost supernatural, for reasons she could not fathom. It might be the full moon, the starless sky, the emptiness of the dark street. Or, perhaps, the light mist of rain that suddenly began falling form the sky, shrouding everything in a grey coat, hiding it from sight. Suddenly, the girl stopped in her tracks. She felt it again. She was definitely being followed.

She looked first behind herself, then turned forward again, scanning the barely visible street in front of her. Though several street lamps dotted the painfully straight stretch of road ahead of her, the almost fog-like rain consumed most of the faint light they gave off. She began walking again, at the same pace she had been traveling. She was still a mile away from her home, and she could feel the eyes on her back once more. Forcing herself to keep her own eyes trained forward, she jammed her hands into her coat pocket and quickened her pace to almost a jog.

A twig snapped somewhere behind her, and terror filled her body. She felt sick, her hands trembling in her coat pockets, her legs ready to give out beneath her. Her heart pounded faster, louder, until it felt ready to burst from her chest. She could hear light footfalls on the pavement behind her. They were fast, and quickly approaching. She turned to face her assailant and gasped. Suddenly, a smile played upon her lips and her voice cut shrilly through the still night air.

"Rover, bad dog!"