When I was young, we lived in a bad neighborhood. Our street was in an isolated part of the city. Cheap and dirty, filled with strange and lonely neighbors. One of them was Mrs Yaga.
She was an old lady who lived in the second floor of an old apartment building. Her curtains were always drawn.
Across her window was a dark corner of the streets, where street lights did not reach. Every night, I would see her silhouette in front of the window, looking into the dark corner.
At dusk I would play out in the streets with my friend, Tommy. We would hang out on the streets in front of my house.
One day after sunset, Tommy approached me. I was sitting on the stairs of my building, chewing on an apple. He seemed worried.
“I threw my ball over there. “
He pointed to the dark corner of the street.
“Can you come with me?”
It wasn’t that dark. The corner was just a small distance away.
“Why do you need me? “
He looked fidgety
“If I go alone, Mrs Baba will get me.”
I looked up to her window. The silhouette of a figure on rocking chair was there, staring into the corner.
“The old lady?”
He spoke back in a whisper
“She kills children.”
I must have looked at him in a strange way cause he started to stutter
“You can ask your parents. Or any of the kids. Everyone knows. She killed her own brother when she was ten. “
“Anyone who goes into the dark corner alone will see her standing in the dark. She’ll grab you.”
Tommy looked scared. I looked at him like a younger brother. I couldn’t leave him alone.
“Well, come on then.”
I got off the steps and started to walk alongside him. We crossed the road and headed near the street corner. I stopped in front of Mrs Yaga’s house
The curtains were still closed.
“Where is it? “
He was scanning the pavement.
“It was supposed to be right here. Did someone move it?”
“It’s over there in the shadow. “
I walked a bit closer
“Wher… did you hear that? “
The curtains were pulled apart.
She was standing up. Staring at me with the most unnerving expression. Like she was waiting for something.
“Come on.”
Tommy reached for me.
As I watched, her mouth opened in an almost inhuman stretch and let loose a shriek . It was the most horrible screaming I ever heard.
She banged on the window, the glass almost cracking.
I grabbed Tommy’s hand. He tried to tug me back but I pulled him along
We ran away. I heard her screaming all along the street following us. Even as I got to my room I heard her outside my bedroom window. She wailed for hours.
That night, I stayed up late. I thought about the way she banged on glass. Like she was trying to get out.
Late into the night, I heard the sound of glass shattering outside . It was coming down the street.
All I could think about was her breaking throigh the window and crawling out. Now wandering the dark, looking for me.
I pulled the blankets over my head. But I heard nothing for the rest of the night.
The next day I arrived on the streets an hour before dusk. The lights on the second floor were off but I could see it clearly. The second story window was cracked open.
I didn’t want to stand there anymore. Not in view of the window. I ran off before Tommy showed up.
When I got home, my parents were talking in the kitchen.They were speaking in hushed tones. I heard her name.
In the night, an intruder broke into Mrs Yaga’s house. They slit her throat .
I had to know the truth. I told them about the stories I heard about her. I asked if any of it was true.
I learned the real story that night.
Ever so often children disappeared in that dark corner. The only witness was the old woman. Everytime, the old woman repeated the same story.
When she was young, her brother used to play on the streets. He made friends with a young boy. The boy’s name was Tommy.
One day her brother disappeared.
She said It was Tommy. The young boy led her brother into the dark corner of the street.
But Tommy wasn’t real.
Ever since that day, whenever children go missing, she talked about Tommy. She says the boy led children into the dark corner.
She screamed at children to warn them.
Dad told me Tommy wasn’t real.
He’s wrong.
Every night, just after sunset, I see him outside my window. He’s waiting for me to come down and play.