Hey, I want to preface this by saying I’m not usually paranoid. Just a little anxious sometimes. I feel so over the place right now and I think something is driving my mom’s car.
Last night my mom and I stayed up a bit too late watching The Walking Dead. We’ve watched about 6 seasons in 2 weeks, rookie numbers, I know. Mom usually works about 70 hours a week with 2 jobs, since her ex-husband left, good riddance. I moved back in with my toddler, figuring we can help each other out while I look for a new job. She also has her hands full with my 3 middle-school-aged brothers.
So, we stayed up late. Before we knew it was 11 and we realized my brother had quietly put themselves to bed. They’re a rowdy bunch but I figured they just wanted more sleep after all their extracurriculars. I just hoped they brushed their teeth. It was a pretty normal night. I said goodnight to mom, checked on my daughter, and got myself ready for bed.
Well, when I finally fell asleep, I slept fitfully. I kept having nightmares, like weird gory shapes, and a feeling of dread. I figured I’d watched too much tv.
Then this morning, the whole house woke up an hour late. 5 alarms were somehow snoozed or ignored. Mom called for them and the 3 trudged downstairs looking exhausted. We hurried through the morning routine and she offered to drop me off on her way to work, which today is in a rural town about an hour away. My car broke a couple of days ago, so I gladly accepted. Taking public transit with a toddler can be challenging.
But like I said, today feels off. My daughter is normally excited to see everyone in the morning, but today she wrapped herself in a blanket and hid in the couch as much as possible. Mom smiled tightly at my difficulties trying to coax her into getting her boots on but I brushed it off. I looked around to see how everyone else was shaping up. My youngest brother was sitting at the table just glaring into the distance, and one of the twins was standing in front of the closed fridge.
I’m sure everyone is just tired.
We got to my daughter’s school, I asked mom to call when she got to work and I went to catch the nearest bus.
It had just pulled up as I started my awkward jog across the street, I fumbled for the pass in my pocket but couldn’t feel it. The driver looked at me and said, ‘don’t worry I believe you’ and started whistling some familiar tune I couldn’t quite place. I found an open seat and stared out the window, watching the morning fog and gray roll over the river. It’s kind of nice being the passenger sometimes.
At the transfer station, the fog had cleared a bit and I decided to walk the rest of the way, I’ve been sitting too much lately. As I hopped off the driver called out to me, ‘be careful’ but like, he was looking through me. Dude was cheerful, whistling the whole way, but that look. It unnerved me, his whole demeanor changed. I pulled my coat tighter and said ‘thank you’.
I hurried past the bank but stopped when I saw black feathers. There were two raven corpses on the sidewalk and they were, well, strange. The bones in the chest cavity were picked clean, the heads bent sharply to the side, and the wings spread and seemingly untouched, but their legs were in the road. Can someone tell me, is there like a rabid squirrel that would do that?
When I got to about a block away, I saw my mom’s car. It’s a pretty typical one, but I know it’s hers because of the faded bumper stickers. I didn’t get a good look at her because the windows are tinted. Maybe she went back for her phone charger? But she was running late. I had to have been imagining it. When I got to the end of my street, my phone rang, mom calling.
I answered and asked if she had grabbed her charger. She was confused for a minute, she’s at her visit now she just wanted to let me know she got there safe. She thought I was already home because our ring camera had just picked up someone on our porch. The mail hasn’t come yet.
I told her I was coming up to the house now.
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I got inside and our two big ass dogs nearly jumped me. I mean, they get excited and bark, but this, they were trying to be menacing. Even after they heard my voice, they didn’t want me to move from the door. They pushed it closed almost faster than I could get inside.
I was about to scold them for tearing open a bag of chips and barking but when I actually looked at them, they were scared and still staring at the damn door. I double checked the deadbolt and the house alarm and called them to the back door. They ran at me and nearly knocking me over trying to sit on my feet. I tried to make them go potty outside they wouldn’t budge. I swear mastiff dogs can be the biggest babies. I gave up and we’re hanging out in my room. They keep pacing and whining and I just heard the alarm for the front porch.
Guys, my mom is here. Something doesn’t feel right.