One day my father went hunting and left my oldest sister Maria in charge Me and my younger sister sister Annabelle overheard them talking “If I don’t return within 3 days go to the neighbor’s house” Maria agreed and he left in his large fur coat with his rifle strapped to his back On the first day we played games like chess and hide and seek.
On the second day we did our chores, I swept the floors Maria washed up dishes and annabelle dusted On the third day we were all struck by a terrible lethargy and could not bring ourselves to move We all just lay on our bed. We had to share because we didn’t have much money Maria and annabelle slept but I could not. As I lay in that bed pondering why father had not yet returned I saw the oddest thing a man trudging through the snow in a wide hat
I somehow managed to sleep after that When I woke up Maria was not in bed with me and annabelle I went downstairs and saw her in her rocking chair knitting She had such a big smile on her face “Why are you so happy sister did father come home?” “No” she said Then she said something that I will always think as the begining of all of this “We had a visitor last night” “Was it the neighbor?” I queried “No” she said once again appearing to be quite enthralled in her knitting “Then who was it?” I questioned once again “It was a man” she said
“What did he look like?” I pushed for an answer her vauge descriptions were irritating me now “He was wearing a wide brimmed hat and he had a smile that shared his teeth with the whole world” she said A stranger coming to the door in the night seemed frightening “What did he say?” I quizzed? “He said he would be back tonight” my sister said I felt a strange dread when she said that I didn’t want a strange man in our house All of that day she sat on her chair knitting not speaking a word And when I woke up the next morning She was gone….
There appeared to have been a snowstorm that night as when I opened the door it went up to my waist The neighbor’s house was 2 miles away We were trapped… I could do nothing but wait that day as Annabelle had still been struck down by the lethargy I waited And I waited Until night began to fall I crawled into bed with Annabelle and squeezed my eyes tight, of course I could not sleep I was too afraid. When I heard the grandfather clock in our hallway chime the lethargy struck me once again and almost immediately fell into a deep slumber The next morning I woke up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes Before I even looked I knew… But my other sister was gone too
That day I was in limbo I couldn’t do anything I just sat at the winndow staring out at the white abyss that the fields surrounding our home had become That night I crawled into bed alone for the first time in my life My sisters were always with me I tried to sleep but I could not And as the grandfather clock struck midnight I heard something else to Knock…knock…..knock I pulled the sheets over my head and pulled my pillow close to my chest I heard once again Knock….knock…..knock I fought the urge to look out from my covers and I held my breath This time I heard something diffrent BANG… BANG…BANG I could not help it I screamed “There’s no need to scream dear its only me” I heard float through the empty halls of my home and it was…. My father’s voice? I peeked one eye out from under my sheets when I heard Tap…..Tap…..Tap At my window Whatever was doing this was not my father I just knew it I peeked out my sheets and looked at my window when I finally saw my tormenter Maria was right about some things He was wearing a hat with a very wide brim And he smiled like it was the only thing he could do A toothy smile… But she she got one important detail wrong I could tell at just a glance…. It was no man