Hide - A short story

Based off a fifty word story I wrote roughly ten years ago, rewritten to over ten times the length to attempt to give more depth and love to a story I cherished.

Alone, I wander these harrowing hollow halls, watching my every step, treading as quiet as a mouse. Everywhere I move, darkness lingers. Unable to escape the monster of my fate. Creeping steps of a hunter, prowling for its prey, looms off in the distance, each step getting ever so closer. Too close to hear, I shift into one of the many unmarked rooms to find a desolate dining area with eerie cabinets adorning the walls. Panic ensues and minutes become seconds as I duck under the disfigured dining table, shielding myself from view.

Silence. Eerie, uncomfortable silence. And then, the door creeks open ever so slowly. Thud as one foot emerges from the doorway. Thud as the other follows suit. With each thud, my heart thuds along with it. Petrified of being found, I curl up and become as solid as marble, holding my breath to avoid even the slightest detection. The shadowed figure hungers and searches frantically for me. Checking behind cabinets but not once thinking of where I lie motionless. Seemingly frustrated, the shadow moves on, scouring down the halls for clues of my presence.

For a moment, relief becomes of me as I uncurl and lay flat upon the floor. Yet the moment can not last, as the hunter still prowls, and it won’t be long before it returns. Emerging from under the table, exiting the doorway, I steer down the hallway, moving along at a steadier pace knowing full well I could be found at any moment. The sound of creeping footsteps remerge, a signal that time is running short. I duck into another room, much different to the last.  A chilling bed stands in the centre of an open space and some decrepit drawers and wardrobe find home next to the furthest wall from the bed. All options of hiding seem too clear as day to find but time is running shorter and shorter by each thudding footstep. Desperation sets in and I leap towards the wardrobe, not thinking of what noise I might make and withdrew myself into the wardrobe, hiding myself from within.

Darkness surrounds me and the only bit of sight that remains comes from the gap between the wardrobe doors that shield me. Not long after hiding, the door to the room swung open with force as the hunter strode in assertively. Faster and aggressively, it darts towards the bed and bends over to look underneath. Unsatisfied, the shadow surveys around the room for clues, darting to the curtains and behind the draws to no avail. And so the silhouetted beast stood in view of the gap between the wardrobe doors, observing its surroundings. My heart pounds like crazy as I watch, holding my breath, as the silhouette turns and its eyes look towards me, as though they’re burning into me. As it moves close and closer towards where I hide, I curl up and try to hide as far into the corner of the wardrobe as possible. Its eye comes ever so closer, glaring through the gap before laughing to itself. The shadow swings the doors open, stands before me and proclaims egotistically, “Found you! Now you’re it”.

Author's Note

My first voyage back into creative writing, open to creative critisim.