Nothing

It was a dark and stormy night.

Cobwebs were strewn about every which way in every which location, lingering with a foreboding aura as they danced in the cold wind of October.

The house was empty, but very much alive; thought not in the way you might expect.

Shadows invisible to the naked eye skittered and crawled along the floors and ceilings, leaving their ghastly mark throughout the building.

A frail footstep from that of a 5-year-old broke the silence that had so well been established.

Her gestures were calm; her eyes blank. The footsteps of the nonplussed child continued forward slowly and ominously.

Through the piercing howl of the wind that blew back her skirt, her breath could be heard escaping her body in even, regulated intervals.

This child is not afraid. This child is not anxious. She is completely and utterly composed.

Beckoning shadows outstretched from the doorway she came in from, intangibly grasping at the tangible ankles of the small child, sending a

shiver up the still unaffected child's leg.

Her eyes were fixed forward, paying no mind to anything or anyone that may be present behind her or to her sides.

For every step that she took, the floor boards squeaked and moaned their own sinister chant, as if guiding her with their voice alone.

The more and more that she approached the hallway, the more that her footsteps echoed and the louder the chant became.

Upon reaching the end of the musty and decrepit hallway, her steps ceased and her breathing deccelerated.

She was now standing completely still, locking her eyes onto something in front of her; a cool reflective surface meets with her gaze.

"Mummy... Is that you...?" The child uttered, the glass holding her full attention.

The door that was many feet back and unoccupied slowly began to shut, moaning in its own way as it neared it's locking state.

As if to respond, the dusty mirror that the small child was facing slowly began to crackle and snap, forming a sort of vague smirking gesture

directed at the child.

The door completes it's short-term journey, locking into place. The shadows grow ever closer and the house is silent once again.

Reviews

[Leon C]

An interesting and atmospheric piece. You have captured the feel of a spooky house really well but perhaps at the expense of some detail. I was unsure if you were trying for something abstract as the paragraphs/sentences seemed a little disjointed.

I would probably swap paras 2 and 3 over for clarity as I was unsure where the cobwebs were. In my mind mention the house then the cobwebs.

Overall I actually liked this a lot but I feel it needs a bit of a polish to get it right