Something seemed different

A Story by Zak

A short story about a girl that woke up in the middle of the night and something seemed different.

Sophie woke up in the middle of the night. The heavy raindrops smashed on her window. The windows sounded like they were going to break open. Other than that, everything was quiet. She looked out her window and saw the trees across her street shake.

She couldn’t go back to sleep. I guess I’ll just have to look for something to do.

Sophie lived with her parents. In a couple of months, she was going to head off to college.

She wobbled downstairs to find the living room and kitchen a mess. I don't remember all this mess when I went to sleep.

Maybe mom and dad made a mess after I went to bed.

The living room was very large; had a grand piano, a TV that was held up against the wall near the stairs and a fireplace that was on the corner of the living room.

Why is the fireplace warm, did someone have it on? Something seemed different. She took a seat on the love sofa in front of the fireplace.

The rain continued to pour. It was as if a string of rain stretched from the clouds to the ground. All that was heard was the sound of rain. Nothing else.

After a couple of minutes sitting down by the fireplace, she got up and picked up her car keys and wallet and headed out. She stayed in her pajamas, too lazy to change them.

She opened the door and it was raining heavier than earlier. Maybe I should get my umbrella. Even though her car was a couple of yards away, she would have gotten soaked. Took her some time to find the umbrella located in the messy basement. Surprisingly the basement ground was not wet. Sometimes the rain would find a way to get inside the basement but not this time. It was completely dry. That’s weird. We would have less rain than this and there would be a puddle of rain in here but not this time.

She finally left her house and went towards her car. She quickly walked to her car and opened the door. Got inside and closed the umbrella before closing the car door. The rain hitting against the car was the only noise to be heard. One after another. Non-stop.

She sat in her car for a couple of minutes, just listening to the rain hitting against her car as it came down.

She turned her car on and pulled back from the driveway. Their home was far away from other houses. It was a big house, with a big front and back yards. The woods were located by her house. Pitch black at this time of night. It was very tough to even distinguish the front of the trees.

She drove for a couple of minutes before getting on the main road which led into the city.

Something seemed different. The roads were empty. No car or person to be seen. Of course, it was intensely raining and it was the middle of the night. There’s still usually someone driving around or people walking back from a late night event.

Sophie drove very slowly as she entered the main road. The street gutter water from the rain was speeding towards the sewers, collecting whatever that was on its path. An empty bottle and a couple of pieces of scrap piled up at the top of the sewers.

She continued to drive with no real destination. Sophie started to feel hungry. She then decided to go to a fast food restaurant. Some were open 24 hours. Maybe I can find someone there. Still hasn’t seen any car or person in the streets. The nearest fast food place was four minutes away. She continued to drive slow while the windshield wipers were on full power. The rain seemed like it intensified since she left her home.

She approached the fast food place. The parking lot was deserted, completely empty. She went through the drive-thru waited for an answer but no one spoke. She passed the drive-thru and parked in front of the store. She looked inside and there was no one to be seen inside. The lights were all on, everything looked normal inside with the exception of there were no workers. She double checked to see if it was actually 24 hours store; it was.

She pulled back from the parking lot and got back on the street. Why are there no workers in a 24-hour place? She continued driving down the deserted street and thought about where to go next.

She was about to just drive back home until she saw a dead animal on the side of the street. Someone must’ve just recently hit that. She couldn’t see what it was exactly. Possibly a raccoon.

She entered the road that led to her home to find a dark figure standing in the middle of the road. Must’ve been soaked with all the rain. He just stood there. He was too far to recognize, the dark hood seemed to cover his eyes. As Sophie approached the person with her car, the person remained standing there.

When she was about twenty yards from the figure, she still couldn’t see who it was then he disappeared. Sophie abruptly stopped moving her body towards the steering wheel. She rubbed her eyes.

Was someone actually there or am I seeing things?

She looked around but couldn’t see anyone. She slowly drove back to her home. She was done with tonight. She just wanted to go back home to her bed.

Parked the car next to her parents’ cars. Picked up her umbrella which she left on the passenger seat and left the car. She rushed to the front door. Before opening the front of the door, she slowly turned around to lock her car using the button on her keys. She looked across the road where the dark woods were. Only darkness could be seen. Nothing else. Not even trees.

She dropped her umbrella as she walked in. Locked the door and ran upstairs to her room. She was tempted to look outside the window but was too scared to see another figure that could possibly be standing in the road in front of her home.