Excerpt from STRANGE AND SPOOKY STORIES
by Pat Hancock
|
The dream was painfully real. He was running — from a monstrous, twisted version of Damien that was reaching toward him with long, talon-like fingers. “You can’t get away, Raffi,” it intoned as it drew ever closer. “There’s plenty of room in here for me,” it said as the hands began to claw at Raffi’s hair. “I’m coming in.”
Raffi woke with a start. He was sweating and gasping for breath, as if he had actually been running. He sat up and leaned against the back of the couch, trying to calm down. Some of the nightmare’s details were already fading, but not the fear it had created — and not Damien’s words.
“You can’t come in,” Raffi whispered to the empty room. But, he wondered as he pushed himself up, how do I keep him out? Feeling helpless, Raffi dragged himself into the kitchen, toward the comforting sound of his parents’ and voices and dishes rattling. He couldn’t stand another minute alone.
From Strange and Spooky Stories. Copyright © 2002 by Pat Hancock. All rights reserved.
|
|
