They Come at Night

The Bathroom

It was running toward me, and I didn't know what to do. This happens every night... These things are out to get me. I didn't know how true that would be until the following Saturday. I needed to do something about this.

"Mom," I yelled. She responded with a sigh of annoyance which quickly followed with her usual, "What is it now, Carson?"

I yelled, "There's another cricket in the hamper! Can you kill it?" I know Mom is afraid of them too, but I still ask her to kill them for me because she's bigger than I am. "Carson you know I hate looking at those things. And they chase me when I come after them," said Mom.

We live in wooded area. It's not secluded, but the houses in the area are built separate from one another. My screams can't be heard by the neighbors when one of those monsters comes out. Dad is usually asleep when I'm screaming for mom. He works long mornings at the university in the town over. It's not too far, but he's a biology professor so his students need help understanding things after classes. He comes home to grade assignments, spends some REAL family time with us, then goes to bed right after dinner. After dinner, I help mom clean up the table, load the dishwasher, then clean anything else that we've made a mess of during the daytime. I'm at home with mom during the day since I decided to do online college. We love our time together... I DO have friends though. Keeping a social life is important for my sanity.

Speaking of sanity, that little monster is looking dead-straight at me at . It's pretty late since I had to finish a project. I opened the bathroom door after holding my bladder for the longest time, and it was sitting on the floor mat. This is why I'm always calling mom. It was still light outside when I first felt the urge to go. I was too lazy to get up and really wanted to finish the project. I know I shouldn't do this since they come out at night, but I was determined not to spend another day on this assignment.

I tried slowly moving the door to open it a bit more so I could walk around the "thing".
"Ahhh," I screamed at the top of my lungs. No one responded to the sound of a shrieking male to my surprise. It had crawled TO me in a swift motion forward. It's after me... they're all in cahoots with each other. They have to be telling the others in some bug sounds when they're dying to 'get that boy who keeps taking down the family'.

"Mom," I yelled.

She responded, "Whaaat Carson?"

"Can you kill this damned thing," I asked. She quickly scolded me to watch my mouth. This cricket was crawling closer to me by the second, but by the time mom had reached the bathroom from her room down the hall, it had changed its path and crawled into a vent. I could hear a faint chirp. I thought they didn't make sounds... Maybe it was my imagination. No. I swear I heard it say 'chump' in its tiny bug voice. It has been a long week of school, so I need some sleep. It's the lack of sleep getting to me.