Alone In the Darkness

When it’s dark as pitch outside, the lights around you have suddenly gone out and you can’t see your hand in front of your face … the last thing you want to hear is furtive movements in the brush.

The power has gone out in the entire area. It was Ronni’s late night potty walk and I was too far from the house to safely make my way back in the dark.

Having seriously poor night vision; without house lights, I may as well be blindfolded. Hard as I tried, I could only make out a few bare tree branches where they were eerily silhouetted against the almost full moon.

The moon itself filtered through the clouds like a single oncoming headlight on a foggy night, making my surroundings all the darker.

I could not see my feet, much less the ground around me. Which way was the house?

Something brushed against my leg and I stifled a shriek. Heart pounding, not sure whether to laugh or cry, I reached down expecting to pick up my dachshund, Ronni – but feeling around in the dark, I couldn’t find her.

Great. A black dog in the dark. More rustling in the brush caught my attention. Was it Ronni or something else? Why wasn’t she barking? Why didn’t she come?

I heard the resonating “hoo-hoooo” of an owl in the distance. Not enough of a distance to be reassuring when your small dog is running loose in the dark. Probably not right overhead though. I called her again, feeling vulnerable and way too alone in the dark.

Then the sound of branches bending came from my right. That was way too big of a sound to be Ronni. A moose? A bear?? Bigfoot? Or maybe a ghost? My imagination began running away with me.

I stepped backwards and immediately regretted it as my leg was caught up in the prickly branches of a dormant wild rose bush.

Flailing forward, I wasn’t sure if I wanted my hands to touch something or not.

Which way to go? Why hadn’t I brought my cell phone out with me? Tree branches swayed with the soft clatter of bare branches rubbing together. Dead leaves crunched underfoot. Wait. I wasn’t moving. What was making that sound?

The swirl and soft crunch of dry leaves continued as something stealthily approached. My hand went to my throat. There was nowhere to hide.

It’s a little easier to believe in ghosts when you are standing alone in the dark on a cold Alaskan night.

Then I saw it! Eeek!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN … from De & the Dachsies. 👻