BY: PHANAT XIONG
UPDATED: 01/01/2024
My older brother and I stared at each other as we tried to eat our dinner as fast as possible. We knew whoever finished last out of all the siblings would have the responsibility of washing all the dishes.
I was the first to finish eating and as I got up to put my plate away, I saw that my older brother wasn’t too far behind. As soon as I put my plate in the sink, I jetted out of the kitchen so my parents wouldn’t have a chance to ask me to do anything.
A few seconds later, as I was headed towards the stairs, I could hear someone getting out of their seat and then the sound of dishes hitting the sink.
We lived in an old house, and although the floor was carpeted, the wooden floor beneath the carpet would creak as you walked on it.
As I approached the stairs, I could hear my brother walking out of the kitchen, following in my footsteps. When I got to the second floor and began to walk down the hallway to get to my room, I could hear my brother walking up the stairs not too far behind me.
My brother and I slept in the same room but on different beds. Our beds were parallel to each other, with a gap in between. I opened the door and quickly got into my bed when I got to our room. Lying in bed, I turned to look out the window as I waited for my brother’s arrival.
A few seconds later, I could hear my brother’s footsteps as he reached the top of the stairs due to the sound of the creaking wood. The sound got louder and louder as he slowly walked through the hallway and approached the room. When he got to the room, he slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door.
There was a moment of silence as he just stood by the door. It was as if he was thinking of something before entering the room. He then took a couple of steps into the room, closed the door, and got in his bed.
I thought it was weird that my brother didn’t turn the light on when he entered the room because he always does. I decided just to ignore it and continue staring out the window.
After a few minutes of complete silence, I wondered why my brother was so quiet tonight. He is usually very talkative, and I typically have to tell him to be quiet so I can go to sleep.
A couple more minutes had gone by and still not a sound from my brother. At this point, my curiosity took over, and I just had to figure out why he was so quiet tonight.
Then suddenly, just as I was about to turn back to look at him, I heard his blanket fall to the ground as he got up from his bed. I quickly looked in his direction to see what he was doing and saw his empty bed with his blanket on the floor.
My heart sank as I stared at my brother’s bed. I was in complete panic mode as I tried to grasp what the hell had just transpired. I was shaking with terror as I wanted to run out of my room, but my body wouldn’t dare get out of bed. It felt like my heart was beating out of my chest, and my soul had left my body.
After what felt like an eternity, I then heard someone walking up the stairs. I prayed that whoever it was would walk down the hallway close enough to my room so I could make a run for it.
When the person reached the top of the stairs, he flipped on the hallway lights and began walking toward my room. Suddenly, my door opened, and the light and my room were switched on. I looked up and saw my brother standing by the doorway. When I was sure it was him, I jumped out of my bed like a chicken with its head cut off and ran past my brother as fast as I could. My brother then quickly followed me.
Afterward, I asked my brother why he ran after me. He told me that when he turned on the light and saw my face, he knew something was wrong because I looked like I saw a ghost. He saw the terror expressions on my face and knew that something wasn’t right, so it scared him too.
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