06: [action - OTA]

[very_practical]

...and so the little girl took the puppy home, and they lived happily ever after. The end.

[Jane closes the book in her hands gently so as not to wake the four-year-old curled up beside her. Poor Danny. She couldn't possibly have turned him away when he crawled into her bed earlier that night, close to tears because he was feeling frightened and

Comments

[strange_ling]

[A shadow passes beyond the window, quickly enough to make Jane think she might be seeing things. But with its passing comes a creeping, unnatural cold that could only belong to one being, and she can feel it hovering just out of sight, past the edge of the window.]

[very_practical]

[The young girl wraps her arms around herself, shivering.
Goodness, it was so ghastly cold for a summer's night. Danny was certain to become sick if she didn't shut that window.

Yet for some reason she found herself terrified of approaching it now. Just the very thought of getting near it filled her with dread.]

[strange_ling]

[Whatever's out there, it isn't happy. Whispers drift through the screen and lift the hairs on the back of her head; scornful, sinister whispers, as though someone is glaring at her and talking behind her back.]

[very_practical]

W-who..? W-who's there?

[She casks her glance about the room, but sees no one. No one but her sleeping brother and toy bear.

Yet all throughout the room she can hear so many voices. They come from the ceiling, the walls, her desk, her nightstand, her bookcase... everywhere. And they chill her down to the bone far worse than the cold. She shudders, throwing her hands over her ears, but the voices don't cease.]