The Man In The Black Suit And Other Chilling Tales

When The Clock Strikes Midnight

Don't come out when the clock strikes midnight. Mommy and Daddy say so. They say bad things happen to little girls who are still awake and out of bed when the big grandfather clock strikes twelve. I should have listened to them. If I had, they would still be here and I would be with them. Mommy and Daddy left me after I got out of bed at midnight and saw the man. The man who was the last thing I saw before I fell asleep. Mommy woke me up with a scream. Then Daddy came. He ran away when he saw me sleeping for some reason. They left me alone with the man. I don't want to be alone with the man. He scares me.

The Man lurks around the house and I try to avoid him. He's big and scary, and he emanates evil from every orifice in his body. Sometimes I can't avoid him, and I just shrink into a corner where I hope he can't see me. I miss Mommy and Daddy, I don't know where they went. They just left me here and went away. They took all my toys and things out of my room and I don't know where they put them. The house is empty except for me and the Man, and I don't like it.

I want Mommy and Daddy to come back, apologize for forgetting me, and to tell me everything is going to be okay. I want my kitty back, so I can hear her purr as I fall asleep with her curled up on my chest. Instead, it is cold and dark silence. 

Sometimes adults come and poke around the house, but nobody ever stays for more then a few minutes and nobody ever notices me. I try to get their attention but it never works. I hate being alone, it makes me sad. Sometimes, it makes me angry. The Man likes it when I'm angry, but I don't. I don't like being sad either. I just want to be happy, but I'm stuck in constant coldness and surrounded by the dark.

Maybe someday I'll have a friend, even if I have to make The Man help me.