A fox
barks, and a distant owl hoots somewhere across the playing fields. I peek out
from my shelter among the roots and watch as darkness rapidly covers what’s
left of the dull, damp day like a shroud spread over a dearly departed. The
glare of a street light pokes jagged fingers through the branches above me as I
wait for dusk to give way to night.
Out
there, humans are returning to their homes. Closing heavy curtains against the unknown
night. Enfolding them in the comfort of their own homes, where they’ll grab a few hours with their loved ones – and maybe a take-away as they watch a TV
movie – before seeking solace in the safety of their beds. At least, that’s where
they think they’re safe.
There’s
no home our kind hasn’t visited. No sleep we haven’t shattered with a spasm of
fear and panic. No locked doors or barred windows that can keep us away.
Ironic
really that they’ve started hanging up ineffective spiders’ webs of wool and trinkets bearing
our own name to keep us away.
Little do they know that we’re not the ones who
conceive and give birth to the night terrors that haunt them – they manage that just fine all on their
own in the depths of their buried hopes and fears.
We just
gather them, take sustenance from them, and use them to build our dark subterranean
kingdoms.
We are
the Dreamcatchers.
[Note:
This story was written for the 5th SSFFS (Short Story & Flash Fiction Society) Project contest - and it won!
For more about the SSFFS Project go to http://shortstoryflashficitonsociety.com/ or follow Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Short-Stories-Flash-Fiction-Stories/692915047420207?fref=ts or Twitter @SSFFS_project]