(10-22-2024, 07:11 PM)Maxmars Wrote: He was dabbling with his computer while speaking with some friends on-line. 

His wife, usually joined him in their bedroom, where he had his "setup,"  and she enjoyed 'listening in' find herself often amused as he spoke of many different things, joked, and otherwise conducted his new-style social engagement... for he and his wife, such a thing still felt 'new.'  Very rarely she might say something, if someone directed a "hello" to her, or heard a comment that was otherwise irresistible. 

She often kept the bedroom television on and muted, while his conversation went on for hours and hours... just in case she got bored... she was a 'news' addict, who scanned the cable news channels as a matter of "background" entertainment.  He was better served with direct exchanges... and he openly loathed TV advertising misuse.  He was comfortable in his leisure spot in the house.

The kids were grown up enough not to require constant direct supervision, and they occasionally drifted into the room quietly... always respectful of the silence they were to observe while Dad was 'doing his boring thing.'  Occasional bursts of laughter always enticed them, though. And animated exchanges caught their interest too.  But it was never the sort of thing they could ever actually share with their friends... since the conversations were often about opinions of current events that were unusual, like UFO stories, paranormal events and claims, international subjects, politics, and history.  Kids don't gravitate to that stuff when there are more vibrant popular interests to occupy their young circle of friends.

The home they lived in was humble, a product of four kids and two working parents.  It was a clean, and relatively neat house... barely big enough to accommodate the family. They were objectively happy, and their family world was not beset by pain and stress.

As he spoke with his friends, he would usually browse the web, finding things that were relevant to the conversation (or not), and the voices coming from the 'computer' were all predominantly friendly... no fighting, always respectful (unless they got playful) but they were never too "adult" to merit him having to hide behind closed doors.  If the door were closed, no one would walk in without knocking - he was secretly proud of the fact that he never had to drill that into the kids... they respected that of their own accord.

But this day was very different...

He was entertaining a himself with a conversation about one of those seemingly random things... It had to do with wild horses apparently being abused by some government people... the conversation drifted away from that as he took a drink from the Coke can... and three things happened...

The first thing was that his second daughter, now becoming a beautiful young teenager, walked into the room... probably drawn in because she heard something about "horses"...  He looked at her, and nodded while drinking....

The second was the drink caught in his throat, in a bad way, making him cough uncontrollably... the kind of cough where the distress of 'making it right' is over-filled with some level of embarrassment...

The third was that he caught something, at first, only out of the corner of his eye, then more fully resolved... something impossible.

A window in a far wall... a silhouette strode into view, just inches from the window on the outside... paused, turned, looked into the window, turned back and walked on... it had goat horns on it's head... and the image came with a feeling that it was surrounded by a radiating dark aura, full of evil intent... it permeated the impression. He couldn't help the notion that this thing, whoever (or whatever) it was, had been very pissed off and deeply frustrated... 

He was still recovering form the coughing fit as he turned to observe his daughter, paler now, eyes wide as if something deeply disturbing had been visited upon her... while slowly backing out of the room in fear, his wife seemed oblivious and untouched... she had seen nothing.

The window in question stood some six or seven feet above the ground outside, one would need a step ladder to be tall enough to look into it.  That "vision" would have been 9 or 10 feet tall... and in his imagination he just knew that it had hooved feet, and the legs of a satyr.  He was stunned into silence... muting his conversation with his friends, turning to his wife and said, "Did you see something in the window?"  His wife looked at him quizzically, glancing at the window, and saying plainly, "No."  He knew her well enough to know she hadn't, and she was curious to hear more... 

But he felt a driving need to talk to his daughter... "It was nothing. I'll be right back" he said, and left the room to find her.

A few moments later, he found his daughter still in the hallway, immediately asking her, "Did you see that?"  She looked uneasy and said, "Yes." showing signs of both fear and relief that she hadn't been alone in the experience.  He added quickly, without thought, "Were those goat horns?"  She responded with a question, "Was that a demon? It looked like a demon!"  "Did Mom see him?"

At this point he sighed... looked at her directly, and said "We need to talk about this, you and I."

"Mom didn't see it." he said.  His daughter was confused, and it showed.

"I'm going to tell you something, and this is very important."  She was attending closely.

"Every now and then, you are going to see in your life, some things that are absolutely horrifying. 

They are not to be chased, they are not to be looked for... ever.  But you will see them sometimes. 

And sometimes, almost always, only YOU are going to see them.  So talking to others about it will not usually be a very good experience. 

I kind of got used to this happening every now and then, and as I grew older, I realized that this is not a curse, even if it feels that way, and also that it is not a gift, as some people will try to convince you... Being able to see this crap doesn't make you better or worse than anyone else..."

"We're just different."

(10-22-2024, 07:45 PM)Quantum12 Wrote: Awesome writing

(10-22-2024, 07:53 PM)Maxmars Wrote: You're too kind. 

As usual, every time I go back to reread it, I can't help but want to add something here, or remove something there...

(Never mind, that this thing could have been three more pages long, and never gotten to the point...
I suffer from James Fenimoore Cooper syndrome, I could consume 15 paragraphs to describe a leaf falling from a tree. )

(10-22-2024, 07:53 PM)Maxmars Wrote: (Never mind, that this thing could have been three more pages long, and never gotten to the point...
I suffer from James Fenimoore Cooper syndrome, I could consume 15 paragraphs to describe a leaf falling from a tree. )

(10-23-2024, 01:23 AM)xpert11 Wrote: I understand that feeling. If I didn't make an effort, I could write half a page describing a sunset. Will you write a welcome follow-up to your latest title? I am curious to see where the story might unfold.