ApparitionThe thing in the corner was back again. The temperature in the room dropped. Goose pimples crawled my back. My throat dried up. I tried to swallow. My heart raced.
A shadow? Reflected light? I knew better. Even before I flipped on the overhead light, I knew there would be no bug crawling up the wall, no undulating cobweb to gather shadows. Nothing. There never was.
“Go away, dammit! Leave me alone,” I muttered.
I could not rationally explain how my new apartment was different, I merely knew that it was. Looking back, there had been warning signs, but finding such a bargain within two blocks of the campus called for action not investigation. I leased it on the spot, ignoring the manager’s poorly hidden relief when I affixed my signature and paid the tab.
Green House, a modest
