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Fear and bravery (Solo - 927 words - 3 pts)

Everyone was asleep. Faylen knew that immediately when she woke up. So what had woken her up if her brother and her parents were sleeping? The hybrid girl sat up and rubbed her eyes with heavy limbs, trying to get her bearings. A scratching at her window made her jump and gasp loudly. She then tensed every muscle in her body as she continued to listen. She could see a shadow on the wall cast from the window.

Was… was that a finger?! She whimpered and continued to stare at the shadow, seemingly frozen in place.

Scratch, scratch. Tap, tap.

What was that? It wasn’t stopping really. There were times it paused for a moment, but continued again. Faylen finally had to inhale when she could hear her heart beating in her ears. The fresh air seemed to loosen her tense muscles and she slowly, oh so slowly, got out of her bed. Bare feet met the wooden floor, but she didn’t feel the cold. Instead, she was too warm. She was so scared by that noise. Could she make it to her brother’s room?

A loud thump that came from somewhere else in the house made her squeak and she ducked down between the wall and her bed. She made herself as small as possible, sliding into the corner, hiding herself in the darkness.

Was someone trying to get in?! There was a monster trying to get in! That shadow, she wasn’t looking at it anymore, but it had looked like a finger, but a lot more different. The whole finger looked too long and thin.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she hugged herself. Surely someone else was awake after hearing all this! She couldn’t be the only one awake.

She waited a few minutes and didn’t hear the loud thump again, but the scratching and tapping at her window was still happening. Slowly she peeked out above her bed, eyeing her window dubiously. She licked her lips, tasting the salt from her tears and then slowly got back onto her bed. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like it was trying to get in.

With that realization, Faylen took a few deep breaths and used the long sleeves of her pajamas to clean the tears off her face and looked back at the window.

“I got this,” she whispered to herself. This ten year old was going to face that fear. She puffed up her chest and got out of bed again. She practically marched to the window and opened the window before she could lose her nerve. Unfortunately the wind blew the window way harder than she expected, and it slammed open hard, cracking the glass in a couple large streaks. It had made her yelp again and she quickly realized it was a branch hitting her window when it tapped on the windowsill.

There was a scramble and a fight with the wind to close the window again, but she managed it and then slumped down to the floor. There was now a slight whistling from the window, though, and she made a face at that.

“Nice, Fay,” she muttered to herself, climbing back to her feet and dusting off her rear end. “Now you get to tell mom and dad you broke your window.” Nevermind she’d broken a vase playing with a ball in the house.

It wasn’t her fault this time! How was she supposed to know it was windy?

That loud thump came back and she jumped again, a hand clutching her chest above her heart. “It’s just the wind,” she whispered to herself, trying to calm down again. “It’s fine. Just the wind catching the door.” And she did not want to try to shut that. The outside doors were heavier, meant for this kind of thing. It seemed dad forgot to latch it properly when he came in from packing up the store for the night.

“It wouldn’t be a monster. What are you, five? Monsters don’t exist. It was a branch. I knew that.” She was trying to put on her brave face. She didn’t want to be seen as a scaredy cat! Even if no one else was up to see it. She could take care of herself. She was a big girl now.

She stared out the window for a few minutes, watching the trees and chairs outside topple over. It seemed like no one was ready for winds this strong tonight. It wasn’t too long before thunder rumbled in the distance, and Faylen realized it was just a storm. It was probably going to be loud…

Once more the girl crawled back in bed, and grabbed her nearest doll. She hugged the soft, cloth doll to her chest tightly, burying her face in the hair before she wiggled back down into her comfortable sleeping position.

“You know, Leli, storms help me sleep? Just not when the wind comes before the rain like this. That was so scary..” Of course there was no response, Leli was her doll. “I know! I bet mom and dad are going to be sad about the window… It’s gonna be awful.” She hated getting in trouble, like all kids did.

A yawn, she turned over, putting Leli right beside her on the pillow, and then closed her eyes again. “You’ll watch me? Thank you..” Her voice was already heavy with sleep. Somehow, Faylen fell asleep just as the rain started hitting the window, and the thunder rumbled louder. There was nothing unusual about this rain storm in Tale.