Alarming (a short story)

The curtains flowed softly as the breeze of the early morning made its way into the room. As the alarm started to ring, Mary smacked the clock to snooze the alarm for 15 minutes and pulled the cover over her body. She hadn't had a good sleep in a long time and she knew she needed it. After what felt like a few seconds, the alarm rang again and this time she didn't turn it off. She turned facing the ceiling with closed eyes, listening to the continuous ringing and willing herself to stand up from the bed and begin her day. Slowly, she opened her eyes, adjusting to the darkness and the little stream of sunlight that managed to pass through the curtains.

She stood up and went to the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror and washed her face. As she was cleaning her face, she saw on the mirror what looked like a person staring at her and she screamed and turned around only to see that she was alone. She remembered how stressed she had been lately and worried if she was having stress-induced hallucinations or just paranoia.

Mary went to the kitchen to make herself a quick breakfast as she was too tired to prepare an elaborate meal. She poured some cereal into a bowl and grabbed the milk. As she started to our the milk, it seemed to be blood red instead of white but in a split second, it became white again and everything was normal. She started cussing herself for watching a horror movie before going to sleep as it was affecting her imaginations. Just as she was about to take a spoonful of the cereal, she noticed she was holding a knife rather than a spoon and was pointing it into her mouth. She quickly dropped the utensil, confused as to how it happened because she was almost sure she had picked up a spoon and not a knife.

Mary was exhausted and she felt even more fatigued with each second that passed by. She made a mental note to visit the hospital on her way to work. She went to the bathroom for a shower but she kept having the sense that there was another presence in the house. She noticed her shower curtain was open while bathing but she remembered closing it. She didn't know what was going on or if she was merely going crazy. She didn't believe in any form of metaphysics. She felt her life was an irony as she was named Mary after a Bible character. She knew there heard to be a logical explanation for what was going on and she hoped to find out at the hospital.

Before heading to the hospital, Mary decided to do some research of her own. She turned on her laptop and started searching for the relationship between stress and hallucinations. After 5 mins into the search, her screen glitched, turned black and through the reflection on the monitor, she saw someone behind her. This time, she didn't scream, instead she looked closer at the reflection. The figure behind her was covered in blood and she could hear the sound as each drop of blood fell on the floor. She could also hear how fast and heavily she was breathing. She clenched her fist and tried not to move. Through the reflection, the man's face wasn't clear but she noticed what seemed like a tattoo of a local doll made of straws on his left arm.

Mary swallowed hard and told herself that it wasn't real but the man moved closer. She whimpered as tears ran down her eyes. She shook her head at the man through his reflection on her screen as if to plead with him but he only drew closer and closer till all she could hear was a loud ringing.

Mary was on her bed, beside her was her alarm and the clock read 5:15. Beads of sweat rolled down her neck as she looked around trying to take note of her surroundings. It was only a dream. She hated having nightmares but she was glad that non of it was real.

On her way to work, she decided to stop at the doctors office for some medical advice. She had been stressed lately and wasn't getting enough sleep. On getting there, she was greeted by a charming doctor with a nice smile and a tattoo of a straw doll on his left arm.

The End.

Thanks for reading!