WEEK 365
There was a knock on the window and Christina turned around slowly, knowing full well that...


...at three in the morning, in the middle of the dense woods, nobody should be there. The window reflected the living room because of the night setting outside and the bright lights inside. She saw a shadow move towards the front door.

Christina's eyes darted to the deadbolt lock. She didn't see the sliver of gold colored metal that should have been present in the quarter inch space between the door jamb and the heavy wood. The knob started to turn.

Christina's voice inside her screamed, "Move! You have to get out of the entrance. MOVE!"

She dove towards the hallway and brushed her fingers against the switch plate. The lights went out at the same time the door came open. A dark figure stood motionless with his hands eerily by his side.

Christina let out a whimper. The stranger's head turned slightly in her direction. Christina stood and . . .

by J. Maloney, Scranton, OH

...she would probably be greeted by a set of reddish eyes staring at her through the window in the door.

But instead she saw the face of Greyson, her boyfriend. "Hey, can you let me in?" he said in a muffled tone through the door. "It's kinda raining out here," he said smiling.

Christina rolled her eyes and got up from the couch and got up to the door, opened it for Greyson, and stepped back to let him in.

Out of nowhere Greyson unsheathed a small hunting knife and tackled Christina to the floor. "You should'nt have cheated Chris... "

by Lauren K, Muncie, IN

...her husband, Theo, had once again locked himself out of their apartment. As her eyes met those of her now rain soaked spouse, she burst into laughter.

"Forget your keys again, hon?" she managed through her amusement.

"C'mon, Chris, open the door, I'm soaked!"

"Forgot your umbrella too?"

"Chris!"

As her laughter finally abated, Christina rubbed her obviously pregnant stomach, shook her head and mused, "I better let him back in so he can get that hot sauce for the ice cream or I'll never get any sleep tonight."

Opening the door for Theo, she suddenly remembered something else. "Can you get some chicken wings too?"

"Chicken wings too. You got it."

"You're my hero, you know!"

"Yeah, your drowned hero."

Heading back to his car, Theo could only hope that Chris and the baby would be willing to share some of those chicken wings! Preferably, without the ice cream.

by Stewart Lindsay, Buffalo, NY

...her mind must be playing tricks on her. Christina lived on the eighty-fifth floor of the Wellington Towers in the large city. She closed her eyes and remembered seeing the window cleaners just hours ago. Christina was hesitant in opening her eyes, but did so out of curiosity. The fear inside her disappeared at the sight of the famous magician.

"How did you--" she started to say while turning towards the television.

The image on the screen was of her living room. She ran to the window and looked past the hovering magician. There was no camera present. She waved her hand and saw her mocking image doing the same.

"Am I dreaming?" Christina asked the magician.

"Can we talk about this inside?" the man said nervously.

"But the windows don't open."

"Meet me on the roof," he said before ascending.

"My husband needs a new job," she said on her way out.

by Donald Stidham, Cleveland, TN