Seventeen Minutes Past Midnight
By Rick Clarke
It was seventeen minutes past midnight when something creaked inside the wardrobe. In a house so silent, where everyone lay asleep, it was if a bomb had gone off and Gabriel was wrested from his slumber.
Gabriel kept his eyes tight shut for fear that there was someone, or something, in the room with him. But after a long time of nothing happening, he opened his eyes.
With the curtains drawn, and the witching hour upon the world, Gabriel’s room appeared devoid of any real colour but as his senses adjusted, shapes and colours sharpened.
With some sense of relief, Gabriel could see he was alone, but still, the feeling of being watched lingered. Gabriel lay back in his bed, pulled his duvet back up to his chest, and looked up at the curtains which hung across the window by his bed. He began to think about the noise that had awoken him, and the possibility grew in his mind that perhaps there was a giant snake wrapped around the house, or maybe a vampire with its faced pressed against the window. Gabriel curled back into his duvet and stared at the closed curtains, wondering what was waiting beyond.
It was no good. He couldn’t sleep. He had to look. With a surge of courage and fear in equal measure, Gabriel stood on his bed and pulled back both curtains with considerable force. His heart, prepared for the potent horror, nearly exploded. But rather than the fangs of a vampire, or the rippling tongue of a giant snake, Gabriel was looking at his own back garden as he had never seen it before; in shades of midnight grey.
It was oddly captivating. He leant on the window sill and looked across his neighbours’ gardens. They were all empty and grey. Three doors down, moonlight glittered on the surface of a small fish pond, and slightly further along a wooden fence wobbled as a young fox leapt up and over into the alleyway behind.
Gabriel hung on watching the night life in the gardens for a few more minutes before yawning and literally dropping back into his bed. This time he shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep thinking of foxes, hedgehogs and badgers.
Silence expanded into every corner of the house.
At six minutes to one in the morning there was a heavy thud from inside the the wardrobe and a door swung open. Gabriel opened his eyes just in time to see the wardrobe door shut itself again.
In shock, Gabriel found himself without a voice. Then it came back.
“DADDDD!!!!!”
*“I’m coming kiddo” came a tired voice from the corridor. Gabriel’s bedroom door opened and in came a large man with stubble and a lazy smile wrapped around his face.
“You okay Gab?” said his Dad.
Gabriel jammed his arm and finger out accusingly at the wardrobe.
“There was a noise. And the door was open when it was shut before. Then it shut.” garbled Gabriel all too quickly.
“Hmm,” said his Dad, “maybe it was the wind?”
“What wind?” said Gabriel.
“Good point” said his Dad as he came over, lent over the small bed, and peeked through the curtains at the firmly locked windows.
He sat down on the bed next to Gabriel and pulled his fingers across his rough face.
“Was it a dream?”
Now Gabriel’s face went from worried to cross.
“NO. It was NOT a dream.”
“Okay, okay”, said his Dad, raising his hands in the air realising that he had made a mistake. “Would you like me to check the wardrobe? Just to make sure it’s safe and sound.”
Gabriel nodded in silent agreement.
His Dad smiled warmly, pulled the duvet over Gabriel, and got up.
“Monster hunting is part of my job description”, he said flicking his son a cheeky look as he pulled both the wardrobe doors open.
Gabriel couldn’t see what was inside, but he saw his Dad’s face change. He saw him stare into the bottom right hand corner of the wardrobe with an expression that he could not fully understand. His dad’s eyes lingered just too long and Gabriel could feel something was wrong.
“You need to tidy up your room more often” said his dad suddenly, scooping his old clothes off the floor with one hand and and throwing them into the wardrobe.
His dad shut both doors with almost a slam.
“Is everything okay Dad?”
“Yes. Yes, everything’s fine” he said, his usual easy look disturbed. “Just go back to sleep Gab. Everything’s fine.”
“Was there anything in there?”
“Of course not. It was just the wind. In fact, maybe you should go sleep in with your Mum tonight”.
“Why” muttered Gabriel.
“I’ve just remembered”, said his Dad, “I have to go out tonight”.
*
Gabriel’s Dad had lifted him out of his bed and tucked up with his mum with military precision.
“Hey chipmunk”, said his Mum. “What you doing here?”
“Nightmare” said his Dad before Gabriel could say a word. And as if his Dad was escaping a hurricane, he had dressed and left the house.
A minute later his Mum’s phone flashed up his Dad’s number. When she answered there was a low mumbling and his Mum looked less than happy.
“Is everything okay Mum?” asked Gabriel.
“I think your father’s gone crazy” she said. “Don’t worry little chipmunk, go to sleep”.
Gabriel’s mum kissed him lovingly before settling herself back into her cushion.
“He best gone crazy. If he’s having an affair I’ll kill him”.
*
