The Black Eyed Man

by Brittany Pilkington
(Paris, Texas)

Scaatch, scratch, scraaatch! I sat up in bed and looked around my room, searching for the noise that had woke me from my sleep. It took me a minute but I finally focused on the window and looked into a man's grimy face. Everything about him looked plain and dirty ... except for his eyes. They were a dull black, and I mean every part of his eyes were black, even the blood vessels. He tapped on my window with a stick and mouthed the words "May I come in kind soul?" I hopped out of bed and went to the window, but stopped short when I saw his clothes. They looked like a pirate's clothes, all messy and ripped like he'd been in a storm. I had a strong instinct telling me to leave him be and go back to bed, but it was pouring down rain outside. Huh? I had only been asleep for a few minutes and it wasn't raining then. I didn't want him to get sick or anything, but then I looked at his eyes again. They were still the same: black and expressionless, but that wasn't enough to make me stay away from the window.

He started smiling the closer I got, and when I reached for the window lock, his smile turned into a grin, and his eyes changed into a triumphant glow of light black. Once again, his eyes made me consider my actions, and instead of reaching for the window lock, I went to the top, and pulled the shutters down. I heard him say "Please ma'am, you wouldn't leave me out here, would you?" I didn't answer. I climbed back in bed and heard a clap of thunder hit the house. I looked back at the window, but the man's form was gone ... and so was the rain.