Every night I would wait for my mother to come home before I went to bed. Tonight, she was later than usual.
My eyelids drooped and I nodded off on the couch. Mrs Lewis, our next-door neighbour who sometimes babysat me whenever my mother worked late at the hospital, roughly shook me awake. "Hey, Eddie! Get up and go to your room."
I sat up in shock and rubbed my forearm stinging from the pain of her hold. She scowled at me. "Well, get on then. Your mom should be back now and I'm not gonna wait anymore."
I looked up at the wall clock to see 10.49. I nodded and trudged to my room. I quietly opened the door and peeked in. Everything was in its proper place. Huh, strange.
Even stranger, since we moved into this apartment two months ago, my room was always in disarray. I would return from school to find my clothes and shoes flung out of the closet onto the floor.
I climbed into bed and left the lights on so that when my mother returned she would know I stayed up late, waiting for her. Then I heard Mrs Lewis moving about in our apartment, locking the windows. Maybe she was going back to her empty apartment. Her children were all grown up. She was home all the time.
I wished she would stay for a while. I didn't want her to leave me alone in the apartment. I heard the front door open and click shut. Mrs Lewis had gone and I was alone.
I was always alone. My mother was gone most of the day, working three jobs. I never knew my father. He left when my mother was pregnant with me. Chuck, my best friend, transferred to another school and left me alone with the bullies.
With a stream of tears flowing over my cheeks, I hugged my pillow to my chest, curled into a ball under my blanket and waited.
Maybe there would be a repeat of the previous nights' mysteries or were they all a dream?
At nine years old, I felt like a baby. I wanted my mother this minute and would stay awake till she came. No sooner had I thought this then my eyelids drooped again and I fell asleep.
A creaking sound woke me up. I opened my eyes as the memory of my loneliness flooded back instantly. My room was dark except for a stream of light filtering through my slightly ajar door from the hallway. My heart began to thump. Had my mother gone away forever, leaving me alone in this apartment? Wait, where did the creaking sound come from?
I looked around my room and noticed something off about my closet. It was happening again. My heart pounded faster. Squinting my eyes, I made out that the closet door was slightly open. I remembered it was shut before bedtime. I glanced at my small alarm clock beside my bed to see 12.15.
The closet door creaked and opened a little further. A bead of sweat rolled down my face as my chest heaved. I was struggling to breathe. I quickly reached for the switch beside my bed and tapped it but the lights did not come on. I tapped again but my room remained dark. Something weird was going on.
"Mom! Mom, are you home?" I called out. "Mom?"
Within minutes, my mother appeared at the doorway, looking tired and dishevelled. She turned on the light from the wall switch and walked over to my bed. Her eyes were red and swollen. She was still in her nurse's scrubs and it was wrinkled. She must have gotten into bed when she arrived.
She managed a smile, sat beside me and ruffled my hair. "Hey, Kiddo. What is it? I'm sorry I came home later than usual. How are you?"
I got up and fell into her arms. We held each other for a while and she rocked me like I was a baby.
"Why did you call? Nightmare?"
I shook my head and pointed to the closet. "I think something is inside."
She furrowed her brows, glanced at the closet and then at me. "Sure? Lemme see." My mother opened the closet wide displaying my neatly folded shirts, trousers, jackets, shoes and school bag. "See? Nothing to be scared of. Okay?"
I nodded. She shut the closet and kissed me on the forehead. "Kiddo, I wish we could have a better life. You deserve better but I'm trying, okay? Sleep tight," she whispered, turned off the lights and closed the door.
I was alone again.
I laid back on the bed, sad that my mother couldn't stay and talk with me because she was tired. I pulled my blanket up to my nose and glanced around the dark room.
I must have fallen asleep because the creaking sound woke me again followed by a hissing sound. I tapped my light switch again and nothing happened.
I looked in the direction of my closet and saw the door wide open. It was pitch dark inside. I couldn't stop myself from shaking or the sweat from beading on my forehead. If I called for my mother, she might not hear and it would be selfish to do so knowing she was dead tired.
"Who's there?" I quavered. A small point of light appeared right in the centre of my closet and then it began to glow. I slowly got out of bed and walked towards the light. That was when I heard the hissing sound. The glow illuminated a part of my closet revealing the light was coming from a transparent, box-like object. I went closer and saw it was a crystal.
My eyes were glued to the crystal box as the hissing sound called to me. I was no longer afraid. My right hand stretched out on its own to touch the box. The hissing sound was magnetic, pulling me in.
All I thought about was my mother's wish for a better life. Without me, she wouldn't have to work so hard and she would be happy.
I froze as my fingers touched the box. The box liquefied and my hand was sucked in. A warm feeling engulfed my body as I looked through the crystal and saw a beautiful island inside where little children ran around on the shore, playing and laughing. They looked so happy.
With a smile, I touched the box with my other hand and heard the closet door shut behind me before the liquefied crystal covered my whole body. I was in paradise.
The rushing sound of the waves on the beach made me grin. The sun was tingling warm on my skin, the sand felt cool and soft under my bare feet. My shoes!
I looked back and it was like watching through a screen: I laid on my bed and my eyes were closed. My mother held my hands and cried. Paramedics stood by, ready to place me on a stretcher.
"Hey, Eddie!" I turned to see a girl with fiery red hair smiling at me. "My name's Rosemary. Come with me. Let's play."