THE MIDNIGHT ZONE

Short story from Creative Writing Class. Lunch Box Prompt Anon: The Midnight Zone

There is an odd time of the night, when the bugs dance and sing, where everything else seems entirely too still. Even on the warmest of nights, you can see your breath if you focus hard enough. The grass smells sweeter and the water tastes better. The world is asleep to those unaware. A few stragglers linger in the social decline of the night. The street lamps flicker a staccato beat, a morse code that no one can translate. 

If you listen closely and keep your breathing shallow, you can hear the sweet melodies of those creatures who go unseen. The animals that create myth slink out from the shadows. Certain noises are heard that seem out of place--a lion’s roar, a laugh too high pitched to be from a child, a song too sweet to ever think of again--and for a moment you wonder if your mind's playing tricks. Silence can lead to insanity, as we choose to believe, but our quiet is when the world is the loudest. Creatures you can’t see will tell their story. Animals you can’t imagine will graze on your mother’s herb garden. Gods and goddesses alike will walk among mortals. 

During these odd hours of the night, those who hide will let their guards down. The bridge between our world and theirs opens and you can see for the first time in your life. The sweet symphonies of the nymphs sweep through the trees, tangling and teasing with the wind. The sirens’ seduction is replaced with the cheerful glee of splashes and giggles in your backyard pool. Centaurs and sprites play ball with the forgotten basketball wedged in the storm drain. 

You keep your eyes shut tight, knowing that all of this will shatter back into reality if you dare peek. Instead, you listen. Their magic extends and heightens your senses and you can see more than you ever could with your own eyes. Your breathing slows and your body hums with enchantment. Witches watch over you. The sun starts to shine and you can feel it before you see it through your shut eyes. Silence settles and you don’t know when you slipped into a sleep, but you wake up wondering if it happened at all.