Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Scary.

Lots of years ago when I was about fourteen years old, my mother caught laryngitis and couldn't whisper, let alone talk.
I'm now going to change the topic entirely, but the above is important to the story, akay?

One night during the summer holidays I was in bed late at night and watching a very scary film called 'The Haunting', the original 1963 version, not the rehashed version that came out a few years ago, which I can't even remember who starred in.
Anyways, this film is one of the few that have made me feel scared; the sort of scared that makes you realize that you've been holding your breath only when you suddenly gasp for air when a loud 'bang' or 'thump' gets your attention.
I was about half-way through the film and had got to a seriously scary bit that had me pulling the duvet up so that I could hide, when I heard another noise, but not from the telly, this noise came from outside.
I turned the volume down so that I could listen more carefully and yet again I heard the noise.
It was a scream of sorts, but it didn't sound quite human... It might have been a baby's cry, or then again, it could have been an animal; to me it sounded like a tortured soul, or possibly a banshee, as after sitting through nearly an hour of seriously scary film, I was a tad edgy to say the least.
The noise continued, and fighting the urge to hide under the duvet, I steadied my nerves and went from my bedroom to the landing in order to have a look out of the window onto the garden so that I might find out the source of the howling.
The rest of the house was in darkness as I opened the window and leaned out...
I strained my ears trying to suss out where the noise was coming from and had almost figured it out when suddenly the window in the bathroom (which was right nest to where I was on the landing) slammed making the curtain billow out!
I screamed, and screamed and the screamed again just to emphasize the point!
The dogs awoke and joined in by barking, the student that was staying in the guest room woke up and yelled out in panic, lights went on in neighbours houses, and I was about to scream some more when I realized what had happened.
Being dark, I hadn't noticed my mother standing by the window in the bathroom. She had also heard the noise and gone to investigate, and not being able to talk hadn't been able to let me know she was there.
It took a long while before any of us were able to get back to spleep, and I still get jittery whenever I watch The Haunting.