Scared

It was 11:15 on a Friday night, and I was wide awake. I sat in my banana chair and rapidly flipped through the T.V. channels. My regular Friday night show was running a commercial, and out of habit, I held my thumb on the channel changing key until another show caught my attention. After seeing a two second clip of every show on my television, I gave up and returned to channel 59 where my favorite T.V. host continued with his usual routine of insulting celebrities. The show was simple, the host was cute, and it made me laugh. Let's just say I am easily entertained. Five more clips of ridiculous reality shows went by, and then more commercials. "Come on," I groaned. I sat slumped in my chair staring at the screen. Then it came on my television. I had been anticipating this moment. I knew the commercial would find me. Why did it have to find me in the middle of the night? My T.V. screen turned to a girl in a hospital bed, and then came the music. The eerie music. The music that you hear and you know that you are in trouble. I struggled to find my blanket, but it was too late. My eyes were glued to the screen and I couldn't look away. "The Grudge 2"commercial continued to play for what seemed like hours. With every clip, I grew more horrified. I was so scared, I began to shake. Just turn it off, I thought. I couldn't. A part of me wanted to see it. The other part of me was so terrified I wanted to cry. Finally the last scene appeared on the screen. The most horrifying of the whole commercial. There she was. The scariest thing I had ever seen. That pale white face and that long stringy hair. And Dear Lord, those eyes. Those huge black eyes. Then it was over. I was dumbfounded at how scared I was. I hadn't even seen the actual movie and I was afraid to go to bed. Once my show was over, I turned off the T.V. On my way to my bedroom, I turned ON every light that I passed. The bathroom light, the hall light and the light across the hall. There, I thought. Now no GRUDGE ladies can kill me. The fact that THE GRUDGE wasn't real still wasn't making a connection with me. To tell you the truth, even as I type this, I still can not make the connection that the GRUDGE lady isn't real. How can something so freakin' scary not be real. Anyway, I pulled back the covers on my bed, first making sure that the GRUDGE lady was not waiting to grab me, and I slid under the blanket. I was dying of heat, but I pulled the heavy blanket up to my eyeballs. If I let even my arm hang out of the covers I might be doomed. I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep. Like that was gonna happen. I would close my eyes then open them again, checking the hall for any grudge carrying Japanese ghost ladies. This is ridiculous, I thought. Just go to sleep you wimp! I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to keep them closed. After fifteen minutes of keeping my eyelids clamped together, I drifted off into a very restless sleep.

I sprung up in my bed. I knew something was wrong. My head was sweating and it was pitch black. Where are all the lights, I thought. I reached over to my lamp and flipped the switch. There was no light. I tried again. My room remained black. "Oh no," I whimpered out loud. I began to panic immediately. I threw back my covers and rushed blindly into the hall. I felt around the wall until I found the light switch. I desperately flicked the switch. No light! I sprinted down the dark hall until I found the next switch. Again, I prayed for some light, but God apparentley wasn't listening. I stood in the pitch black hall shaking. I was half asleep, but that didn't keep me from being frightened. "Where is the light," I moaned. Tears started to well up in my eyes. By this time I was sure that I would turn my head to the stairs and see her coming for me. Her pale white face would float up the stairs and her lifeless eyes would hunt me down in the dark. I turned away from the stairs and ran back into my room. As I threw myself back under the covers I remembered my flash light. I opened my desk drawer and pulled it out. It was my last hope. I pushed the button on my green flash light and from the bulb came a weak and flickering light. I could barely see in front of me with the light it gave off. After about two seconds, the light went out all together. My stomach turned and I was sure I was doomed. I threw my flashlight to the ground and buried myself deep under the covers. Just don't open your eyes, I thought. If you keep your eyes closed, then you won't see what is coming up behind you. I kept my eyes locked shut. I feared that if I were to open my eyes, I would be staring into the black eyes of the GRUDGE lady. I continued to shake and sweat under my pile of blankets, but I was too frightened to even think about moving. Eventually I would drift off to sleep, but would soon be awakened with fear. After what seemed like hours of shaking and hiding, I heard a soft hum. Oh no. She's right behind me. She's going to kill me. Luckily, I was wrong. After the hum, there was a soft click, and my room was flooded with light. I peeked out from the blankets, and once I saw that the GRUDGE lady was not hovering over me, I kicked off the heavy comforter and sat up in my bed. "Oh dear light," I said. "Thank you! Thank you electricity for coming back on!" After I praised every light and lamp in my house, I lay back down in bed and shut my eyes. I was out like the power had been not five minutes ago. In the morning I woke up and reflected on yet another of my midnight experiences. Never again, I thought. Never again will I watch another GRUDGE commercial for as long as I live! I skipped down the stairs and threw myself on the couch in front of the T.V. I picked up the remote and with a swift click, the dark screen produced an image. The black eyes met mine and I threw the remote to the ground and dashed up the stairs to my room.