The Man, Over There

He tapped on the screen of the Nest thermostat. The temperature read 74 degrees, just as he expected. As he turns to leave, his wife suddenly ran up to him from the kitchen. “There’s a man over there!” she screams, pointing in the direction from where she came.

He turned to console his wife.  And there, just before the dining table, stood a shadowy figure of a man, silhouetted against the dark backdrop. He wore jean pants and a jean jacket and T-shirt. He could not see the man’s face as the shadow darkened it.

“Is he friend or foe?” he thought as he quickly scanned the room. He needed to know how this man got in. The windows are all closed. And so was the sliding door. And he had just walked past the front door, and the garage door on his way to the thermostat. There is no way this man could have got in the house, walk past him and now stood before him in the kitchen.

Terrified, he calls out the name of Jesus to drive the evil spirit away. But no sound came out of his mouth. And he remembers from the movie “The Exorcist” that you need to make the sign of the cross as you say your incantations. He waved his hand in front of him and continued to invoke the name of God. Still, no words came. He looks around the coffee-colored wall in despair, struggling with words, terrified of what might happen next. He has never believed in ghosts before, now it scared him so. “Should I just try to talk to him?” he thought. “He might leave if I do.”

As he continued to grasp for words, he felt hands grab him by the arm. Expecting the worse, he turned to his wife. Then he heard her say, “Hey! Hey! Wake up! You’re moaning in your sleep!”

Stranger in the Kitchen

© 2020 – 2023, Norman Talon. All rights reserved.

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