The morning brought gargled birdsong and splashing animal footsteps. The man opened his eyes first, before letting the rest of his body wake up with his pupils. He was met with a blinding light which almost caused him to fall out of bed. Every last curtain in this room was wide open. It was a huge room, mostly bare with a bookshelf on the opposite wall from the bed and a leather chair facing the largest of the 3 windows.

Stumbling, the man finally got his bearings and walked out of the room dizzily. The doorway led to a long hall with framed portraits of obscure magistrates all the way down. By the end of all the impressive man and stone busts a steep spiral staircase proceeded further into the gigantic house.

Through the scent of dust and old parchment cut the smell of cooking batter and the sizzle of frying eggs. The man passed 3 identical hallways on his way down, tracking the smell of pancakes and bacon. Then, the stairs ended on ground level where the pleasant smell perforated every inch of the air around him with a kind of gentle and subtle intensity.

This corridor was different from the rest. It was full of light and every 20 feet down another archway—alternating sides on the wall—would lead into who-knows-what.

Might as well try my luck. He thought with cheerful sarcasm that he laughed at. Although he’d only been cut off from humanity for about a day, he was beginning to crave human interaction with a kind of insane lust.

He ran to every doorway with crazed excitement, looking for the shadow that had danced in his dreams that night. He knew that she was real, that much he was sure of. It the was the uncertainty that worried him. She might have left the house and had put breakfast on the table just for him, or he could be hallucinating the entire thing. Who could tell what strange things his subconscious could dream up?

With every archway he looked through, he became more and more frantic. First there was a standard living room with a couch, recliner, and 2 tall bookshelves covered in thick, dark book. Next came a master bedroom, a bathroom, an office with papers scattered in every imaginable spot, and a dining room with a long table running it’s length and a glass cabinet filled with glittering plates and other table decorations.. The man was giving up hope. He was at the end of the hall with only one more door left. Without missing a beat but with a great disappear wearing down on him, he rounded the corner.

A kitchen unlike any other was beyond the last archway, stoking his excitement and eagerness for human interaction and encouraging his wild fantasies. It shared the linear theme of the rest of the house, but it an elegant way. A counter of spotted silver caught the light and shone a large white splotch on the light maroon ceiling. A great hunger passed through his bones, and not just from his stomach. He was famished for people and the warmth of their skin. He needed to know he wasn’t going insane when he heard his own thoughts bounce around the room instead of conversation.

His feet were being stubborn, but he managed to drag them to the counter where the food he had smelled sat, steaming in the sunlight. With his back to the doorway, he leaned against the counter, staring out the window thoughtfully, wishing he knew more. Where the food came, what his dreams of the women meant, and what those sounds coming from the hallway were.

Turning around slowly, he dropped his plate. In the doorway was the figure from his dreams, in no more clarity. She was fuzzy and frightening, staring at him with yellow eyes with no expression. For a second, his tired mind bypassed these details and he was just glad for the company. He stepped towards her without realizing it. She just stood there, not moving or even acknowledging his presence.

Cautiously, he tilted his head. “Hello?”

She copied his movement and opened her mouth. Naturally, the man thought she was going to speak. Instead, the sound just tumbled out of mouth, raspy and repetitive.

“Hello?” she said. It wasn’t a women’s voice, but it was familiar.

“Say that again.”

“Say that again.” The man gasped. It was like his voice had been put on a record, the record had been put through rough airport security, then played back to him. Needless to say, he backed away. She stayed in the doorway, head still tilted and eyes unfocused.

“How are you doing that? And don’t repeat me.”

The shadowy woman didn’t say anything. She understood commands, but she didn’t know how to speak for herself.

“TELL ME!” he screamed. Finally he was in the company of another humanoid, and she was delaying his needs. Something about her made him anger beyond belief. He didn’t know what to do but yell.

“Never.” she whispered. Stunned, the man stumbled backwards. His feet took him too far and he fell through the window. As he did so, the figure open here mouth, filling the forest with a horrible screeching. Despite the cuts and bruises that now covered his body, he scrambled further toward the forest like a crab.

She didn’t waste a minute. Running more fluidly than water, she practically floated over to him, pinning him to the ground even though she wasn’t touching him. Her hand hovered above his head by inches.

“Don’t you understand?” she whispered. A new emotion dominated her face. It was that of an extreme pain, the kind where it hurts too much to cry. “I have to be alone.” The man was almost relieved. If that was all, he could soon be on his way. But, in one swift movement, she grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the closest tree. His head exploded with pain. Although his mind was fully conscious, his body went limp, sealing off his senses from the world.

He understood that he was dreaming, but it was nothing like anything he’s ever experienced. Everything was in such a sharp resolution, even clearer than real life. But, the movement of everything around him was stretched out in a line of action, like a curser on a computer.

Out of his ‘dream’ emerged the woman who had been in the kitchen, but in here, he could see all of her in full color. Her face was soft with eyes that contrasted. They were of a bright green, filled with hurt and sorrow. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t move from his position on the ground. She advanced towards him, and all he could do was close his eyes in fear.

Instead of the pain that he bracing himself for, he felt the softness of a hand brushing down his cheek, sweeping away the matted strands of hair away from his ear, leaving it bare.

“Travis,” she sighed. It wasn’t in any emotion, although the way she said it left unfriendly chills on his arms.

“How do you know me?” He was shaking, scared to do anything but breath. “What do you want from me?”

She stood up, looking down at him from his curled up position on the ground.

“Just go away.” she whispered, tearing up, her voice sounding tense and stressed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, Travis. I… can’t. Nothing can change that.” She turned around, leaving the man on the ground, hoping with all his might that she would leave him alone forever. No longer did he want to be surrounded by people. Now he just wanted to be in perfect solitude, just him.

“Please go away.” he pleaded, terrified for his sanity and his safety.

“I will. You don’t have to worry.” She didn’t even turn around to say this. With those simple words, she walked away into the haze of hallucination. While she faded into the mist, the man slowly regained confidence. It still being a dream, he stayed on the ground, thanking everything he believed in. He had survived with minimal trauma. His head suddenly got very heavy, forcing him to lie back down. In order to wake up, he would have to go to sleep. With the conclusion on what he must do, he leaned back and fell against the tree. He wasn’t going to move for a while.

He awoke exactly where he had fallen, under the large tree. Even though the window had been shattered, where there should have been debris was… nothing. The window was whole and gleaming in the orange sun. Everything was perfectly clean and tidy, like he had casually strolled outside for a mid afternoon nap. As he stood up, brushing off the dirt from his pants, he saw something waving on the window. He walked closer, wondering what it might be. Nothing came to mind.

When his nose was a foot away from touching the cool glass, he could read the note. It was written on old parchment which was wrinkled and creased, as if folded and stored in a drawer for years. He leaned in to try to interpret the loopy handwriting that adorned the paper. On it was scrolled a desperate note.

I would have liked you to have stayed longer. You were pleasant and you didn’t scream at me like everyone else. Travis, I suppose we all wish silly things. I wish I’d never been banished, that I didn’t have to endure this horrible punishment which has been assigned to me.But I have to, no matter what happens.You came out of a dream, and I thought you were too good to be true. And as life is, it was. You couldn’t stay because I had to force you out. I tried to be kind but my nature failed me. I hope one day you understand but for now, I’ll have to justify my actions with these next, simple words. Only these five will make it clear, even if it doesn’t make sense right now. So here you go, my Travis. The words that will haunt and nag at your mind for ages. The end of your sanity.
I HAVE TO BE ALONE


As the note had suggested, Travis was confused. He had no idea what it meant and he had no intention of finding out. Without taking the note from its final resting place, he turned on his heel and ran faster than he ever had. Even for the length of the note, it played over and over again in his head, word for word, festering and withering. Everything that was written would later come to pass. He went insane a few months later, screaming repeatedly, “I have to be alone! I have to be alone!” He went missing after that and no one every saw him or even wondered where he went.

He knew where he was of course. He was in the darkest regions of his mind, the place psychiatrists encourage you never to go. This was his horrible memory. The big empty house with the people in the paintings staring at him from their canvas perches. In his mind, he walked the halls, focusing, examining the faces. At the end of the 2nd floor hall, he noticed something new. A gold picture frame with nothing in it. It hung there, almost mocking him.

“You want to play? Play?” He yelled. He reached out to punch it, when he saw it. His face was now in that frame, mouth open, eyes bloodshot. “No. No, you witch. I will not succumb. Succumb, no. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to be part of you. This house, I-I know it’s you. I know this is where you torture your victims. No, friends. Yes, friends. We are all your friends now.” He giggled and went skipping down the hallway to the stairs. He ran down them to that once-broken-window. “I remember you.” He sang. “I want to be alone. I really do. Can I be part of your solitude. Please?”

“I understand now. Your actions have been justified full. The simple words make sense now. Everything makes sense now, unlike when I first read them. The words have been with me for so long. I don’t want to understand them. I don’t want them to leave me if everything else has to. But, it’s the end of my sanity. These words have been part of me for so long. I want them. I have to…” He stuttered and laughed, looking out the window, curiously and happily.

“You’re right. I have to be alone.”