The Skinny People.

In the story 'William.' I talk about seeing things when I close my eyes - this is one of the things I saw. (don't worry, I don't anymore)

Just a minute. I have to say one thing. Nobody knows this, nobody knows they even exist. Everyone would laugh. I know they would. They'd laugh and then wonder what kind of help I'm getting, because it's obvious I need it. So I keep it to myself. I keep my mouth shut. I live in fear alone. I envy everyone else. They don't see them, they're only for me. Which sounds kind of special but it's really that much more terrifying. Because they're evil. There's nothing good or wholesome about them. They don't ever come close but they're always there, waiting. They terrorize me when I close my eyes. My poor tired eyes are so exhausted! But I can't shut them. They won't let me. It just invites them into my mind when I do. So I sleep in snatches. It's back-breaking and mind-breaking and a living nightmare.

I call them the Skinny People. They are my unwanted sidekicks. There are always a bunch of them, in different sizes. Always up near the ceiling in the corner of my room. They have stick figure bodies and big round heads that loll on their stick necks. They have no faces but they're always looking at me. They're not friendly. They silently assure me that I have finally gone crazy and no one would let me walk this world if I breathed a word of them to anyone. They're threatening. They're violent but I don't know how or why. They're composed of pure feelings. They are terror and jealousy and greed and hopelessness. When I close my eyes to try to get a little rest, they are there. ALWAYS. Floating up above, capering, mentally laughing, their mouths big wide O's. It's so scary! Sometimes they point at me. Looking at them makes the reality in which I live seem to bend and twist out of shape. Real objects seem too thin and other things seem fat. It makes my mind sick and they know it. They laugh.

I'm doomed. I know I am. They will kill me one day, it's inevitable. They will frighten me to death or I will kill myself to get away or to get some peace. My death certificate will say suicide or a heart attack or something, but it will be them. The Skinny People. One day, any day now, they will drift down. I am too scared to move in my bed. Too scared to close my eyes. Too scared to tell. I pray for peace but I have no hope for it. I pray to god but I don't believe in one. I pray because it's all I can think to do. Why don't they just go away? I am reduced to begging every day, but there's no one to beg. No one knows. And even if I told, no one would understand.

Reviews

[Jaybee23]

I don't know if the skinny people are among me, but after reading this i'll surely we wary. chilling. I'm not even going to attempt to analyze this great story, not that I could sufficiently do so. I just imagine a pitch black room null of sounds except a loud clock ticking away the seconds until...