Knowing

Knowing

A Story by Storm
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A girl and her sister are left home alone during the Apocalypse.

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“Someones at the door.”

There hadn’t been a knock, Thia just Knew. Looking out the window, it would only be a matter of time.

Things were hard to see, even with the full moon out, bathing the world in a pale glow that almost hindered your eyesight, hampering your night vision. However, we were instructed to never have lights on at night. You never know what attention that may bring, mother would say and what mother said was what we did. Not because she was overbearing or strict, but because she was right. And so we huddled against the bright night, our windows mostly boarded up. All the doors on the bottom floor had been barricaded; couches leaned up against the doors and bookshelves propped up against the windows. The only light in the house was the moon glancing through the open window on the upper story, where Thia and I were.

Mother had gone out for supplies, leaving me in charge; in charge of the house and my weird nine year old sister. Not that I didn’t like her, she just unnerved me. She was small for her age and wispy. Her large moonlit eyes stared at me as if she had all the answers. Thia always seemed to Know; the endings of books, the lottery, or even what you were going to say, she Knew. I knew she was right, just as I knew mother was right; so when she said someone was coming, I prepared myself. There was no timeline on her Knowing, and so we sat, waiting, holding hands. 

No knock would come.

“Hello?” said a voice after a long while; sooner than I had expected, than I had hoped. It was the smooth and low voice of a man, one that seemed to demand to be heard, “is anyone in there?”

We could see him from where we were sitting. He shadowy outline against the moon lit ground. Every so often, the light would catch a detail; a sharp jaw, a straight nose, blonde hair that would shine and distract. He wasn’t tall by any means, but he seemed strong enough to be a threat...but then again everything was a threat in this world. You always have to watch for any sign of danger, mother would say. So we watched and said nothing.

“I only need a moment of your time.”

“Make him go away.”

The man couldn’t hear Thia’s whispered demand but I could. She didn’t sound like a child, she sounded like a smaller version of mother; made me wonder if mother Knew as well. I shook my head; that wasn’t something to focus on right now.
“We don’t know what he wants.” I urgently whispered back.
“We don’t, so we can’t let him in.” she sounded so sure.

“I saw you moving in the window earlier.”

That made my decision for me. There was no venom in those words but they felt sinister all the same. We couldn’t hide anymore. There was no pretending that we weren’t home, that this was nobody’s home. No hiding and no waiting; we had to do this ourselves.

“Make him go away.” Thia repeated resolutely next to me, grabbing my arm hard in her urgency. 

Thia always Knew. 

I stood up, as tall as I could, and looked down at the man, “Go away.”

The man looked up as if startled, unaware of where we were before then. He whispered under his breath, “S**t, it’s a kid?” Unfortunately for him, sound carries when it is cold.

Who else did he think was here? Did it matter? Did us being kids change whatever plans he had? Or did it change nothing? I couldn’t decide which was the better answer.

“Go away.”  I repeated, reaching for the gun beneath the window sill. I knew how to use it, but we also knew to stay away from it. Dire circumstances, mother said; did this count?

“Now, well I can’t do that.” the man wrung his hands, looking about nervously, “See, I am here seeking aid; my son is sick,” that stopped my hand, “and I don't have a place for him to sleep off his fever.” 

“Your son?”

“Yes, he has a bad fever.” he made no mention of other symptoms, “I don’t need medicine or food, just a place to rest.”

Why didn’t he find an abandoned house, one where he didn’t need to convince me to let him in. It was a quiet night, surely he didn’t need to put his son in this stuffy house. I look away from the man for one moment, looking at the pale blue forest that surrounds our house. How had he found them?

“Where is he?”

The man seemed taken aback, “What?”
“Your son, where is he?”

“He’s back with his mother. Didn’t want to move him if we didn’t have to.”

Plausible. I just didn’t know...I didn't Know.

“Go find help somewhere else.” I didn’t sound sure, not even to myself, “you won’t find it here.”

Again the man glanced behind him, “Now he’s real sick, I can’t go searching elsewhere; there is nowhere else.”

I looked to my right, where my sister was hiding; she looked scared, the first time in awhile that I had seen her act like a normal child. That solidified my resolve.

Thia always Knew.

Click 

“You’d better leave now.” I had never felt more adult than when I had that gun in my hands. I hated it.

“Woah there little lady, I don’t mean trouble.”

“Then leave.” 

The glance the man gave me sent shivers down my spine. Finally his eyes caught the light, one a cloudy nothing, the other dark and piercing; they held an almost pitying look, stretched across the obvious anger.

“Whatever you say, little miss. Have a good day now.”

I put the gun down as soon as he was gone. Whoever coined the phrase out of sight, out of mind was dead wrong; he was all I could think of. Those signs of danger mother said to look for were there right?

“Was that the right thing to do?” I asked no one.

“It was.” Thia answered anyway, in that voice that told me there was no arguing, “you made the right decision.”

Thia always Knew.

But instead of feeling better, I sunk lower. Did I really make a decision at all? Following mother’s rules and and Thia’s Knowing, could I really say I had done anything but hide behind them to make the choice for me? That was all I ever did. 

Mother’s rules and Thia’s Knowing….I was sick of them; what if they were wrong? Would we ever know? 

We would if that man came back. I had seen a threat in his eyes, even if I couldn’t hear it in his words. He would come back, this I Knew. And so I sat, gun nearby, ready.

Thia seemed unbothered. She played with her toy cars, seeming oblivious to the world; forgetting immediately the decision she had made for us, that she had used me to make. So odd how she can be such a normal child at the most unnormal of times.

She perked up, “Mama’s home.”

Who Knew how long that would be.

© 2020 Storm


Author's Note

Storm
This was an exercise from my creative writing class. There was a page limit (I went over it...) so its not as in depth as I would like, but I would like to know people's thoughts before I expand it. I'm only interested in reviews on content and flow, rather than grammar editing.

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Added on March 11, 2020
Last Updated on March 12, 2020
Tags: apocalypse, psychological thriller

Author

Storm
Storm

Eugene, OR



About
Just a nb gay nerd who has too many stories in my head. It only lets me pick one genre but I love writing SciFI, Fantasy, post apocalypse, and queer romance (specifically in those genre.) I'm tryin.. more..