I can feel it watching me. It sits there menacing , threatening to pierce the calmness of the winter night. My muscles tense and my heart pounding; it stares holes through me. I think about switching on the light, but know that confronting its wicked form would certainly end terribly. I stay lying, daring myself to move a muscle. I remember to breathe, since I had been holding on to the air in my lungs as if it was my last hiding place. I feel naked and helpless. There is nothing to do, I will have to confront the monster in the darkness.

Or not. There is another way out.

I don’t have to go through with this. I don’t have to give in to this demon eating away at my soul. The branches on the sycamore outside my window are as restless as I am. Their bare limbs clash against the pane as I feel the monster come closer. It touches my chest and begins entering my soul. It isn’t long before I am completely filled by the spirit. I will marry her tomorrow.