Eyes in the dark (Flash fiction entry)

The eyes in the dark

The bright red of the traffic light reflected off the damp tarmac, making the street look almost demonic. This was shattered as the lights changed colour, becoming a sinister green instead. As Jane drove further along the street other colours bounced off the damp road: bright blue, yelling yellow, pleading pink.

Jane passed all of this, yearning for home after a long day. She left the gaudy lights behind and entered the darker suburbs. Suburbs so quiet. When her tyre burst, the noise lifted her out of her seat. Her hands gripped the wheel as the car became a bucking horse. Foot hard on the brake, she wrestled with the wheel until the car slowed, then stopped.

Shaking, she got out of the car and took several long breaths. She steadied herself and surveyed the car. A gaping gash was visible along the side of the deflated tyre. Jane gave it an angry kick, then composed herself. It wasn’t going to change itself. It was when she was retrieving the spare that she heard the noise.

Two metres away was an alley. An intensely dark alley. Out of that blackness came a sinister sound; a scraping that set her nerves on edge. She wanted to hide, but fear had frozen her. Like a statue she stood there as two terrifying green eyes emerged. The only thing moving was her pounding heart as the eyes came closer. Just as she was about to burst into a run the eyes pounded forward, yellow teeth appeared, orange body flew past, and Jane saw a big bushy tail as it disappeared into the night.

The dark invites the imagination to conjure up monsters out of the murk, but Jane would always know the reality would never be as bad as the fear it induced.