John Packer's Short Story: 30-1 A. M.

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It was a late Saturday night, later than any sane person ought to be up. I, John Packer, had just gotten home to my apartment from an awful shift at the laundromat in which I worked. See, I was the night janitor there, and since the laundromat was open until midnight, my shifts start around 12:30 - 1 A.M. Some nights, it wasn't so bad. I could get done in under 2 hours. But tonight, I was stuck there for about 4 - 5 hours. It was a mess. Aside from the usual dirt, mud, and dog shit one might find on the floor, some slob had just dumped a load of filthy clothes - I swear they must've worked in the sewers by the smell - in one of the machines, and just left it there. They were covered in the most disgusting assortment of extremities one could ever find clinging onto one's clothes, so it's no wonder they were left behind. Long story short, I had to wash them several times, just so I could take them out of the blasted machine! It was around the third wash when I started feeling a strange... prescence in the room. Unnerved, I went around the laundromat, checking on both the front and back doors, making sure they were tightly locked. They were. I shrugged, deciding to ignore it. It was about 3:30 A.M. at this point, so it was more than likely just my imagination playing tricks on me. I still felt the prescence, as if someone - or something - was watching me. And as much as I tried to forget about it, it was still fresh in my mind. After changing out of my work clothes, I decided against putting on clean clothes, instead opting to go naked. I loved how open it made me feel, to feel every part of your body rubbing up against the air. Before heading out of my room, I checked my bedside alarm clock. 4:46 A.M. I remembered that there was a late-night showing of my favourite sitcom at 5 A.M., so I started heading out towards the main room of the apartment. But on my way to the couch, I started feeling that eerie prescence again. Had someone followed me home? I was puzzled. …show more content…
I couldn't feel the prescence at all after I left the laundromat. Unless of course, someone knew where I lived. Frightened, I hurried over to my kitchen area, grabbing a large kitchen knife, breathing heavily. Someone was in the room with me, but it dawned on me that I was the only person who had access to my flat, aside from my landlord - who was obnoxiously loud - but it couldn't possibly be him. I slowly made my way around the room, directing myself to an area where the prescence was most prominent: near my washing machine.

"Show yourself!" I snarled, expecting someone to be hiding behind the washer. "I'm armed and extremely dangerous with this tool of mine, so unless you want to be impaled at least a dozen times, I suggest you come out, right now!"

But there was no response. I felt kinda silly when I realized I was shouting at my washing machine, when there was no plausible way a human being could fit behind it. The prescence eventually disappeared, so I returned the knife to its holder, shaking my sleepy head as I made my way to the couch. Oddly enough, the remote wasn't where I thought I had left it. But at this point, I was too tired

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