Written for my monthly short story writing group. Theme: Witness. Illustrated in Adobe Fresco.
Ever since I was a small child, I could see things just out of the corner of my eye. Whenever I turn to look, their figures slip further into the shadows, around corners, anywhere to stay out of my sight. All throughout my life I felt their eyes on me.
Once, in the bath, I barely saw a thin figure peering from the edge of the curtain. I threw the curtain open and ran out of the tub sopping and soapy, chasing after it. I couldn’t catch them.
I grew up and grew to ignore them. Peripherals dark with shadows. Living with tunnel vision.
As an adult I eventually got therapy, and then psychiatry, and soon I was on a variety of treatments. I don’t know when it happened, but one day I realized they were gone. Life seemed brighter without the shadows being so full.
Now, when I’m alone, and it’s very quiet, I sometimes get this small worry inside me that I’m being watched. Then I remember to take my pills.