In The Middle Of The Night ✔

It is midnight and I'm walking on a lonely road. The street lights are the only source of light which is helping me to see my way. There are no people around to accompany me. And by the way, who will be walking in the middle of the night? Probably ghosts.

I laugh at this thought.

I'm not one of those who believe in ghosts. I'm one of those who tell ghost stories to frighten their friends.

I look around me. The road on which I'm walking seems to be build in the middle of a forest. The trees are on both sides of the road.

I take out my phone from my bag. No signal on the phone. Why is there no signal when I need my phone the most? If I had signal on my phone then I would've called my dad to pick me up from here.

But the worst part is that I don't know where here is?

By the way, I'm Julie and I'm seventeen years old. Today I had a school project to complete with my partner so I had gone to her house which is in the other side of my town. I went to her house and completed our project. And after that I was heading back home.

So, this is how I ended up being on this lonely road. I don't remember about this route when I went to my partner's house in the bus. Maybe it had slipped from my mind. But I also remember that I had dozed off while travelling in the bus. It was a two hour journey so what was I supposed to do other than sleeping? That time, sleeping seemed the best option. Maybe I had dozed off while we were travelling through this route.

I had been walking for twenty minutes. And my legs were tired. I had never walked so much in my entire life! I still continued to walk, in hope of seeing people somewhere near.

Tonight was a windy night. The trees were swaying with the wind. The dirt and the leaves were flying around. It seemed as if a storm was going to come.

I kept walking, shielding my eyes from the dirt flying around.

As I was walking I could sense someone's presence behind me. I felt coldness and fear. Was there someone walking behind me?

I wanted to see whether someone was walking behind me or not but I was scared to turn around. It seemed as if I'll die if I turn back.

I increased my speed. I wanted to get away from here.

"Julie," someone called from behind me. And I stopped suddenly.

How could a stranger know my name?

I wanted to turn around and ask that person but I didn't have the guts. I was terrified. Because I didn't know whether a person was behind me or a ghost.

I resumed walking, this time walking a little faster.

"Julie," the voice again called me. By now, I was heavily sweating. I was cold and fear had consumed me.

This is when I decided to run. I was convinced that the voice calling my name belonged to a ghost. If it were a normal person then I wouldn't have felt the chills. And any normal person here didn't know my name. In fact, there weren't any people when I was walking on this lonely road.

But now a ghost was running behind me on this not so lonely road.

I continued running. I didn't even dare to look behind me. I felt as if I would die if I looked back.

"Julie!" the voice shouted. It was a familiar voice that shouted my name.

I suddenly stopped running. And then the ghost which was running behind me bumped into my back.

Wait. The ghost bumped into my back? But I thought that ghost can pass right through you.

I immediately turned around and I saw...

Dad?

Was it my dad? Yes, that was my dad. I was relieved to see him. I went near him. He was heavily panting.

When he sensed my presence, he stood up and said, "You're grounded for two weeks."

What?!

"But dad," I was about to protest but he cut me off.

"Let me finish," my dad continued. "You're grounded for two weeks. One week for roaming in the middle of the night and one week for making me run after you."

"But dad, I thought that a ghost was running after me!" I protested, trying to reduce my punishment.

"Julie, ghosts don't exist," my dad stated. "C'mon, I left my car behind because I was busy chasing you."

So dad and I went back to where we had started running from.

Julie and her dad were going back to where they had come from running. Julie was really relieved to see her dad, who was walking with her on the lonely road. The street lights were the only source providing them light to see their way.

They both were walking, looking ahead of them, looking for their car.

Julie was so consumed with the thought of going home that she didn't realize that there was no shadow behind her father.

THE END.

[ Author's Note:

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