It was a beautiful October day like any other. Your mother came half way of the stairs and yelled, “Breakfast time... Your pancakes are ready.” “Ok. I’ll be down in a minute.” You answered. You woke up, brushed your teeth, took a quick shower, grabbed your coat and went outside to take some pictures, with an old 35mm camera you found in the attic. The air was brisk as you stepped outside onto the porch. “Still early,” you thought to yourself, as you watched you breathe stream out in a white mist.

The mountains and streets are covered in a blanket of red, yellow and orange leafs that are falling from the maple trees, which line your cozy little town. As you walk, you notice a single yellow leaf caught in and draft. You snap a picture as it seems to dance on the air.

You look up at the sky, and watch an endless sea of clouds moving in front of the sun, and back out again. Slowly the shadows of the clouds move along the landscape to the East, like the souls of the dead finding their way home. You snap another picture.

The air is fresh, and filled with the slight smell of chimney smoke. You take a deep breath. The air is cool as it passes into your lungs. The smell of the burning pine wood smells sweet like incense … hazelnut… pumpkin pie. You notice a slight breeze blowing a cascade of ice crystals off the old run down wooden house you live in. They shimmer in the sunlight, making a rainbow of little prisms, each refracting an array of color as they float to the ground. You snap another picture, as you run out of film.

____

Later that evening, you develop your pictures in a small makeshift darkroom you call a closet. A beautiful leaf… The cascading hills... Your... One moment! What is this? The photo comes into focus in the tub of solution. You quickly hold it up to the dim red light. There someone standing on the rooftop… of your house! An old man dressed a black suit, with a funny white bib like one of those clowns you’ve seen at the picture shows. He has an unusually tall black hat, and a cane that he is perching himself up with. Standing on the arch, right above your bedroom window.

As you lie in bed that night, you can’t help but keep seeing that horrible face over and over. Looking down at your from the roof top, with that horrible angry glair. You start to think, “What if he is still up there… right now? That funny little man... Walking around on roof tops while people sleep… hobbling around with that old crooked cane.” The old boards of the small attic room creek, and pop as the wind blows in through the open window. “Is that him… up there? Who is he? What does he want?

You try to stay awake, but after a few hours you feel yourself drifting... drifting... drifting. Wake up! You light a candle, and shut the window. This will have to do. Surely the light will ward off this evil, black hearted little man. You lie back in bed, and pull the fluffy covers up to your eyes, as the creaking roof boards seem to echo through the darkness. You can beat it… just stay awake…

____

Suddenly, you set up. “Darkness… Where am I? It’s so quiet here!” You look around the room frantically, and are relieved to see the snow falling outside your little window seal. You hear slight gusts of air that seem to howl as they pass through the cracks in your window. You take a deep breath, as your heart starts to slows down, and crawl back into your chest. “I beat him… I’m fine… No funny little man is going to get me! This is just nonsense. There are no funny little men, hobbling about on people’s roof tops in the night. A chimney sweep perhaps… a double exposure. That’s it, just a coincidence. I’ve let my imagination get the better of me.”

Just then, in the moonlight… something odd… over by the window next to the dresser… like a… hand grasping a cane, sitting ever still in the darkness. “Is that really there… am I seeing things?”

It was a beautiful October day like any other. Your mother came half way of the stairs and yelled, “Breakfast time... Your pancakes are ready.” But today wasn’t like any other day. For today, was the last time anyone had ever seen you…

Horror-Scopes