The Quiet Night

It had been a long day. Anna had had a long day of school, homework, babysitting her cousins, and chores. She was so tired as the sun set outside the house that she had grown up in. She loved watching the scene as the sky radiated with purple, pink, and orange. There was a quiet peace, this was her time.

Anna loved the night, because that was the time that she was able to do what she wanted to do. The first thing was simple; she ate a can of soup. She loved chicken noodle soup, but she liked to be alone when she ate it because she would take each little piece of chicken out. This was time consuming, but she also knew that her grandma would scold her for being wasteful. She fell into the comfy chair at the kitchen table, favorite bowl in hand full of soup, while watching an old sitcom on the tv, air conditioner full blast. This was the life.

After she was finished, she would get an arm full of outfits to change into. No particular reason, she just liked to play around. She had her ballerina tutu, her leather jacket, her Mickey Mouse ears. One after another, she would change, looking into the mirror and laughing. She turned the radio on to her favorite music, and proceeded to dance across the living room rug. This was her favorite rug, it was surrounded with multiple colors, and she would dance around the colored lines. It didn't matter if she was good at it, she just got lost in the music.

With the music still playing, she sank into the couch with a book of art. Looking through each page, she imagined a whole different world. In this magical world, there was no stress, no troubles, everything was peaceful. She dreamed of her castle in the clouds, with a beautiful pond surrounding it. She could imagine the gentle breeze brush across her face. She closed her eyes and smiled. The coldness of the air conditioner made it seem even more realistic. She longed to make this feeling last as long as possible.

Next, she decided to just wonder the house a little bit. There was an area that had a mysteriousness to it, especially after dark. She had grown up hearing all of these creepy stories. Her mother had once taken her back there, pointing to the fact that it was colder than the other parts of the house. This stayed with her.

In one area, it looked like it had been frozen in time. It was jammed with paperwork, magazines, newspapers, and boxes dating back at least to the seventies. Anna loved just looking around, the smell of history in the air. She sat at the piano in the den and played a few notes, while looking around at the couch that was full of old dolls. Anna remembered when she was little, amazed that these dolls were her size. Still now, there was a creepiness to these dolls, almost as though they had life in them.

There is a great debate as to whether there is such a thing as ghosts. But growing up in this house, Anna grew to believe. In the silent night air, she couldn't help but feel that she wasn't alone. She wasn't afraid, she just acknowledged it. Once in a while she would freeze with the feeling that she never could quite explain. It was weird, but somehow, in that weird way, she felt comfortable, almost like it was a protection.

It was really late, and Anna knew that she needed to get to bed. She almost hated for this night to end. Because at this time, late at night, when everyone else was asleep, she was left to her imagination, her dreams, her quirkiness, and the incredible knowledge that some things in life can't be explained. There is no logic to it, it just simply is. Life's great mysteries. Anna turned off the last light and stood for a minute, taking it all in with a deep breath. These are the moments that she would carry with her for her lifetime, and she would have it no other way.