The Story Continues Responding to JBAZ

"Now, I said now!" Carl yelled. "Grab the kids. We have to leave!"

Jaylene scurried from the kitchen, up the stairs, bounding by twos to collect the children. She had never seen Carl act like that before with such command over his words. What the hell was going on, she thought, her mind racing a mile a minute while she faked a calm demeanor, throwing jackets and sneakers on little ones.

Meanwhile, Carl's angst was overpowered by curiosity. As much as he knew better than entertaining what might be on the other side of the window, he couldn't help but move in for a closer look. He turned the kitchen faucet off, patted his hands dry with a dish towel, and pinched the blinds, peeking slowly; one eye open, then the other.

Shadows hurled themselves against the window pane like they detected Carl's peering eyes. He jumped back for a moment then resumed his eye-spy, thinking this just simply could not be. Again, he pinched the blinds, peeking slowly, one eye open, then the other, and the shadows hurled themselves once more.

Faster with more purpose.

Carl knew that shadows don't react this way. Sure, they merge, change size, flicker, and dance, sort of like a candle, but throw themselves at a window like their own entity or being, no, no, no- not a chance!

He snapped back to his previous notions and turned away from the window, thinking about Jaylene and the children when a sing-songy sound beckoned.

"You-hoo!" rang from beyond the pane. It was short and sharp at first.

Carl halted in disbelief, shook his head, and proceeded to walk away when "You-hoo" beckoned again, short and sharp as before.

Jolted but with a surreal appeal, Carl felt his would-be walking freeze in place like he was in a dream state yet aware and determined to wake up.

Short and sharp became a long-winded sigh.

"youuuu-hoooo, youuuu-hoooo, youuuu-hoooo..."

Lacking control over his bodily functions, Carl turned back around facing the window. In a trance-like state, he rotated the pull tab clockwise, opening the blinds, and obliging to the shadows' calling. He felt the weight of the infracted light source, now pounding on the glass, urging him to lift the blinds all the way up for total exposure.

A mix of song and chatter whispered on the other side. Not quite muddled but not quite clear, the commotion piqued Carl's curiosity even more, and his hands reached for the pull strings, obeying what felt like a Pied Piper's calling.

Halfway to full exposure, Carl felt a power surge in his body. His heart beat excitedly despite the shadows' command and the trail of cracking glass growing with each string pull. He was almost there; only a pull or two more.

Jaylene stood in the kitchen doorway with the children tapping her foot.

"We are ready to go. Carl, did you hear me?"

Carl heard nothing.

"For Petesake, You-hoo, Earth to Carl."

Just seconds from full exposure, Carl dropped the pull string.

"What did you just say?"

***

My story responds to JBaz's top story found here 👇

As a person who doesn't write much fiction, I appreciated this exercise. If you are interested, there is still time to submit your unique take on the prompt. After all, we can all use a little practice stretching our writer's muscles.

Thanks, JBaz, and thank you, dear reader, for stopping by! 😊