At the Stroke of Midnight

It was still outside as the wind whistled against the barn doors. Making them rattle amongst the silence. A young girl asleep in a pile of hay awoke to the sound much like a skeleton’s bone-shaking. She pulled the thick blanket laid over her away and yawned heavily. Rubbing an eyes at a time, she searched around the flashes of darkness.

Horses, cows, chickens, and pigs stirred around their pins. The horse’s tail flicked around thier space swatting at sleeping flies. Though, to the girl, it sounded as close to a soft gasping breath as possible. She searched amidst the barn for who the sound belonged to. Swat. Swat. Swat.

But found only the shifting animals around her. The sound grew louder as more flies buzzed past her ear. She wadded the blanket in her hand, bringing it up to her chin. Her dark pupils frantically searched for the source of the chattering sound.

Until it was joined by the chickens nuzzling against their pin. The old wood creaked like someone walking up a staircase as the girl drew the blanket closer. More chickens tussled closer together, in groups against the pin. The sound grew in volume. Creeakkk. Creeakkk.

The girl held the blanket over her head now, shaking to herself. But not from the stuff cold of the barn. Like the others, the sound grew silent as the chickens settled. Still, the swatting of the horse remained, quieter but persistent.

The pigs, in a pin closer to the girl, started with their tenacious oinks. First softly as each pig poured out its sound before the notes paired together. Much like a madman’s laughter. Echoing closer to the girl. Oink. Oink. Oink.

Her body began to shake as she squeezed her eyes shut. Trying to close off the horrific picture she was painting for herself. The pigs continued their call, upset no one came to comfort them. Soon the horse’s tail swung faster and faster. Unable to sleep from the parasites sitting on them.

The bone-chilling sounds combined together as the girl pictured an old disjoined man standing by the barn door. She held the blankets tighter around her, scrunched up into a ball. The last snoring animal, a shiny cow asleep in their pin. Snored as loud as a human body. Their notes soaring high before dropping into a wheeze. Like the wheezing of an old wore out body. Puff. Puff. Wheeze.

Her trembling figure borrowed her body deeper into the poking stack of hay. The noises seemed to collide all around her, giving in to her imagination. Until finally, the chickens grew restless and nudged closer to the rotten pin. It creaked louder than before leaving an empty echo bouncing off the barn’s walls. Sounding as if the figure was crawling toward her now.

Altogether, the creaks, cackling and chattering collided into a goosebump-inducing song. The girl buried her face against the blanket uttering a prayer. Her imagination wandered far beyond what she could reach. Making her see a disjoined figure reaching for her blanket now. Its bony finger stretched for the cloth idly protecting her. Clacking and chattering away. Nearly an inch away from her face she was gasping for air. The blanket moved with every puff.

The girl, in a fit of bravery, threw down the blanket and opened her eyes. There was no one there. Only the single animals and moonlight leaking around her. She sighed in relief. The horses, cows, pigs, and chickens fell into a short slumber.

She chuckled to herself for being so foolish. Listening as the winds picked up against the shattered walls of the old barn. The girl laid back down and pulled the blanket over her face. The gusts grew louder but her heartbeat slowed down.

Even the animals around her stirred once as the wind whistled. Until the doors slid open with one powerful gust. Clunking against the walls. She grew fearful again, trying to stay still as moonlight swallowed the barn’s cold interior.

Her eyes squeezed shut just as they had before, and she felt her heart thump against her chest. The blanket still held overhead, balled in her palms. The wind picked up again, this time blowing through the hollow walls. It swept the blanket out of her reach just over her head.

A scream escaped her as she sat up, breathing heavily. Finding the same animal-occupied space as before. With searching eyes, she hugged her knees to her chest and stared at the open front doors. She thought of crossing the freezing floor to close them but stayed frozen like a statue.

Slowly, her heartbeat dropped down, and she blinked several times. Telling herself over and over that the noises were all in her head. One last thought made her sit absent-mindedly still: If it was all the animals, then who or what opened the doors?

Something flew through the doors faster than she could see and dove for her head. Soaring up and tussling her hair. She jumped up, forgetting the blanket behind her as she ran out the doors and into the chilling night air. Her screams echoed into the barn and throughout the field as she sprinted far into the night.

Back in the barn, an owl flew once around the masses before landing on an old railing. It watched as her figure disappeared up the road where a small house sat. The barn owl hooted once before creeping between its wings for warmth.