A Shadow of Doubt: A Short Story

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Brady stood at the foot of the old grimy window staring into the dusk sky waiting to for the familiar sound of tires over gravel. Soon the crunching noise broke through peaceful summer night as the family car backed out of the garage and started down the long drive. As the bright red taillights of the car disappeared into the distance he couldn’t help but feel excited. Finally with his parents gone and no one coming over to watch over him, he had, for the first time, the whole house to himself.
With the car gone Brady set off to complete all the chores his parents had left him. He had big plans for the night and no boring chores were going to get in his way. Quickly he headed to the kitchen where he began washing the dishes, then on to the laundry machine, and then to make the beds. As he worked inside the tired old house, the sun outside slowly dipped below the horizon, darkening the countryside.
The saggy old couch gave a sigh and spit out a puff of dust as Brady collapsed down onto it. Exhausted but with his chores finally done, he decided to scratch his plans for the evening of inviting friends over, opting instead to just relax on the couch. As he reached for the boxy old television remote, the noises of the night coming through the open window behind him fell silent. Strange, he thought but quickly forgetting about it he clicked the remote. Suddenly the walls of the dark, worn living room lit up as the TV sputtered and flashed to life. Shadows danced around the room, and images flashed, while he went to get something to eat from the kitchen. First to the fridge and then shuffling through the drawers, Brady was unaware of the light rattling sound of the locked front door being covered up by the noise of the TV in the...

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On the way home Brady tried to explain the threat that waited for the family ahead. Skeptical his father pulled up the gravel drive, parked the car, and got out to examine the house. Brady getting out as well followed closely behind his father, as he searched every inch of the house finding nothing of importance. Unconvinced with their son’s story, the couple wrote off his it off as simply a ploy to get their attention for leaving him alone.
That night Brady’s mother tucked him in, assuring he was safe inside their house. As she shut the door and walked away she noticed for the first time a set of light scratch marks on her sons door, making her wonder if maybe he was telling the truth, while inside the room Brady was sitting up at the noise of his closet door opening. As he looked over the door was slowly opening revealing a dark shadow lurking inside.

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