Spirits Of The Night Essay Research Paper

Spirits Of The Night Essay, Research Paper

SPIRITS OF THE NIGHT

There was a time in the town when you could walk out alone at night and not have to

fear anything. You could leave your doors unlocked and your car in the driveway without

worry. You could drop the kids off at the cinema downtown and not think a thing of it. Or

stroll through the park on a Saturday evening without watching every shadow or

movement in the evening twilight.

But no more. Now, doors barred the entrances along with the windows. Residents

hurried home lest they be caught outside after dark, and cars were secured in their

garages as cats and dogs were brought in from outside. People watched in terror as the

sun would sink low on the horizon, leaving the community vulnerable to the clutches of

the night.

This was a town gripped by fear, foreboding so powerful and pervasive that it was

evident in every stare in the residents’ eyes. They would sit in their living rooms,

mindfully watching the evening news on television or at their dinner tables, eating silent

meals of penance. And listening, always listening.

The wind would brush through the streets blowing the gutters clean of leaves and

debris. The wind would bring with it the cool air, the small voice, the lost souls of the

past. And they would pass down from street to street, grasping for any living entity that

dared to be out after dark. After their time in the light of day that was no longer theirs.

Parents would bar and shutter the windows against the curious faces of their children,

who wished to gaze out at the spectral parade that pasted by their houses. Come away

from there, they would command, fearing even a glimpse from the ethereal visitors would

portend dreadful consequences. The darkness was not for their eyes.

So the night would pass with terror and resignation. Night after night, the pattern

would remain unchanged. The town was accustomed to the strange sojourn of their

visitors and had resigned itself to sharing the night with the unearthly. Until he came to

town. Elliott was his name. He was slight in stature and unobtrusive looking. He easily

went unnoticed in crowds and was always fidgeting with his clothes, hair or watch band.

It was a nervous habit left over from his childhood. He walked along the streets, head

bent, always looking at the ground, straight ahead, as if some gigantic sink hole would

suddenly appear and swallow him whole. He was a nondescript, inconsequential little

man.

Except for the power. He had this unusual ability to talk to the dead. Elliott had

discovered the gift when he was a child. He heard voices and responded to voices that

others could not. His parents were convinced at an early age that Elliott was possessed,

insane or, at the very least, strange. They took him to psychiatrists, priests, shamans

and doctors. He was declared sane and competent and released to his parents’ custody.

But the voices continued. That was the most important reason for moving to the town.

He had heard about the evening visitors; now was the time to test his ability. Could he

really communicate with the terrors of the night? Or was his reality an illusion?

He moved into the town in late autumn. The leaves had turned and fallen from their

branches as the season was giving way to the onslaught of winter cold. Elliott had spent

most of his life in the tropical ambiance of the south and found the northern weather

harsh and unappealing. Most of the townspeople were as disagreeable as the cold.

It was a week before he dared to venture out after dusk. The wind had begun to blow

through the streets and every living soul seemed to have disappeared from the

landscape. The howling came from the west; it was a high pitched shrill vocalization

brought by the wind. Elliott could feel it in his mind as clear as the wind rushing through

his hair. His cheeks became stony cold and his eyeballs ached. Still he stared into the

encroaching darkness as the howling persisted. From the east they came, hundreds,

perhaps thousands, of them. They danced and floated through the night air, passing

down the street, coming closer with each minute to Elliott. He watched in awe as the

spirits rose and glided with the wind, weaving ethereal vapors through trees and fences,

growing ever closer.

The final rays of sunshine were caught in the web of darkness and disappeared into the

western sky. The moonless night engulfed him and the howling became more distinct. He

peered down the street and his eyes widened. He could see the ethereal bodies of the

dead, floating up the street, a mass of gossamer appendages, luminescent in their

spectral transparency. They drifted down the road, passed barred homes and locked

gates, floating as feathers blown in the evening gusts. They wound around trees and

through hedges, passing by osmosis through solid objects. Watching the parade as it

pa

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