Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Fears in the night

I woke up with a start. It's dark in my bedroom, pitchblack darkness.
Do I hear something?
Who's there?
There's a ticking noise. Someone's knocking on my window.
The sound grows louder as does the thumping of my own heart. Without making any noise and hardly any movement I try to pull the bedsheet over my head. So they can't see me and won't know I'm there.
But I can hear them. They're knocking on the window and tapping on the floor. Do I hear the floorboards creaking? Are they coming my way?
The sound grows louder in my ears. I don't dare to move and hardly dare to breath. I wish I were invisible. My body and mind are filled with fear, but there is no escape. I don't know where they are and if they are between me and the door.
If I switch on the light I can see the door and try to escape. But the intruders can see me as well.
If I screem, will somebody come to my rescue in time?
My fear slowly becomes intolerable. Not knowing what will happen now seems more scary than facing what of whoever is there. I take a deep breath and turn on the light.
Two tiny mouses run away. One from the windowsill, one on the floor. Perhaps they fear me more than I feared the monsters I made of them in my mind.

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