Treading the Fault Line

I had been sitting in my car for the last hour, debating whether or not I should go inside. The house was set back from the street, and I could barely make it out through the trees. It was a small, one-story house with white siding and a blue door. The bushes around the house were tall, but occasionally I'd catch a glimpse of someone peering at me from behind them.

My phone buzzed. It was my mother.

Are you going home?

I looked at the little blue house again, then back down to my phone. No, Mom. I'm not going home.

I don't know what you're talking about, she texted back.

I put down my phone and sat for a minute, trying to collect myself before I went inside. There wasn't a light on in the house that I could see. Nothing but shadow between the trees and bushes. Were they still watching me?

I heard something rustle in the bushes in front of me. Shit! They were really close! My heart started pounding even faster than it already was, but I didn't want to lose my nerve now that I was here.

I grabbed my phone and rolled down my window an inch or so to yell out "Hey! Is anyone there?" There were no more rustles in the bushes, but I could tell someone was still watching me by the way their shadow moved behind the windows in front of me.

"Hello?" I said louder. "Are you in there? This is private property!" Now what if they didn't understand me? What if they just kept watching me silently from behind their bushes? There was no more movement from within the shadows of that little house. "Hello?" My voice cracked after saying it so many times so quickly. My hands were shaking with fear and adrenaline as I started my car and drove away from that little blue house in the woods.