Television | Strange Sights

It’s been a month now.

I let out a long sigh as I slumped lower against the headrest. My legs slid down the mattress carrying away the laptop which had been resting on my lap for who knows how long. The two sentence Google Doc was now too far away for me to type anything - not that I had any words coming to me anyways. I accepted the fact that I was deep in writer’s block and that instead of failing to force phrases out of my mind I should stare at the ceiling instead.

Not that anyone’s gonna read this, anyways.

The ceiling fan spun slowly and steadily. It was the only feature on the otherwise blank, flat, white ceiling. At this time of day it looked more gray than white, though. It was then that I realized how late it was; the sun had stopped shining through the blinds long ago and now the only source of light was the small desk lamp across the room. I turned over onto my left side to face my phone sitting right by my head. I tapped the screen to check the time: 12:13 AM - not as late as I expected. Still, though, I should probably get ready for sleep.

I sat straight up and, uh, did the thing where you slap both sides of your face at the same time to wake yourself up. I feel like there must be a specific phrase for that - “slap” sounds a bit too violent. Is “pressed” more accurate? “I pressed both hands onto my cheeks?” No, that sounds more wrong. This writer’s block really had my brain fried. Anyways, I collected my bearings and decided to go brush my teeth. I stepped down off the bed and felt the carpet underneath my feet. I took a few steps towards my closed, white door and felt a little bit of cold air drifting in from the other side. I opened it and found the darkness as I stepped through onto the stiff wood floor outside.

The weak light from my room reached down the short hallway only up to the beginning of the staircase which usually led down to the living room - now seemingly descending into a sea of void. I crept down the hall, careful to not step too loud or make the floorboards creak. As I approached the stairs the air only felt more cold and still, and the house only seemed to grow more silent. At the edge of the stairs I looked down into the abyss for just a moment before I was startled by a sudden loud noise - an electronic buzz - which reverberated through the house. I felt my entire body tense as I rushed into the bathroom and shut the door. As I caught my breath leaning my back against the door I noticed the sound of air starting to flow through the vents. I had once again been startled by the AC turning on.

A couple minutes later I finished rinsing my mouth and prepared myself to step back out into the hallway. I took a deep breath and opened the door. It was still the same dark hallway. At the other end the light from my room made a path back to safety, but my eyes felt drawn the other way. Once again, I gazed into the darkness. My eyes traveled down the stairs and into the living room; I could now barely make out the silhouettes of a couch and coffee table.

Each stair creaked loudly no matter how light I tried to make my step. Were they really that loud, or was it just the surrounding silence which made them seem that way? As I got closer to the bottom my eyes glanced around nervously. Wait, I thought to myself. Why am I even doing this?

I stopped with a few stairs to go as I noticed a faint blue light fade in from around the corner. I stepped down onto the floor, and the light faded. For a second I was left alone in dark space before the light faded back in. The entire room was illuminated for just a second and then once again cast into darkness, like the tide on a beach pushing and pulling the water.

Someone must've left the TV on.

I crept into the living room and found the source of light: the TV was idling on a streaming service, scrolling through previews of different shows and movies. I walked over to the couch and each time the light washed over the room I used it to search for the TV remote. When I found it, though, I didn’t turn off the TV. I sat down on the couch and faced the screen. I let it bathe me in light and pull me into the darkness. I still felt a little uneasy about the darkness surrounding me, but at the same time I was oddly calm.

After a minute or two I powered off the TV, and that’s when I noticed something outside: past the window, across the backyard, and through the trees I could see a small orange light. I started to reach out to it but stopped when I heard footsteps from upstairs. I froze in place and listened to the creaking floorboards for a very long few seconds before the sound seemed to stop.

It was then that I decided it was time to go to sleep. I walked up the stairs with less hesitance than I had before, and once I reached the top I saw that the door to my room was shut with no light shining from within. That wasn't how I had left it. I noticed the doorknob turning slowly. The door then quietly, smoothly floated open on its own, revealing another dark space behind it. Such a sight would have worried me more before, but now I was able to realize that I was already surrounded by darkness. What difference would it make to step into some more?

Maybe one day, I can find that light in the darkness.

I stepped inside.