Midnight Walk
written by: Ann Christine Tabaka
@TabakaChris
It was around midnight, but isn’t that usually when darkness plays its evil hand? I couldn’t sleep so I decided to take a walk on the beach down the block from where we were renting a cottage for the summer. It was a warm and overcast night with a soft breeze. I was enjoying splashing my bare feet through the waves that broke at the edge of the sand. I was mesmerized by the rhythmic sound. Just then the clouds parted and the moon revealed a shocking sight in the sand. A body lay curled up along the shoreline. There was something unnatural about it, so I walked up to it to see if he was still breathing. I saw no signs of life. I did not bring my phone with me, and I knew that it would soon be high tide. I ran for home to call the police to report it before he was washed out to sea. I sat at the house, awake for hours waiting by the phone, but the police never called back. I was never called in for a statement.
The next morning there was nothing in the local news about a police report, and there were no reports of missing persons. It was as if it never happened. I was left wondering if it was just a nightmare, if I had imagined the whole thing. I am not sure what took place that night, but I can tell you that I never ventured out to walk the beach alone at night again.
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