Tales for the Midnight Hour by J. B. Stamper

Author:J. B. Stamper [Stamper, J. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Horror, Short Stories, Horror tales; American
ISBN: 9780760767764
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2005-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

city were drowned out here. Ellen walked on, listening to the leaves whispering in the night air.

She felt as though she were a thousand miles from civilization. But then her ears picked up another sound. It wasn't a sound from the city outside and it wasn't a sound from the trees, either. She listened to her own footsteps on the cement path. She told herself that was what she had heard.

But no, she heard it again, an echo of her own footsteps behind her. She was sure of it now, there were other footsteps, following her. Fear crept into her mind. It made her heart pound and her legs walk faster.

Soon, Ellen knew she had reason to be afraid. The footsteps behind were keeping pace with hers; they had quickened with her own.

She kept herself from running, knowing she must not show her fear; she knew she must stay in control of herself. Forcing her legs to slow down, she realized the footsteps behind her were not slowing down. They came up from behind, quickly, eagerly.

Ellen couldn't control her fear any longer. She broke into a run down the path. The footsteps didn't follow right away. But then, over the pounding of her heart, she heard them hitting the pavement, fast and steady.

Ahead, Ellen saw the path that went down to the lake. She knew that people more often came to the lake than to any other place in the park. She ran down a small hill toward the lake. As she rounded a corner, her heart sank. The path by the lake was deserted, too. And, now, the footsteps behind her were coming down the hill and were catching up with her.

Ellen looked around wildly. There was a dense area of bushes and trees to her left. She ran on a few steps and then threw herself into hiding in the bushes. Maybe, she prayed, the footsteps would go by.

It was dark by now. Only a half moon penetrated the night with its mellow light. Ellen heard the footsteps first, and then she saw the shadow that belonged to them.

The man stopped walking twenty feet from where she was hiding. He stood silent for aminute with his back to her. Then he walked over to a bench at the lake's edge. He sat, down on it.

In the bushes, Ellen sat sweating. She wondered why she had ever stopped running. Nothing could be worse than this. The man must know she was hiding. Was he going to wait it out -- until she couldn't stand to hide any longer? Then Ellen thought of a chance. Others might walk along the path. She would jump out of the bushes then and walk with them out of the park.

She looked over at the man on the bench again. He sat calmly looking out at the lake.

Something caught her eye. There was a small shadow moving along the water's edge. It stopped.

Silhouetted against the sky, Ellen could see the head of a large rat.

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