Nina, Out of Place: Chapter 1

Nina awoke one night to find her mattress quite lumpy. Upon a few tosses and turns, she also discovered that this wasn’t her bed. Her hand felt the headboard. It was no longer the smoothly varnished headboard she had come to know; it was roughly sanded. Where her usual, fleece blankets tucked under her chin, there was a heavy woolen throw. For a while Nina tried to ignore these inconsistencies. She hoped that if she kept her mind off of the subject, everything would return to normal.

Nina laid there for a while attempting to wish this experience into a dream, but at the same time her curiosity was growing. At first she decided to lie still and listen for a bit. She heard a soft noise, and after a little contemplation decided it was someone breathing deeply. It was not surprising then that, when Nina finally opened her eyes, she found she was in a strange room with two beds – one for herself and one across the room with an unknown person in it. It was at this point that Nina began to cry. She didn’t cry quietly either; she sobbed aloud. After a few seconds of this a light from the hallway switched on and beamed under the door. As loud footsteps began to make their way across the house, the person across the room woke up and spoke hastily.

“Be quiet and pull the covers over your head,” she urged quietly in a strangely familiar voice. “You can’t let him see you at night.”

Confused and scared, Nina stifled her sobs and dragged the heavy woolen blanket over her face. It was just long enough now to cover her toes, so she folded he knees into her chest. Nina heard a creak as the door swung open. Then a booming voice filled the room.

“WHO WAS MAKING ALL OF THAT NOISE?”

Terrified, Nina piped up, “It…it was me, sir”.

“WHAT ARE YOU? YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT A BLANKET, ARE YOU?” he roared angrily.

“I am a girl,” she timidly replied.

“A GIRL!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?”

“I’m not sure how I got here. I woke up in this bed”.

“PULL DOWN THE COVERS SO I CAN SEE WHO BROKE INTO MY HOUSE AND IS USING MY SPARE BED."

“No.”

“WHAT!?”

“No, I said I won’t”.

“I’LL EAT YOU ALIVE IF YOU DON’T!”

“Don’t listen to him. He can’t do anything unless he sees your face. Keep the covers up,” urged the girl from across the room.

“DON’T YOU SAY THAT! I WILL EAT YOU TOO!” bellowed the monstrous voice.

“Just ignore him and keep the covers over your face. He can’t hurt you if you do that,” continued the girl with the familiar voice.

Nina listened to the girl and kept her head covered. The monstrous man yelled and made horrible threats for a while longer before a second pair of thundering footsteps was heard. It was apparently the man’s wife who, from the sound of the voice was more monstrous than her husband. After a few bellowing words were exchanged, she grabbed him and dragged him back to bed. The light shut off and, thoroughly exhausted, Nina quickly fell into a dreamless sleep that lasted all night, with the covers still over her head.