Elurophobia

Prompt: Choose a phobia from the list provided. Write about it.

Time: 10 minutes

Result:

It's watching me. I glance over my shoulder, but nothing is there. Nothing I can see, at least.

Shifting uncomfortably, I cross and then uncross my legs. What is taking her so long? I agreed to come see Laura's prom dress; I did not agree to sit alone in her living room with that . . . thing.

There's a rustle in the corner, and I snap my head around so hard my neck cracks. The dusty leaves of the fern on the windowsill rustle, but nothing is there.

I know it's watching me. Circling closer. Plotting.

My neck starts to itch. I sit on my hands so I won't scratch, but then I start to envision the thing launching itself toward my face, claws extended. So I bring my hands back out and clasp them tightly in my lap.


A door opens upstairs. A voice floats down,

"Sorry Katie, I'll be right there."

I hear the shuffle of chiffon and sequins across wood an hear another door slam.

Couldn't she have warned me? That would only have been polite. What if I was allergic? Actually, who's to say I'm not allergic?

My throat fels scratchy, so I clear it. More phlegm seems to ooze back into my throat, so I clear it again. And again. I reach up. It feels swollen.

I start to hyperventilate in raspy wheezes. My eyes dart frantically around the room. Where is it? I know it's there, stalking me.

"Show your face!" I shout, gasping.

A door opens and Laura comes down the steps. In a blur of black, the beast is on her, around her neck.

"Ow! Tonx, stop!" She removes the claws gingerly and looks back at me. "So, what do you think?"