You are in your office doing whatever it is you're doing
during office hours. Just minding your own business. Just another day at work.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Only today, something is different. You noticed at the corner of your tinted window on your door, there is a shadow standing there. Watching you. Not moving at all. Not making a sound. Just standing there. Watching.
It does not try to talk to you, it does not try to do anything to catch your attention. It just watches, and does not care if you know it is there or not. Just watches, without a sound.
You try to ignore it at first. You pretend it is not there. You try telling yourself that it's just the trick of the light, or your mind playing games. Anything to make you not think about the shadow behind the window.
No one outside your office seem to notice the shadow there. They just go about their business like it wasn't there. But you know it's there. You could see the occasional breath that fogged the window of your door. You could see the tilt of the head when it tries to look in closer.
You want to open the door to see who is standing there bothering you with its presence, but something deep inside your gut is filling you with a sense of dread, compelling you to stand your ground and not give in to the temptation of opening the door.
You try to talk to it, telling it to go away. You ask what it wants, but it doesn't reply. You try to scare it away. You try to throw things at the door. You threaten to call security. You shout at it. You curse and swear at it. You do everything you can to make it go away, to the point where you cry and beg for it to leave you alone.
But the shadow does not budge. It continues to stand there. Watching. Waiting.
You realize that no one outside your office even notice the racket you were making. Then it dawns to you that the office was already empty. The sky has darken, and it seems that everyone has left work. But the shadow still stands there. Watching. Waiting.
You finally decide to open the door to see once and for all who is outside that door. You gather your things, you turn off the computer, you turn off the lights and you finally reach for the door. Your hand trembles at upon touching the handle, that feeling of immense dread still has not left your gut, but it was now or never.
Taking a deep breath, you open the door. There was no one there. Not a soul. Just a dimly lit hallway that leads to the rest of the office building you are working in.
Did the shadow escape? Did you miss it? Did it run away as soon as you try to catch it? Or was your mind's eye playing tricks with you after all? Did you imagined the whole thing?
Somehow this revelation did not give you relief, but the sense of dread was no longer there anymore. You feel...numb. Passive. Like whatever happened today didn't matter anymore.
You walk out of your office and down the hallway. You walk past your other colleagues' offices, until you see an office up ahead that looked familiar. Granted that all office doors look the same, but there was something familiar about that door.
And more interestingly, it was lit.
Who could still be working at this hour? you thought, as you make your way to that office. You decide to just peek at the corner of that window of the door so as not to startle the person. The window is tinted, so you can't make out the face of the person, but you know they're in there.
You try not to talk to them. You try not to do anything to catch their attention. You know at one point they noticed you, but you just watch. Just watch, without a sound.
They try to ignore you at first. They pretend you're not there. They try telling themselves that it's just the trick of the light, or their mind playing games. Anything to make them not think about you behind the window.
By now they know you're there. Your breath occasionally fogged the window of their door. You tilt your head to try and look in closer, but you still can't really see much.
You want to open the door to see who is inside there still working at this ungodly hour, but something deep inside your gut is telling you to be patient, that whoever is in there will come out sooner or later and reveal themselves to you. You are compelled to stand your ground and not give in to the temptation of opening the door.
They try to talk to you, telling you to go away. They ask what you want, but you don't reply. They try to scare you away. They try to throw things at the door. They threaten to call security. They shout at you. They curse and swear at you. They do everything they can to make you go away, to the point where they cry and beg for you to leave them alone.
But you do not budge. They will come out eventually. You continue to stand there. Watching. Waiting.
Only today, something is different. You noticed at the corner of your tinted window on your door, there is a shadow standing there. Watching you. Not moving at all. Not making a sound. Just standing there. Watching.
It does not try to talk to you, it does not try to do anything to catch your attention. It just watches, and does not care if you know it is there or not. Just watches, without a sound.
You try to ignore it at first. You pretend it is not there. You try telling yourself that it's just the trick of the light, or your mind playing games. Anything to make you not think about the shadow behind the window.
No one outside your office seem to notice the shadow there. They just go about their business like it wasn't there. But you know it's there. You could see the occasional breath that fogged the window of your door. You could see the tilt of the head when it tries to look in closer.
You want to open the door to see who is standing there bothering you with its presence, but something deep inside your gut is filling you with a sense of dread, compelling you to stand your ground and not give in to the temptation of opening the door.
You try to talk to it, telling it to go away. You ask what it wants, but it doesn't reply. You try to scare it away. You try to throw things at the door. You threaten to call security. You shout at it. You curse and swear at it. You do everything you can to make it go away, to the point where you cry and beg for it to leave you alone.
But the shadow does not budge. It continues to stand there. Watching. Waiting.
You realize that no one outside your office even notice the racket you were making. Then it dawns to you that the office was already empty. The sky has darken, and it seems that everyone has left work. But the shadow still stands there. Watching. Waiting.
You finally decide to open the door to see once and for all who is outside that door. You gather your things, you turn off the computer, you turn off the lights and you finally reach for the door. Your hand trembles at upon touching the handle, that feeling of immense dread still has not left your gut, but it was now or never.
Taking a deep breath, you open the door. There was no one there. Not a soul. Just a dimly lit hallway that leads to the rest of the office building you are working in.
Did the shadow escape? Did you miss it? Did it run away as soon as you try to catch it? Or was your mind's eye playing tricks with you after all? Did you imagined the whole thing?
Somehow this revelation did not give you relief, but the sense of dread was no longer there anymore. You feel...numb. Passive. Like whatever happened today didn't matter anymore.
You walk out of your office and down the hallway. You walk past your other colleagues' offices, until you see an office up ahead that looked familiar. Granted that all office doors look the same, but there was something familiar about that door.
And more interestingly, it was lit.
Who could still be working at this hour? you thought, as you make your way to that office. You decide to just peek at the corner of that window of the door so as not to startle the person. The window is tinted, so you can't make out the face of the person, but you know they're in there.
You try not to talk to them. You try not to do anything to catch their attention. You know at one point they noticed you, but you just watch. Just watch, without a sound.
They try to ignore you at first. They pretend you're not there. They try telling themselves that it's just the trick of the light, or their mind playing games. Anything to make them not think about you behind the window.
By now they know you're there. Your breath occasionally fogged the window of their door. You tilt your head to try and look in closer, but you still can't really see much.
You want to open the door to see who is inside there still working at this ungodly hour, but something deep inside your gut is telling you to be patient, that whoever is in there will come out sooner or later and reveal themselves to you. You are compelled to stand your ground and not give in to the temptation of opening the door.
They try to talk to you, telling you to go away. They ask what you want, but you don't reply. They try to scare you away. They try to throw things at the door. They threaten to call security. They shout at you. They curse and swear at you. They do everything they can to make you go away, to the point where they cry and beg for you to leave them alone.
But you do not budge. They will come out eventually. You continue to stand there. Watching. Waiting.
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