By: Jasmine Sun

I walked through the empty halls, alone with a bag of trash in my hand. The empty hallway felt chillingly cold, and I regretted leaving my jacket in the closet after hurrying out of bed. It was 11 PM, and my mom had asked me to take out the trash! Even though I protested that the garbage shoot is all the way at the other end of the hallway, my mom still made me go. Walking through the hall, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. I told myself that it was just my brain playing tricks. Despite glancing behind me repeatedly, I only saw an empty hallway and some litter on the ground.

Suddenly, the lights in the hallway flickered, and all went out simultaneously. It was terrifying, and I could not see a thing. I recalled a friend’s recent story about the witching hour when supernatural powers were believed to be strongest. According to her research, Bricanica said, “Witching hour, in folklore, the time at night when the powers of witches and other supernatural beings are believed to be strongest, usually occurring at midnight or 3:00 AM.’’ She told me the witching hour usually starts at midnight. It was not midnight yet, but I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the witches, demons, and other monsters decided to come out early today. Maybe they have a monster gathering to celebrate the 10,000th birthday of the god of the underworld at 1:00 in the morning that they do not want to miss.

Just then, I noticed a light coming from behind me; it was my mom holding a flashlight and calling my name. I rushed towards the light and back into my apartment room. My mom asked me why the bag of trash was still in my hands. I told her everything about the lights and the witching hour. She told me not to worry about it and that it was just a power outage. My mom told me to go to bed and sleep and that she was going to take out the trash herself. I went into my bedroom and promptly fell asleep, but I still feeling uneasy about the monsters lurking in the darkness.