A ball

I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep. This happens to me sometimes; insomnia strikes out of the blue. The moon was shining outside, so brightly that the room was incredibly bright. I rolled over, and then my heart sank: I saw some kind of ball sitting in the corner of the room. I thought I was just dreaming, but somehow it all seemed so realistic. I was scared. But I decided not to panic ahead of time—maybe it was a chair or something; things like that happen. But I was horrified when I saw this ball breathing. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before; I just stared at it silently, trying to find a logical explanation for what was happening. Suddenly, it slowly turned its head in my direction; two bright yellow eyes glinted in the darkness—that's all I remember. Horrified, I pulled the blanket over my head. I didn't even have the strength to scream; my tongue and throat felt numb.

"You think I can't see?" came a barely audible, hoarse voice. I couldn't even tell if it was real or just in my head.

I only had enough strength to breathe and shake with fear. That creature was a meter away. I lay there for less than a minute, shaking more and more with terror, and finally, gathering my courage, I abruptly threw off the blanket and ran out of the room, without even glancing into the corner.

Imagine my neighbor's face when, in the middle of the night, he saw me standing on his doorstep—pale, in just my nightgown, trying to explain something with a slurred voice and pointing to my open door. Thank God, he understood without further questioning, put on his slippers, and walked into my apartment. Naturally, there was nothing there anymore. I simply pointed at the corner where the creature had once sat and said tearfully:

"It was here..."

The neighbor looked around my room, then peered into the kitchen and asked:

"Did you open the window?"

"Well, yeah, it's summer, it's hot."

"Well, don't even think about opening it now. Better yet, use the transom."

I slept with a nightlight on for a long time afterward.