The Strange Tale of Stanley Russ

"Thank you for taking me out, Mr. Pinball," Wendy said as we exited the restaurant.

"Never again."

"Huh? Never again what?"

"Never again will I take you out to eat."

"How harsh. What brought this on?"

"For starters, you still have syrup on your face and hands. I feel like that says enough."

She smiled and giggled, then began to walk away.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. We're done for today, aren't we?"

I suppose we were, but I did feel a bit sad about her sudden departure.

Then it hit me.

"Oh! That's right, I wanted your number."

She stared at me, confused, before bursting into laughter.

I felt embarrassed. I thought she was going to make fun of me, but…

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I didn't know you liked me so much."

"I mean, I feel like we could be good friends… I suppose."

We exchanged phone numbers, and she left, leaving me to catch the bus back home.

As I sat on the bench at the bus stop, I closed my eyes and replayed the scenes with Wendy in my head.

It had been a long time since I had a pleasant experience with another person. Yeah, she was brash and mannish, but she was unapologetically herself. And someone who's unapologetic about who they are makes it easier to be unapologetic around them.

As I thought about her, a smile crossed my face, and someone sat down next to me.

I turned to look.

There was a young girl wearing a huge, oversized white coat. The coat was so big that it fit her like a dress.

Her hair was long and flowing, and it was an unnatural pink color.

I knew just from looking at it that it wasn't dyed.

She was facing away from me, so I spoke to her.

"Hey, little girl. Who are you? Where are your parents? Are you lost?"

Then she turned to me, and my heart stopped.

There was no face. She should've had a face, but she didn't.

No eyes. No nose. No mouth. No eyebrows. Nothing. Just a white, empty canvas.

I opened my mouth to scream, but she reached out her hand and covered my mouth.

I pushed her hand away and took off running in the opposite direction, not caring where I was going. I just needed to get the hell out of there!

———————————

I ended up in a park on the other side of town.

I found a bench and sat down to recollect myself.

My heart was pounding, my breathing came in short gasps, and I was drenched in sweat.

After I caught my breath, I began to reassure myself that I might've just hallucinated the whole thing.

"There's no way she didn't have a face. That doesn't even make sense. When faced with something irrational, the best thing to do is believe it was a mistake of the senses," I told myself to calm down and avoid a panic attack.

But I didn't get to enjoy the calm for long.

Soon, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of being watched.

It was at the nape of my neck—a prickling sensation, as if a strong gaze were boring into me.

I quickly turned around, but no one was there.

I turned my head every which way—back and forth, up and down, left and right, east, west, south, north—but I didn't see anyone.

In fact, I could've sworn there were people here when I first arrived. Now, the park was silent.

I began to pant, and my palms started to shake.

So, I got up and ran out of the park.

The walk from the park to my apartment complex should've taken forty minutes, but I covered the distance in just under twenty. I ran the whole way.

For someone of my build, and my lack of exercise, it was incredibly hard.

But the entire time I ran, I felt the gaze on the back of my neck. Everywhere I went, it was empty—no people, no cars—and this only added to my growing unease and fear.

Only when I reached my apartment, closed the blinds, and hid under my bed did the feeling of being watched finally disappear.