TOMMY IN THE DARK
TOMMY IN THE DARK
by A. Faz
Daniel stared at the pecan tree in his backyard, a dark shadow against the night sky that towered over him and completely obscured the full moon behind it. The sky itself was clear, and every star stood out as if trying to outshine the other. Daniel crossed his arms over his chest, took a deep breath and leaned back.
SPLASH!
Cool, refreshing water enveloped him as he sank into the deep end of the pool. He resurfaced a moment later with a deep, relieved sigh. The pool-light embedded in the side of the basin reflected off the dolphin-blue tile, giving the water an otherworldly glow. This was the first time in Daniel’s life that he owned his own in-ground pool, and he wanted to relish in it.
“Hey, Tommy! Wanna join me? The water’s great!” he called out to his cat, who was crouching under the patio light. Without his glasses, Daniel could barely make out the gray blob the was Tommy. She trotted under his patio table, making the bell on her collar jingle. It was the first time Tommy had decided to join him outside, and that put Daniel a little on edge. They were still getting used to their new home, so he had some reservations about letting his cat outside after dark. That’s why she had the collar on; if he couldn’t see her, he could at least hear her.
He plunged into the water again and allowed himself to float freely. At only 25-years-old, he owned his own house with a pool, a decent-sized backyard and only one neighbor right beside him. He’d seen the old woman a couple times throughout his move-in days, and she was friendly enough. The first day of moving in, she came up and they started talking. She mentioned how nice it was to have a new neighbor, and she was absolutely enamored with Tommy.
“Do you let her out often?” she had asked, and before Daniel could answer, she spoke again. “It’d be best to keep her inside at night. My Louie always comes in at night and nothing ever happens to him.”
“Do pets disappear easy around here or something?” Daniel had asked.
“The people that lived here before you lost both their dogs one night.” Her face grew somber. “Three months later, their little girl disappeared.” She leaned forward, her eyes growing large. “They found the girl’s blouse in the tree.” She pointed to the back of Daniel’s house, the tip of the pecan tree just barely visible. “There was blood!”
Daniel jutted out of the water. Why was I thinking about that? he wondered. He stared up at the old woman’s house, stark-white against the black night. It was two-stories tall, and the backyard was twice as big as his. He’d often seen her son, grandson, or some other relative over at her house, most likely to help with managing her large property. Right now, for example, he could hear her and some other women come out of the house, laughing. A moment later, the white side of her house flashed red that soon faded with the sound of a car speeding away.
Daniel smirked. “Casino night.”
He started to swim a lap, splashing as much as he wanted, and soon the sound of high-pitched barking came over from the other side of the fence. “Guess Louie must’ve gotten out, huh, Tommy?”
Daniel glanced at the patio and was surprised to see a small, gray bundle crouching only a couple feet away from the pool. His heart fluttered and he swam to the edge. “Tommy,” he cooed. With an outstretched hand and a baby voice, Daniel started calling his cat over to him. Tommy stayed where she was, observing her human curiously while the pool’s bluish-green light reflected in the pupils of her eyes.
Most guys would want a swimsuit model laying beside their pool. I want my cat! Daniel chuckled to himself, but he genuinely wanted Tommy to feel comfortable near the water. He could just imagine it: him swimming on a hot, summer day while Tommy naps close by. Maybe she’d even get her paws wet if he got a fish toy or two for her to play with. That’d be so cute, he thought happily. He could even get a pool float, and they could just relax together. He’d just be chilling with an ice-cold beer while Tommy lays on his stomach, purring. The very idea pumped him up, and he pulled out his ace in the hole when it came to Tommy:
“Tommy, Tommy, Tommy
Doesn’t have a mommy.
Don’t be catty
And come to daddy!”
This song was like catnip to Tommy, especially since actual catnip had no effect on her. He’d been singing this little ditty to her ever since she was a kitten, and every time, no matter what, she would stop what she was doing and come to him. It’s one of the reasons he adopted her, despite protests from the other shelter volunteers.
“It’s such a cruel song,” they’d say. “It’s like you’re making fun of her.”
Daniel always just shrugged this off. “She seems to like it,” he’d comment. And like it she did, even now. Even with his blurry vision, he could see her ears prick as soon as he started singing and before long, she was tentatively walking closer and closer to his outstretched hand. She was so close that, even without his glasses, he could see her little, pink nose twitching as she sniffed his chlorine-tipped fingers.
Arf! Arf! Arf!
Tommy flinched, her eyes toward the fence, then scurryed back to the patio and crouched under the porch light once again. Daniel smacked the surface of the water. “Hey! Whatcha doin, scaring my cat like that!” he yelled. Rustling and whimpers came from the other side of the fence. “Hmph. Showed him who’s boss.”
Daniel laid back in the water and let his body drift aimlessly. With his ears submerged, everything around him became muffled, and the only sound he could hear was his own breathing. He never felt such a sense of peace. There were only three sources of light around him: the moon, the pool light, and the porch light. He imagined himself floating between these three luminary outposts, each radiating its own unique light. The moonlight barely peaking through the gaps made from falls first leaves; the pool light surrounding him with an ethereal, aquamarine landscape that held him up weightlessly, flecks of moonlight dotting its surface; the porch light’s amber glow that promised warmth once he was ready to leave the cool blue. It almost seemed fitting that Tommy was waiting for him there; she’d be ready to curl up next to him in bed before drifting off to sleep.
“I can hardly wait,” he whispered to himself.
mmmrrrrmmm
Daniel jolted up. Even under water, he could hear Tommy’s warning growl. He turned back to the porch, squinting his eyes to make her out better. She was still under the porch light, but her fur was fluffed out and he could see her tail whipping back and forth. She seemed to be staring straight in front of her, toward the fence that separated them from their neighbor.
“It’s alright, Tommy,” Daniel said. “The dog’s on the other side. It can’t get to you.”
If Tommy heard him, she gave no indication and continued to growl. Daniel tried to see what she did, but everything blurred together in the dark. The most he could make out was the side of his neighbor’s house, the fence and…wait, did one of the planks look a little…longer? He looked closer at the fence. Is someone there?
Suddenly, the person’s head ducked away, and Daniel let out a sigh of relief. Probably just a relative or something. Probably wondering why I’m out here so late. He shook the thought of the person away and continued to swim. This is my house and my pool. I’ll swim whenever I want. From the porch, he could hear Tommy letting out her pleading mew, wanting to go back inside immediately. Five more minutes, Daniel told himself. Maybe ten. After all, I own the house, so I say when we can go inside.
Tommy continued to meow, and Daniel was about to get out to let her into the house when she suddenly stopped mid-mew. Unease sprang into Daniel’s gut as Tommy began to growl again, staring at the fence. Like before, he tried to see was upsetting her so much, but all he could make out were blurry shadows. He didn’t think it was the neighbor’s dog again, since it hadn’t made a sound for a while now. In fact, it was strangely quiet considering how much noise Tommy had been making and continued to make. She was hissing now along with the growling, and it seemed she was getting more and more upset as time passed.
“I-it’s okay, Tommy,” Daniel tried to soothe. “T-there’s nothing there.” But even he didn’t believe his own words. Without his glasses, he wasn’t sure what was out there, and with the way his cat was acting, he was becoming more convinced that there was at least something. Something was making his cat go crazy, and just the thought of whatever it was made him freeze up in the water.
Suddenly, Tommy stopped, and, for a brief moment, Daniel felt a sense of ease. Then, she started to cry. This wasn’t like before when she was just uncomfortable. This was desperate. Her mews became high-pitched and frantic. She didn’t sound like a grown cat anymore; it was like she had regressed back into a kitten, calling out for her mother. She didn’t just want to go back inside; she was begging Daniel to get out of the pool and take shelter with her.
“Everything’s gonna be alright, Tommy. Nothing will hurt you.”
He thought he saw her eyes flash toward him before the porch light went out.
“Tommy? Tommy!” He rushed to the edge of the pool and tried to find her in the shadows. “Tommy, where are you?” he called out, trying to keep his voice light and steady. “Come here, Tommy!” He continued to call out to her, his voice wavering with each second that passed with no answer.
The porch light blinked back on, and Daniel tried to force his eyes to focus more in order to see her grey pelt, yet no matter hard he tried, there was no sign of her. At least, none that he could see. He could hear a little tinkling, the same sound Tommy’s bell-collar made, now on the little patch of grass that separated his porch from the fence. The porch light wasn’t strong enough to illuminate that part of the yard, so he wouldn’t have been able to make out anything there even if he had his glasses on. “Tommy, are you over there?”
There was a ting!, then a thump, as if something had landed on the fence. A figure seemed to be sitting there, but Daniel couldn’t be sure if it was Tommy or not. The figure made a small movement, and he caught sight of something small and metallic.
Daniel heaved a sigh of relief. “Tommy! Come over here, okay? Come to Daddy!”
The figure stayed where it was.
“Tommy, Tommy, Tommy—”
The figure began to move, not towards him but across the fence. Daniel kept up with it while in the pool, stopping halfway to the deep end.
“Doesn’t have a mommy—”
It passed by him, the bell tinkling clearly as it padded by. It stopped once it was parallel to the pecan tree.
“Don’t be catty
And—”
The figure jumped. The silhouette passing over the stars showed that it was large and humanoid, its limbs outstretched and gangly. It flew across the yard, landing in the tree’s uppermost branches silently. The moon disappeared behind it, and its soft, white light was replaced with two, burning eyes. The only sound that could be heard was the continuous ringing of the bell as the creature jangled it: rhythmically, madly, mockingly.
“-c-c-come to…–”
An object plopped into the water in front of him, the word “Tommy” highlighted in rippling light. It sank down to the bottom, a small, ribbon of red trailing behind it.
“Daddy.”
The pool light turned off.
Fiction © Copyright A. Faz
Photo by Jahangir Alam Jahan
Writing under the name A. Faz, I like to tell stories about all walks of life in many different genres, be it sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or slice-of-life. Growing up in the small town of Del Rio, Texas, there wasn’t much for me to do except watch movies and let my mind run wild in the realm of imagination. Currently, I’m trying to make my living as a writer for both the page and the screen.
