My Reading of Stephen King

 [By ANYUTA RYAZANOVA]

(Dedicated to my husband)

Evening time.  Dark out there, behind the windows. Room. Couch. A lit-up chandelier. I am alone at home, the husband is not back yet.

I am reading "It" by Stephen King. The town of Derry, Clown Pennywise, voices in the water drain… The teens who dared to get inside the abandoned house. Uncanny! I would not do that, no way! 

It makes me flinch from time to time – King does love to savor some disgusting details, doesn’t he! 

The flat is surprisingly quiet. The residents of our block apparently have chosen to go to bed earlier today. All at once, every last one of them. And, as it always happens, the quiet is suddenly interrupted by a squeak. And you never understand what made this squeak and where it came from. It may well be the TV table, the cabinet door, or probably a sound coming from the neighbors: one can hear things pretty well in our residence! 

But this gives me a shudder. I begin to timidly look around – who is this?!

Ugh, so ashamed of myself! I am a grown-up woman! – Yes, a grown-up one! But now too scared to get off my couch. And I will just keep on sitting on it, until my husband comes back! And he would then scold me – don’t I have anything better to do than to sit around and to read horrors at this time of night?

Well, I am not capable of putting the book down. But I still get my eyes watching, over the edge of the book, what is going on in the flat. Just in case.

“Brrrrrr!” – that’s the fridge in the kitchen that kicked in. This made me jump! Nerves are on edge. I finally put the book down. I wish my husband came back sooner!

What on earth made me stick to such reading during the night time, as I sit around alone in my flat?! Why do I keep on reading and watching horrors, if I do get shiveringly scared of them? I twill then watch nightmares instead of dreams, waking up at about 3:00 a.m., and will not be able to put myself to sleep anymore. It is exactly at this hour that the otherworldly spirits gain their power – this I know for sure, as I have read and watched so many horrors!

I am sitting. Waiting. The time drags on nice and slowly. 

A slight clap and here we go! – instead of three lit-up bulbs, two ones left behind. The room’s light gets more dull and sinister right away. Another couple of such claps, and I would stay in complete darkness. And today is when it may well happen.

Going to bed is not an option. I won’t fall asleep anyways. The darkness generally makes all noises, whispers and squeaks heard even better. No, I
would rather stay in the light. While it’s still available. 

An elevator noise at the stairs. It sounds like going up. One can hear the elevator doors opening. A dull metallic voice is reporting: “Floor Seven”.

Hurried steps in the hallway, closer towards the door, a turning key in the lock...

Darling, you are just on time!

(English translation by Vladislav Borodulin)

06.06.2021