Hello, Uncle

 I was lying in bed, but my eyes wouldn't close. There was no sleep in either eye. It was getting annoying, but was it worth getting angry at yourself? I don't think so. I relaxed, replaying the events of the day in my head. Sleep was still in no hurry to wrap me in its arms, and I gave up, got up and went to the kitchen.

The door creaked softly when I opened it, and I flipped the light switch. The living room, combined with the kitchen, was filled with soft yellow light. I still haven't replaced the old incandescent bulb with an energy-efficient one. The bills come in small, and that's fine. I pushed back my chair and sat down heavily. There were no crickets, although the windows in both the bedroom and the kitchen were open.

I've never been afraid of the dark, but it seemed especially mysterious this evening. Somewhere out there, in the pitch darkness, people are sitting now — without light, without fire, and not even in their homes. It's sad that this is becoming more and more real nowadays.

I sighed, got up, took the kettle, poured water into it and put it on the stove. I'm still not going to buy an electric one, I have to make do with what I have.

Finally, the kettle whistled and the water began to boil. I turned it off and made tea. I drink without sugar, so I don't waste it. At night, even the most ordinary taste of tea feels special.

Glancing at my watch, I realized that it was almost one o'clock in the morning. Got to work tomorrow If I don't fall asleep now, the alarm clock is unlikely to save me. I quickly finished my tea and was about to return to the room when I noticed a silhouette in the window out of the corner of my eye. I didn't think much of it, but I realized it only when I left the hall and entered the bedroom.

A shudder ran through me, and I hurried back. There was no one in the window where the silhouette had been a second ago.

"Yes... I'm really tired if I'm imagining this..." I muttered.

I've always been a skeptic and didn't believe in anything supernatural. He liked to voice his thoughts out loud sometimes. When I returned to the bed, it suddenly became unusually dark.

I didn't realize what had happened to the lighting until I noticed that the streetlights had gone out. They always worked properly, giving low lighting at night up to the third floor, and I just lived on the third floor.

I thought it was the power outage. This is not a rare situation for our country. I tried to turn on the light in the apartment, but to no avail. When I returned to the window, I was dumbfounded.

That silhouette was standing there. A skinny boy was tapping on the glass and pointing at the window handle.

Not understanding what was going on, I opened it automatically.

"Hey, what's up?" - I asked.

— Hello. I can't find my parents. Can you come out here, outside?

- what?

— I can't find Mom and Dad. We went out for a walk, and I didn't notice them leave.…

— Okay, I'll be right out.

I put on my jacket and slippers and went out into the cold, damp hallway. Going downstairs, I suddenly wondered: how did a boy of about eight reach the windows of the third floor? Moreover, it was up to my waist.

A new wave of trembling went through me... but I still recklessly opened the door.

There was indeed a child standing in front of me.

"So where are your parents?" Where did they go?

"In hell!"  He shouted and burst into hysterical laughter.

I didn't appreciate the joke and asked again:

— It's not funny. Where did your parents go?

He continued laughing for another minute, then suddenly calmed down and croaked in a strange voice.:

"You'll see them soon!"

I was shaking. I didn't understand how he could change voices so skillfully. And then his skin began to turn purple. Not literally, but as if out of rage.

I couldn't stand it and slammed the door in his face. To say that I wasn't scared is to lie.

I was about to go up to the apartment, but it was not there. This little psycho started breaking down the metal door! Soon, a dent appeared on it.

My neighbor Oleg came out from the third floor to the noise. It looked like he wanted to yell at whoever was knocking, but when he saw that the door was bending, he froze next to me.

"What is it?"..

—A boy... a little one...— I replied.

A little more, and the door would have been blown off. But she held on! Finally, the upper part bent back, and we saw his face... if you could call it a face.

It was swollen and covered with blisters, and the head was twice as big as usual. And the eyes... are completely black, without pupils. He burst out laughing again, and Oleg and I rushed upstairs.

Oleg ducked into the apartment and locked the door. That coward. I also ran into my room and started praying, even though I had never believed in religion before.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could see almost everything. He hid under the bed like a child playing hide-and-seek. I could have gone into the closet, but I didn't have time.

Suddenly, the door was torn off its hinges.

"Uncle, where are you?" My parents have been waiting for you! — it sounded in the room.

My heart was pounding so hard that I almost fainted. The boy was standing in the middle of the room, looking in the closet mirror. It reflected both him and the bed. And in the reflection I saw myself lying under it.

He said:

"Hello, Uncle".