Gemotions

"He's always there, Uncle Mark!" His nephew, Ethan, was speaking excitedly, pointing to a swirling, chaotic blob of color in the drawing. A figure emerged from the mess: a man wearing a patchwork suit and a sinister grin. It was a perfect depiction of Bartholomew, his imaginary friend.

The air in the room felt thick, heavy. He couldn’t shake the sense of an impending threat. He caught himself double-checking the locks on the doors and windows. The silence of the house became oppressive, broken only by the frantic pounding of his own heart.

He couldn’t bring himself to look at Ethan’s drawings, or be in the same room with the child. He was convinced that the figure from his childhood, the one he had tried to forget, was somehow coming back.