Blink And You'll Hear It

20260121

Written for Luna Asli Kolcu’s “Myths of Winter - Week 8” event.

I thought this was going to be a nice, easy job. A good alternative to retiring. After all the supernatural threats I’ve hunted and wrangled, this one sounded well-behaved.
“The room is empty so long as someone’s observing it. It must never be left unobserved.”
The longest I’ve managed to maintain a hunter’s trance, without stimulants, is sixteen days. While I wouldn’t want to pull that again - especially since I’ve long since spent all my youthful vigour and more’n my fair share of second chances - I reckoned I could easily manage a week. In fact I told them I’d rather handle it alone than be stuck with someone else. They were sceptical. I proved myself.
And here I am. Wishing I hadn’t been so damned cocky.
Any lapse of concentration, the swiftest blink or merest hint of my mind wandering, and it moves. At first it was flickers so brief I wasn’t sure they were real. But my instincts clamoured danger was near, ready to pounce.
I think it noticed. Now, whenever I sense a flicker, it’s behind me.
The clock on the wall says it’s been six days, four hours, thirty-seven minutes. If I can hang in there just a little longer my shift will be up. Easy money. That’s what I keep telling myself. Easy money.
Just keep my eyes open. Unfocused. Spreading my attention across my entire surroundings. Don’t watch the clock, don’t want to risk my attention being sucked up.
A whisper snaps my focus to a laser sight.
Nothing there.
Of course. It can’t exist where it would be observed-
A flicker, unheard, right behind me. It dissipates before my conscious mind has even registered it. Saved by my instincts yet again.
Was that a faint? If so, this currently “non-existent” entity has distinct intelligence.
Six days, four hours, forty-one minutes.
When they put me in here they gave me a panic button. Said to use it if I was worried about the thing manifesting. It’ll end my shift early. I’ll get paid for the time I worked, they made a big deal about that. “Far better to use it if you have to, rather than us having to seal you in there and run re-containment measures.”
But…
Ugh. It’s a damn fool who makes decisions based on their pride. So I’d have to eat my words. I almost managed a week, that’s-
This time I swear it grazes me. Have to stay alert. Can’t get caught up in my own thoughts.
I flex my thumb. Make sure it’s ready to press the button at any moment.
Six days, four hours, forty-nine minutes.
Can I do this?
It’s waiting. Watching me. I’m sure of it.
Hoping I’ll blink.
I push my thoughts aside. Take a deep breath. Focus on my surroundings.
Let’s just… see how much longer I can do.

Prompt was “There’s something that only exists when no one is observing it. You’ve been hired to guard a room containing evidence of its passage. The job is simple: don’t look away. It’s been six days. You haven’t blinked in four hours. And you’re starting to hear something behind you.”