The Surprise
Delaney stood at her bedroom window and squinted out into the darkness. She had eaten bits of the dinner that had been brought to her but couldn't manage much. Ms. Bird had helped her into her nightdress and she'd said she was going to bed but had been by the window ever since.
What had that thing been? Was it a bear? It didn't look like a bear really. Or any animal. It moved strangely. The memory of its strange eyes watching her made her shiver.
Cursing herself for being spineless, Delaney stormed away from the window and to her bed. She was exhausted from the night before and insisted on trying to sleep. She curled up in the bed without her husband and fell asleep where she dreamed of the creature in the woods snatching her away to never return.