… It was a dark and stormy night. Aren’t they all? 

William sat posted, loyally, in front of his computer screen, while a cliche storm raged outside. Despite the angry thunder, he felt his eyelids begin to slowly shut. “Surely, ” he wondered to himself in a whisper “a few winks couldn’t hurt. I’ve already waited this long to start my application … ” He let the cool dark of sleep overtake him, forehead to the keyboard. This was a ghastly mistake. He felt an icy coldness upon his shoulders, that shaped itself slowly into the grip of a pair of hands. Inside his head, he screamed, and thought he was trying to move his arms and take flight from the intruder, he found he was frozen in his slumbering position. The chill seemed to spread, rooting itself into his very spine.

“Don’t bother.” a whisper wrapped in frost hovered near his ear. “You’ll be still, and listen. “

“Do I have a choice? Well go on, what do you want?!” his panicked internal voice peeped, while his oblivious body began to snore. If the icy voice could smile, the pause told him it was. “I am tired. Tired of watching you waste your time. Tired of sharing a space with you. Tired of your ~idelness~!” The last word was uttered in a venom that he’d never expected from a person who seemed to prefer whispers.

“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” the voice added, with an added tone of superiority. “Complete the tasks at hand, or see much more of me.”

With this, he felt the iced grip loosen, and his muscles slowly fall back into his own control. He shook himself awake, nearly spilling the half-empty soda on his desk. Whoa! What was that? Did he just experience sleep paralysis? And was the voice a shadow person created by his brain? He had heard about those …

He opened a new tab and began to Google “shadow people”, but before he could hit enter, he heard a short intake of breath, slightly angry, right next to his ear, and his shoulders began to shake with a creeping, involuntary chill.

“OR!” he exclaimed, in an unnecessary volume, “I could go ahead and finish my application. I think…yes I think I will stay up until it is done.” And it won’t take long at all since I have already compiled my complete portfolio on Cirkled in.

As soon as he returned to the proper tab and began filling out the required fields, he heard his apartment heater click on, and he felt what he could have sworn was … a gentle, approving pat on his back.

Dummy update