Feelin' those small neck hairs

I grew up on a small farm in a rural setting. The house sat on a state highway, but 100 feet behind the house was a large irrigation canal and a couple hundred acres of farmland (around 20 acres were owned by my grandfather). During the day it was an awesome place, with lots of wonderful sights, sounds and smells. There was always work, fun and exciting things to play with. Nighttime was a different thing.

Sometimes the lights in the shop (about 80 feet from the back door) were left on. I would sometimes be assigned the task of leaving the safety of the home, to turn off the shop lights. Walking out there was pretty easy...although it was dark, there were lights at the house and the shop. Many times as I reached the shop and open the door, I would hear splashes from the canal. It was probably a small rodent startled by my presence. There were skunk, raccoon, and other wild animals living on the farm or near the canal. My mind, however, saw something bigger and meaner!!!!

Being a young teenager (12-13) I did not want to give anyone the impression that I was not brave. I would stand at the shop door and look toward the canal, searching the darkness for anything that would bring my safety into question. Finding "nothing" I would turn my attention to the pathway from the shop to the back door. Was there anything in the way that could obstruct my movement to the house? Seeing nothing, I would slowly flip the light switch off and allow the door to quietly close behind me. Step-by-step be would slowly and carefully walk toward the house. My eyes watched my progress, while my ears listened for additional footsteps.

The first few steps would be slow, but each moment brought a little more energy. My pace would increase a little, then quicken, then turn into a brisk run. "Hearing" the footsteps behind me caused terror to begin racing across my mind. Not wanting to turn my head (that would slow me down and give confidence to my pursuer) I stared intently at the door knob that was quickly growing in size. Reaching (careful, don't miss it) I began to rotate the knob just before I grabbed it. The door flew open (only about 18 inches cause I was skinny then) and then slammed shut behind me as I leaned on it from inside the house. The eyes in the room looked at me, wondering what was happening. I quietly (trying to pull my own eyes back into their sockets) said nothing and wondered if they could see the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.