Wordy Wednesday: Masked!

Picture prompt by Shailaja

He couldn't sleep. In fact, he was so scared, he couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear!

Jimmy, age 12 looked to the wall opposite his bed. What he saw scared him out of his wits! He wanted to scream, but his tongue was frozen in fear.

It was his first day at the cabin where three other campers his age were sleeping, all in bunkbeds, Jimmy on the bottom of one. He was in unfamiliar surroundings. Oh, how he wished to be in the comfort of his room, in his own bed.

An image of the side of a face painted with three bright orange circles at the bridge of the nose upwards was staring Jimmy in the face, and grinning! It wasn't a normal-looking face, though he thought it might be a dead spirit of some kind.

It certainly didn't help that one of the boys taunted him by reading part of a spooky story just before bedtime. And it certainly didn't help matters that it was a mystery based in Africa with cannibals.

Did this 'man' hold some magical power which made Jimmy's tongue stuck so he couldn't speak? Who was he? And more importantly, what did he want?!

Jimmy squeezed his eyes tight for a few seconds and opened them only to find the big eye still looking at him. He decided he needed to do something 'cause he was so tired from travelling and playing that day.

Jimmy started to concentrate on his breathing, slowing it down as he learned during yoga class at camp that very morning. He started to relax a bit (not looking at the face) and counted to 10 in his head, a pace equivalent to saying "Abracadabra" at least twice at a slower speed, before running to the light switch, a bunk bed away from his.

With the light on, Jimmy looked immediately at the man and noticed it looked different. In fact, it wasn't scary at all!

He walked to the window, noticed the curtain slightly ajar, and peered outside in the dark.

Looking through the window and then to the 'mask' back and forth, back and forth, Jimmy came to realize what happened. What he saw - it took a few moments to register - made sense!

The partially crescent moon formed an oval eye, the nose and mouth shaped by the moon whose light struck part of a sailboat moored at the dock, reflecting through the cabin's window to the former masked image.

The three circles were already on this unusual, ancient-looking instrument, an old drum that was hanging on the wall. The long rod beside it was its companion. It essentially helped to secure the drum steadfastly against the wall.

While the other cabin mates were sleeping soundly, Jimmy drew the curtains shut, turned off the cabin light, crawled into bed, and closed his eyes. He was so ready for a good night's sleep, and hoped his much-deserved sleep would awaken him with pleasant dreams.

This post is written as a picture prompt from Shailaja V. for Wordy Wednesday at the "BAR" (Blog-A-Rhythm). ;)