Lock the door. Check the latch. Keep the curtains closed. Leave the light beside your bed—never sleep alone. The forest starts behind the house, it trees surround the walls. You hear them moving in the dark where never daylight falls. You know the paths, you know the signs, you know what lives outside. But knowing doesn’t make you safe when something comes inside. So lock the door and check the windows before you go to sleep. Keep the light beside your bed and listen when the forest breathes. If you hear a knock but do not answer, if you hear your name stay in bed… check the window before the noise, make sure the face is really there. You’re never really alone, not even in your home. Lock every door, check every window, don’t let anything inside. You’re never really alone—something knows where you will go. Keep the light on, keep the curtains closed, and never trust the night. A branch taps against the glass; you hear it once, then twice. You reach to pull the curtain back but remember the advice. Don’t look too long, don’t stand too close, don’t let them see your face. Sometimes the thing outside your house is waiting for you to make a mistake. The hallway creaks, the floorboards bend, something moved outstairs. You hold your breath, you hold the light, and listen from the stairs. Do not knock, do not answer, if you hear your name stay inside. Check the window before the noise, make sure the face is really there. You’re never really alone, not even in your home. Lock every door, check every window, don’t let anything inside. You’re never really alone—something knows where you will go. Keep the light on, keep the curtains closed, and never trust the night. What if the voice sounds like your mother? What if the knock sounds like your friend? What if the person outside your window knows your name, do not let them in? What if they tell you they’re afraid? What if they say they need your help? Look through the glass for only a second, then turn away. Lock the door. Check the latch. Check the window. Kill the light. Keep it open. Keep it loud. You’re never really alone, not even in your home. Lock every door, check
