He won’t stop staring. His eyes cloudy, without pupils, glazed over, won’t stop staring at me from across the street. What was he, or it? Without skin covering his skull, I can’t tell. Certainly a walking skeleton in a trench coat and umbrella is not of this world. He’s been staring at me for what, five minutes now? I sat down to wait for the next bus and as I brought my gaze forward, he was there, staring. Nobody else seems to notice he’s there. People walk down the street and he quietly steps out of the way, but do they see him? They don’t seem to notice him. Nobody has screamed or ran away in fear. Why can nobody else see him?

Maybe if I just don’t look at him, he’ll eventually go away. Facebook updates, Tiktok stories, anything to distract me from looking into his eyes. I can’t stop looking back at him. I can’t help from looking up from my phone to check if he’s gone yet. Each time, we lock eyes. It’s almost as if he’s waiting for something, but for what? And what is he expecting of me? Hesitantly, I lift my hand to do a small wave at the figure across the street. Slowly, the creature lifts his left hand from his black umbrella handle to reciprocate my weak attempt at a wave.

He’s still staring. I look at my phone again. The bus should be arriving any minute now, thank God. I ready my own umbrella as I stand eagerly, anticipating the arrival of the bus. Finally, I hear the familiar hiss of the brakes and see the bright headlights approaching. I look across the street one last time and lock eyes with the creature again. Is he smiling? Somehow, I sense that he is, despite his lack of skin. Averting my eyes from the creature, ready to walk on the bus, my phone slips from my hand. Shit, seriously? I watch as it tumbles off the sidewalk and in front of the bus. Catching the driver’s attention, I hold a finger up to tell him, one second. Hurriedly, I rush to the front of the bus and bend down to grab my phone. As I stand up, ready to finally climb into the bus, I’m met face to face with the creature. Again, is he smiling? Then I hear the loud screeching of brakes. Quickly turning my head to the right, I see the car heading right toward me. As if he could help, I turn again quickly to the creature, and suddenly I understand what he’s expecting. Not today.