The Man Without a Face

The girl in this story was six years old. Her name does not matter. What she saw does.

Every night she told her parents the same thing. A man stood outside her bedroom window. He watched her while she slept.

Her parents were not worried. Kids imagine things. Monsters under the bed. Faces in the curtains. It is all normal.

One evening her father carried her to bed. She was half asleep on his shoulder. As he laid her down, he glanced at the window. Just to make her feel safe. Just to prove there was nothing there.

Then he smiled and said: “You can sleep with us tonight, sweetie.”

He turned off the light. He closed the door softly. He did not run. He did not shout. He walked calmly to the bedroom, like nothing was wrong.

Later that night, the whole family walked quietly to the car. No suitcases. No shoes. The engine started in the dark.

The little girl was confused. She asked her father why they were leaving their own house in the middle of the night.

He looked at her in the mirror and said:

“Because I saw him too. And he had no face.”