The Red Unicycle Leaning Against the Graveyard Wall

I wasn't going to post this but it actually happened to me. It's a long one so bear with me.

About five years ago I was completely broke. Like not a single won to my name broke. So I ended up in this absolutely decrepit old apartment. Wooden construction, nearly 20 years old, and (the real kicker) there was a wall right outside the front entrance and on the other side of that wall was a cemetery. A full on graveyard. Right there.

But I had no money so what could I do. I figured I'd stay just long enough to save up from my part-time job and bounce.

The first three days were fine because my parents came to help me move in and stayed over. Nothing weird happened. The weird stuff started the exact day they left.

I went outside to wave them off as their truck pulled away. Watched it get smaller and smaller down the road. And when I turned to go back inside, my eyes just... drifted to the graves on the other side of the wall.

Old graves. Really old. Overgrown to the point where you could barely see the headstones through all the weeds.

And leaning against the wall was a red unicycle. Rusty, beat up, a little faded.

I thought maybe some neighborhood kid left it there. I glanced over and noticed something written on it in marker. All scratched up and hard to read but it looked like it said "Sachiko."

I turned around and started heading back inside.

Then from behind me. BANG. Something falling over.

I spun around. The unicycle was on the ground.

Okay. Fine. I kicked it back upright against the wall and went back to the apartment. Started to walk away, then looked back one more time because I swore I heard someone call my name.

No one there. Just the quiet graveyard.

But I felt it. Someone watching me. That specific feeling of eyes on your back that don't belong to anyone you can see.

A few days later I finally found a part-time job. First late shift, I'm walking home and it is POURING. Lightning, thunder, the whole thing. I borrowed an umbrella from work. Still had to walk past the cemetery and I hated every single second of it.

I ran through the rain until I could finally see my building. Ground floor, end of the hall. That's my room.

I stopped.

The red unicycle was sitting in front of my door.

Cold sweat. Immediately.

"It's fine. Someone's messing with me. Has to be."

That's what I told myself. That's the only thought that let me keep moving.

I shoved the unicycle aside and went in.

Dark inside. Power out.

Click. Click. Nothing.

Okay. Okay okay okay. I grabbed my phone to call a friend.

"No service."

Just that. On the screen. In a room that always had signal.

I decided I needed to get out of there. Started toward the door.

And then I couldn't move.

Like something pinned me in place. Sleep paralysis but standing up. Cold sweat again, all over.

And then right next to my ear, something whispered.

"It hurts. It hurts. IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS!!!"

Then suddenly I could move again.

I spun around. Just darkness.

I let out a breath. Okay. Nothing there. I'm—

THUNDER. Massive crack of it.

The fluorescent light buzzed and flickered on with this horrible electric sputtering sound.

And there was a girl in my room.

Long hair. Standing completely still. Staring out the window.

I heard myself say "...hey."

She turned toward me slowly.

Half her face was gone. Just. Gone. Like it had been cut away.

She smiled at me. That wrong kind of smile.

And then she disappeared.

I passed out.

Woke up and it was morning. Rain had stopped. I ran outside and called my friend and sprinted to his place and told him everything.

He didn't believe me. Just laughed.

I found a new place that same day and moved out immediately.

A few weeks ago I went back to that spot with some friends. Kind of a dare, like let's go see it.

The apartment was gone. The graves were gone. All of it.

I genuinely don't know what any of it was. Maybe I dreamed parts of it. Maybe I dreamed all of it.

I could probably ask around and find out if something happened there. If some girl died there.

But I haven't. I'm not going to.

Because if something really did happen there, if a girl really did die there, then everything I experienced was real.

I'd rather not know.