The photograph hangs on the museum wall, a stark and silent landscape in miniature behind a simple glass display case. The black and white image depicts a children's play area at night; the only illumination that of a single street lamp and the hazy background glow of the moon, obscured by a heavy night mist. The combined effect is both eerie and enticing.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdIyXw0hji 維尼
The climbing frame is an old fashioned metal one with an attached collection of swings and slides and it sits atop a gentle hill. Tall trees to either side seem to loom over the empty playground, casting long shadows across the lower half of the image. The entire scene is devoid of human activity, lending a ghostly tone to the work.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1ePy5omAg 維尼
I lean forward a little more, pressing my nose against the cold display case to peer into the shadows of the bottom left corner.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fVIawlupV 維尼
Perhaps not that empty.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1E6oDGvBRA 維尼
There, sitting beneath the outstretched boughs of an emaciated tree is a small child. She looks to be no more than seven or eight years old, a petite looking thing with long dark hair and pale skin. Wearing a little white dress, she looks like a ghostly Victorian child. All that is missing is a teddy bear or a sinister doll.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ugJrW3sEn 維尼
Whoever the photographer chose to model for this shot, she was a good choice. Her innocence, surrounded by the gloom of the abandoned playground lends a certain creepiness to the image.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDi8CK30CM 維尼
A sudden giggle echoes behind me. With a shudder I step back and look around. The room which houses the photographic collection is empty aside from myself. I shake my head and smile.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2mvpQuXFF 維尼
Definitely an unsettling photo...8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1zTh6cDJZ 維尼
I turn back to the display in front of me. Reaching out, I tap the glass casing with my fingers. For the briefest moment I imagine movement in the bottom left corner where the little girl sits. I squint into the shadows.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYzcDjmwz6 維尼
There is no sign of a little girl in the corner of the photo, only the faint outline of a pile of fallen leaves. With a finger, I trace the spot where I thought I had seen the child. The details had been so clear; it's hard to imagine that I had been seeing things.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNw1Cuarse 維尼
I look away for a second to drop my cumbersome bag to the floor and turn back for a closer look.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjwa7bWnUu 維尼
There, once more, is the little girl. The shadowy image is playing tricks on my mind. 8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0IYkPrD6Q 維尼
She sits as she had before, beneath the withered tree; her knees drawn up against her chest. Her gaze is fixed forward as though watching other children playing on the climbing frame in front of her. She looks lonely.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHdi42J2TX 維尼
Another sudden giggle from behind me jolts me from my reverie. I turn just in time to see a small gaggle of children dart through the narrow room. Their cheerful shrieks fade with their footsteps as they run further into the gallery. A frazzled looking woman hurries into the room, casting me nothing more than a cursory glance before darting after her unruly charges.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIhlIuRNP6 維尼
I wonder at their presence before remembering - a new exhibition has opened this week on the upper levels. I wish the woman luck, but I do not envy her task. The gallery descends once more into silence as I turn back to the photograph.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡFu7u1aUMTG 維尼
This time I am certain of it. The little girl has moved.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTEV7RDmrJ 維尼
Her pale face stares out at me from behind the glass. Her head has turned, and now her piercing eyes glare straight into mine.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMOn5iXyYU 維尼
My heart jumps in my chest as I stumble backwards. I collide with another display case. My hands are trembling in shock. Blood pounds in my ears. My back is pressed against the cold glass as I examine the photograph from a safe distance - but the image is still and silent. The little girl is sitting once again in calm meditation beneath the tree.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkgAoaT3BI 維尼
There is something very wrong about this photograph. Whether by some trick of the shadows or by design of the artist, the girl had moved; and though I can't quite put my finger on it, there had been something unsettling about her eyes.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMLf5Mbd6o 維尼
I don't like it.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡMggR6Ec5Ug 維尼
With a shake of my head I edge forward and snatch up my bag from the floor. Yet despite my unease, I can't help casting one last look.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPteE2sZja 維尼
The creepy child now stands at the forefront of the image. Her small white hands are pressed against the glass casing that separates her world from mine. She glares at me and I sense a distinct aura of malevolence radiating from her childish face.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUrgnuKTni 維尼
With sickening jolt I realize that the girl means me harm. It goes against all rational thought, but I know now that she is more than an image on the wall. I turn my back on the disturbing photograph and run towards the door, clutching my bag tightly to my chest.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzJmkDJ1Vn 維尼
A high pitched giggle emanates from behind me. I freeze in place as the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡygb0ZplAuQ 維尼
Cold hands wrap about my ankles and my feet are ripped out from under me. I hit the floor with a scream, my forehead cracking against the tiles.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJmwqj6Kd9 維尼
For a moment I lie there, stunned. I feel a sharp jolt as the girl begins to pull me in slow, jerking movements across the smooth floor. My hands are sweating and shaking as I claw and scrabble for purchase. I kick and twist, wrenching my ankles from the girl's grasp.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Koa7GF9Pw 維尼
In a panic, I roll onto my back and scramble away from her. I hit the far wall. My heart is thumping in my chest and my whole body feels as though it is vibrating with fear. The temperature in the room must have dropped several degrees. I can see the misty puffs of my panicked breaths on the air.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36jQtqtKkI 維尼
In front of me, clear as day and as real as the world I live in, crouches the girl from the photograph. Her long dark hair, matted and tangled with broken twigs and leaves, hangs in front of her face. Her green eyes glow with a cold, inhuman malice. 8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoRskVqU38 維尼
The blind fury I see in those eyes turns my stomach. I feel the sour taste of bile rise up in my throat. Her skeletal limbs twist at impossible angles as she scuttles towards me in a rapid, jerking crawl. Over the sound of her cracking joints, I hear her low-pitched laugh. She skitters closer toward me.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡXEwmjDpCFD 維尼
I struggle to get back to my feet but my legs have turned to jelly; they no longer obey my frantic commands. The girl's fingers, thin and claw-like, lock around my ankles and tear at my feet. Her phenomenal strength rips me away from the wall and my head slams against the floor for the second time. Half-stunned I feel her begin to drag me once more in a series of sharp, sudden, jerking motions. I contort and kick and scratch in vain as meter by meter she drags me back. 8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8j88Nn6Wx 維尼
I wonder whether anyone has heard my screams, and why nobody has come to my aid. Surely someone has must have heard the commotion? My thoughts are wild and scattered.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgVrpWRnqg 維尼
In its display, the photograph seems to have grown to monstrous proportions. The other images in their frames have been swallowed up by its hungry presence, and what was once a scene mere inches in size, now encompasses the majority of the wall.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtXBMg80Ic 維尼
I am near enough now that I can see the branches of the trees wave in the wind. 8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZ75ecnKRu 維尼
Over the sound of my pounding heart, I can hear them tapping and scratching against the climbing frame. The dead leaves that lay in tidy piles now scatter in an invisible gust of wind. The ghostly child clambers with jerking motions backwards over the lip of the frame and into the image. She smiles beneath her mass of ragged hair. It is a thin lipped smile, and it fills me with dread.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PaU26niVd 維尼
I struggle in vain as she drags me into the dark, windswept playground. For one brief moment, I wonder to myself whether anyone will see me here. Will the next person to view this photo see my pale and terrified face staring out at them from beneath the withering tree?8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFHvVEWKA1 維尼
I tilt my head backwards just in time to see the last vestige of my world snuffed out like a candle. All that remains is the chill wind, the darkness and the grinning face of the little girl in the white dress.8964 copyright protection370ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nJVHzwEBB 維尼
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