The Hat Man

I don’t come from anywhere. I rise from the hush between breaths, from the pause in the dark when your mind stutters. I’m not evil. I don’t need to be. My power is in the weight of presence, in the silence that presses but never breaks. You've seen me in the corner of your room at 3 a.m., in the hallway that suddenly feels too long. You tell yourself I’m a trick of the mind. But you still check the shadow twice.