Stalker eye

Part 2

Dec 07, 2025

What was that eye doing, hanging from a branch in front of their house? They had no clue. But that single eye, unbelievably, made them feel more watched than a thousand spies. So they decided to place an ad in the newspaper, hoping to find its owner.

Marley’s ad ran quickly, but no one came forward to claim the lost eye. The notice did, however, draw plenty of curious onlookers. People started passing by Marley and Emma’s house more and more often, slowing down just enough to stare. It also caught the attention of the police, of course. With an eye hanging from a branch in their backyard, the authorities couldn’t pretend nothing was happening. Marley had always tried to avoid that kind of attention, yet now he found himself in the middle of it, caught in the eye of the storm... with an eye on him.
Eventually, the police removed the eye and logged it as evidence for a possible crime. Later, the case was downgraded to “misplacement of personal biological material,” and the eye ended up in an organic waste bin. Despite how reassuring it all sounded, Marley and Emma couldn’t find any peace in their home. They still felt watched.
For months, through heat and cold, summer and winter, they checked their windows three times a day. They wanted to be sure no one was out there watching them, drawn in by the story of the eye on the branch. The quiet of the house never felt like real quiet anymore.
They both felt trapped, as if safety had slipped out of the house without warning. Emma took it the hardest. She wasn’t just afraid of being watched; she had started dreaming about the eye at night, and even during the day when she drifted off on the couch.
Too many people around, too many eyes on them, and no real privacy left.
It was a mess.
“Let’s get away from here,” Marley said one day, worn down by the whole thing and worried about what it was doing to Emma.
“Where?”
“Anywhere. Just away from here.”
“But where, Marley?”
“Someplace we can start over.”

When they finally managed to leave, the uneasiness that had weighed on them for months faded almost at once. Marley liked the new house right away. It felt like the perfect place. A quiet residential neighborhood, plenty of space, and even a beach not too far off. In the evenings, they could walk along the shore, letting the sound of the waves settle their nerves.
For Emma, it felt almost like a dream. She could finally enjoy the small things again, the little pieces of everyday life Marley tried to give her, including a quiet walk on the beach. Shouldn’t life always feel like this? For the first time in a while, they let themselves slow down. They even stopped working on Sundays for once. And it felt good not to spend ten hours a day working and the rest of the weekend wandering through crowded malls.
In this new place, there were no big malls, just open space and room to breathe. They could step outside whenever they wanted, feel the salt air, listen to the seagulls, let the waves run over their feet. And all of it was free.
For a while, things felt quiet again. Safe. Far from all the unwanted attention of the world.

Two months later, Marley pulled into the yard on his motorcycle. Dusk was settling in. It felt good to see the house lit up, warm and alive. He smiled. Tonight Emma was making a roast, and the few friends they had were supposed to come over. They were ready to eat, laugh, and just be together for a while.
Marley set his helmet on the saddle and rolled the bike toward the driveway. The white front door looked a little ghostly in the fading light, but he didn’t think much of it. He thought something in the garage looked different, like something had been moved. Maybe Emma had done it, even though, as far as he knew, she never went into the bike space.
He pushed the thought away. It was better to focus on the life they had built here, on everything that finally felt right, instead of letting those sudden, creeping doubts get to him. He walked forward in silence, climbing the first steps before stopping without really knowing why.
Something brushed at his thoughts, the kind of feeling you get on a strange night. An instinctive warning. Nothing more.
He glanced over the yard, turning slowly.
“Good Lord.”
There, hanging from one of the garden bushes, was an eye with its nerve wrapped tight around a branch.

I promised you a few details about the real episode that inspired this story. I can’t say much, but let’s put it this way: having eyes on you without even knowing it… or someone hanging around your house because they’re desperate to meet you, obsessed with you… that kind of thing changes how you see the world. It definitely raises your guard.

The truth is, once you share photos, videos, little pieces of your life, you lose control of where they end up and what they might spark. And it’s not easy to shake someone who turns into a nuisance, or worse.

So be careful. And if you ever see an eye hanging from a branch in your yard… just know it’s already too late.

Thanks so much for reading,
Michael.