The Light Sleeper

 It was boring! A boring evening as usual! Nothing was interesting after that long working day full of arguments and fights, which negatively affected my temper. I laid down on the bed stretching my arms reaching the old wooden bed back; my shoulder clicked announcing the urge of joining a yoga class, but actually, instead of moving, I closed my eyes for a moment, or that what I thought. A moment.

My brain had dipped into sleep, but I didn’t feel that I was actually sleeping; people who knew me, knew quite well that I was a light sleep person. Oh! How I hate being such a person. I opened my eyes. Suddenly. When I heard a thud across the street. My eyelids were too heavy to open but I forced them to stay opened as it was really strange to hear a strong sound in my neighbourhood, that quiet, boring neighbourhood.

‘Is that one of my dreams again,’ I thought, ‘the succession of images and noises.’ I laughed to the thought.

‘Nothing to worry about.’ I thought to myself looking at the clock hung on the wall stating that it passed midnight. Apparently, I overslept but I just closed my eyes a moment ago. Surprisingly, that was what I felt or what I thought I felt. I tried to move my limbs, but they were too numb that I stayed in the bed for a while looking at the bedroom ceiling. The flickering lights in the street created eerie figures on the pale ceiling giving it life. Funny figures, I believe. Just like the figures formed by the clouds.

‘A hippo. Ah! There is a harpoon. A fire-breathing dragon with its scaly tail.’ I told myself, thinking that I started to go crazy. I smiled ironically.

Probably, I should do that every night before I sleep. I started enjoying the funny figures … until I saw it … .

A black figure of a well-built man, running on the ceiling of my bedroom, the figure got bigger and bigger as the street lights reflected the dark shadow. It took me a while to recognize that what was going on that ceiling was just a reflection to what was going on across the street.

Thud!

The same sound again which woke me up minutes ago.

Now! At that moment, I lifted my body up, dragging my numb limbs behind me. Curious. Am I curious? About what? It was normal to see a man walking down the street after midnight. But, no! I had this unknown feeling that something strange was going on, so I summoned my courage and peered behind the thick curtains. What I saw made my blood ran cold. The black figure was dragging something behind him. A huge long black trash bag; it was too heavy that it printed a track on the floor. My mind was racing with things! What was that heavy thing he was dragging? A lot of ideas crossed my mind which made me shiver.

As I was stealing a look behind this heavy thick curtain, thunder roared suddenly and lightning struck which added to the uncomfortable atmosphere, revealing wide round eyes full of fear. Looking around him fearfully, he started to pull the heavy bag with all his strength towards his front door. Then! He stopped. He turned around slowly but not in fear this time. He looked up at me, right in the eye. I directly stepped back and crouched behind the curtains feeling my heart pounding hard. Did he see me? I looked back to the black figure on the ceiling.

He wasn’t there!

I heard the door handle of my room turned … .

I stood still. I couldn’t move. I had to think quickly before the door was opened, but actually my mind was blank as there was no place to go or hide. Shall I face him? Maybe he wasn’t a killer as I thought. The door handle was turned several times in a way which showed that the person who was doing this, was extremely angry.

Quickly, I turned off the lights searching for a place to hide which wasn’t easy in a tiny apartment like mine. If I can call it an apartment. Actually, it was a big bedroom with a small dinning table and a bathroom.

He stopped. Everything went silent again. Silent as a grave. I could even hear my heartbeat. Then…

The door swung open. I froze. I was face to face with the black figure or ‘The Killer’ as I called him.

‘you’re spying on me!’ the man shouted angrily that I jumped from my place sensing the wall behind me with my trembling fingers, trying to find something sharp to defend myself, but obviously I couldn’t find anything.

‘I’m not! I’m not… I … I …’ I stuttered trying to find the right words to calm the man, but he didn’t give me a chance.

He came nearer, poking my chest with his huge finger and whispered in an angry tone, ‘mind your own business!’

He turned around slamming the door behind him. Bravely, I leaned on the wall to stand up straight, and I took few steps to the window watching him crossing the street and vanishing into thin air.

People who knew me, knew quite well that I am a conservative person and I am not, at all, a trouble maker, yet what happened today gave me the courage to go and find out what was going on across the street. With a great courage, I headed to the door, opened it and dashed to the killer’s place. ‘From where did I get this courage?’, I thought to myself, ‘and what am I going to do there?’

I tiptoed when I reached the front gate ,looking at the trace of the huge trash bag. My heart was beating so hard that I could hear the beat. Cautiously, I opened the front gate which squeaked, and I entered the lair.

I took few steps forward when I heard footsteps behind me. He knew that I was coming… I turned around … and…

I opened my eyes and everything was black around me. Where am I ? I tried to move but I felt that I was stuck. stuck in a … trash bag.