Kidding Around

Stretching her arms above her head, Simone heard her neck click. It was an odd crunching sound that seemed to vibrate through her body, making her shudder.

She’d been sitting too long in front of the screen.

And what had she achieved?

Glancing back down, she saw again the empty page, the cursor blinking at her.

What was she going to write about? The deadline was only a few hours away.

Looking around the cluttered room, she noticed the dust accumulated on every item, the crumbs of food scattered across the floor and the pile of bills stuffed into a letter holder.

“I suppose I could make a start and tidy while I think”, she said to herself.

After all, there was still plenty of time. The deadline was still a few hours away.

Sighing, she pulled a duster out of a packet, the material folded neatly, and hunted in vain for the broom.

“Where is it?”, she said, glancing around, with her hands on her hips.

The door bell rang, sharp and loud, followed by banging on the wooden surface.

“Alright, alright, I’m coming”, Simone called, leaving the clutter behind in relief.

She opened the door, a smile on her face.

There was no one there.

Frowning she looked up and down the hallway. All the other apartment doors were closed.

“Oh, well, back to the cleaning, I suppose”, she said, shutting the door.

The door bell rang again, followed by banging on the wooden surface.

Simone threw the door open, her eyes blazing.

“What do you….”, she started to say and then stopped.

There was no one there.

Frowning, Simone shut the door again, feeling something brush past her shins as she did.

“What was that?”, she yelled, looking down and not seeing anything, and not expecting an answer.

A small, quiet giggle came from her lounge, where she’d just been standing.

Feeling the blood drain from her face, Simone looked into the room.

There was no one there.

“Whose there?”, she said as loud as she could, hoping her voice remained steady.

Something giggled again, low to the ground and then, as she watched with her lower jaw dropping, a pile of books stacked high, toppled over.

Making a sound similar to a scream, Simone ran blindly out of the lounge, banging into a wall and knocking a picture off as she did, the glass shattering behind her as it crashed on the floor, and into the hallway.

“Simone?”, a man behind her asked, placing his hand on her shoulder.

Jumping, she turned around and stared.

“Whoa, it’s okay’ the man said, placing both hands in the air,’ is everything alright? I heard a scream”.

“Oh, Tom I’m so glad to see you, there’s something in my apartment!”, Simone said, forgetting that normally she didn’t like him, and clutching one of his hands tightly.

Without saying a word, Tom marched into the apartment, checking each room quickly, opening the wardrobe and looking under the bed.

“There’s no one here”, he said calmly as he surveyed the mess in the lounge.

“But I heard something giggling and…’, Simone paused as she stood next to him.

Everything was tipped over and thrown across the room, dust floating through the air.

“I’ll leave you to it’, Tom said, as he disappeared out of the door,’ looks like you’re busy”.

A small, quiet giggle came from her kitchen. Whatever it was, had moved.

“Oh no you don’t’, Simone said, as she heard the fridge door opening,’ I’ve only just gone shopping”.

Sprinting into the kitchen, she saw a large chocolate cake, it’s wrapper still intact, float through the air and then drop.

“No!”, she yelled and leapt towards it, skidding on the floor and tripping over a chair leg.

The chocolate cake splattered as it crashed, the icing escaping the wrapper.

“Oh that does it’, Simone muttered as she massaged her toes,’ no more nice Simone”.

Ignoring the giggling coming from behind her, she sifted through the piled up mess, pulling out the broom she’d been searching for.

“Aha!”, she cried, waving it in the air.

Something brushed past her leg again, giggling.

She swung the broom, feeling nothing.

The giggle came from the lounge once more.

Sprinting back into the room, Simone waved the broom around trying to find the source of the giggle.

It brushed against her legs again.

She leapt onto a chair, the broom held in front of her and looked down.

The dust had settled on the floor and, as she stared, she noticed tiny footprints appear, running from one end of the room to another.

“Oh, I’ve got you now!”, she yelled, throwing herself onto the floor, the broom landing near with a crash.

Her hands grabbed something soft and warm. It still giggled.

“Oh you think its funny, do you?’, she gasped, turning red in the face as she wriggled and wrestled around,’ I’ve got work to do!”.

The door bell rang, sharp and loud, followed by banging on the wooden surface.

Simone groaned,” Who can that be?”.

Staggering, her hands still wrapped around the invisible, giggling thing, she opened the door.

With a concerned look on his face, Tom stared back at her.

“Simone, are you okay?’ he asked,’ I heard screaming again, and banging”.

‘Yes, fine”, she gasped. Whatever it was, was no longer giggling but wriggling madly, trying to escape. It would be on the ground again in another minute.

“What are you doing?”, Tom asked, a frown between his eyes, looking down at her hands.

Realizing how she must look, Simone paused.

“Oh, nothing, just some spring cleaning. Like you suggested”.

Smiling, she shut the door.

The thing was no longer wriggling but resting in her hands.

“Alright’, she said softly,’ I’ll let you go”.

Bending down, she placed it back on the floor. She could see it’s tiny footprints as it ran off, and heard it giggling.

Sighing, she looked around at the mess.

“Well I really must get back to writing”, she said to herself, sitting back down and staring at the empty screen. The cursor was still blinking.

There was a quiet giggle next to her.

Looking down, she could see tiny footprints in the dust on the table, ending next to her elbow.

“You know, I think you’re right, you would make a good story’, she said, smiling and beginning to type,’ maybe you could make a start on the cleaning”.