It was half-past two in the morning and after three long hours, Ella had finally managed to finish the last of her many assignments. She sighed, content with having the burden lifted off of her shoulders. She smiled as she got up, stretching her sore muscles as she made her way to the make-shift bed on the sofa. She glanced at the front door not five feet from her, double checking to make sure it was locked. She then switched off the lights and tucked herself in, relishing in the warmth of her soft blanket. Soon her eyelids grew heavy and she was just drifting off to the comforting darkness of sleep, when there was a sharp knock on the door.
Ella's eyes flew open at the sudden noise. She lay there completely still, processing what had just happened. Someone was at the door. At three in the morning. Fear crept into her mind, and it seemed to take over her rational thinking, because the only plausible cause Ella could find for the sudden disturbance was that there was a ghost at the door.
Yes, a ghost. Granted, she probably shouldn't have watched the entire Conjuring series the night before. Every part of her remarkably ordinary flat suddenly seemed haunted. Every corner seemed to have a demon lurking, just waiting for her to be distracted enough so it can attack her from behind. Not today. Ella held her breath, suddenly becoming very alert when another series of loud knocks cut through the silence. She jumped, looking at the door and just as quickly as the thought of ghosts entered her mind, it left only to be replaced by the thought of serial killers.
The more she thought of the possibility; panic flooded her brain as all the stories of serial killers who targeted young woman came back to her. She drew her blankets closer to herself, her eyes darting wildly around the room. She needed something to protect herself with, if it was a serial killer, no way was she going out without a fight. She cursed herself for not being athletic enough to own any sort of bat. It would've provided the perfect defence. Her eyes then landed on her limited edition, hardcover copy of The Lord of The Rings book. Yes, she thought the perfect weapon. One clean hit to head and I'll have the perfect escape route, she thought to herself.
With new found confidence, Ella sat back up and reached for her book when she was interrupted again by a series of “knock knocks”. The low knocking now turned into loud insistent thumps, making the door rattle on its hinges. It ended with a particularly loud thump, followed by the sound of something breaking and a few loud groans. Ella's mind momentarily drifted back to ghosts, when the obvious realization hit her.
Of course she thought. It made perfect sense. It was a thief. Those groans were definitely more human sounding than ghostly. They're probably robbing the neighbors this very moment, Ella thought. And now, they're knocking on my door checking to see if I'm home before they rob me too. Ella quickly got to her feet, arming herself with her book, no way was she going to sit there and be robbed. She switched on the lights just as the knocking commences again, but this time she was determined not to be afraid. She would fight if she had to.
Ella slowly made her way towards the door, as she reached it she placed one hand door knob ready to unlock it, the other was clutched tightly onto the book. This is it she thought I have to do this right now and with that thought she threw the door open, only to be met with the sight of… Ms. Harlenly, her neighbor.
“Ms. Harlenly...” Ella spoke as a sudden wave of emotion coursed through her; confusion, relief, anger.
Ms. Harlenly was Ella's crazy old neighbor, she smiled at Ella and spoke, “Oh Ella dear, you won't believe who I met at the park, it's this travelling Mexican band, oh they're such nice people I just had to invite them to tea, only I'm all out of sugar and I was hoping I could borrow some from you.” She finished, smiling sweetly.
Ella stared at her for a second unable to speak, then she cleared her throat and spoke, “If it was you knocking, then what was all the crashing noise about?”
Ms. Harlenly smiled wider, “Oh that was just Stan, the lead singer he was just about to bring you a cup when he tripped and spilled hot tea all over himself, the poor thing.” She finished, shaking her head. Ella stared at her neighbor for the second time, contemplating on telling her off on waking her up at three in the morning, but then decided against it.
Then without another word Ella went to retrieve her sugar container, handing the entire thing to Ms. Harlenly. She then shut the door before Ms. Harlenly could say anything else. Ella turned off the lights and tucked herself in once more, the faint sound of music reaching her ears and as she dozed off to sleep all she thought of was this: first thing tomorrow morning she was going apartment hunting, this one with a bed and perfectly sane neighbors.
Tanha Mahmud
XII Maroon
Comentarios