One Long Night

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Paul has always dreamed of living a quiet and secluded life, away from the noise and poise of the city. A fresh graduate who was trying to find his feet in the labour market and find avenues to make meaning of his life. Paul was frustrated from one office to the other, trekking the length and breadth of the city and beyond, submitting applications, attending interviews, but never getting a return call.

It was as if the universe was against him and everything he touched. But Paul also considered himself a hustler, getting involved in other nonformal ventures like betting just to keep his head above water. This was his primary source of survival, but never enough to help him achieve his long-term goals.

Paul usually found himself in a sort of a fix, not knowing how to move forward, but then not really retrogressing. His life had become a symbol of stagnation where parents in the village used as a prayer point for their children.

It was on a Saturday that Paul stepped out to go check out how his investment for the previous week had gone. He had placed his bets earlier in the week before venturing out to seek new job opportunities. On getting to the betting shop, he was hailed and cheered by the attendants who then told him that he had won a jackpot.

Paul was all of a sudden rich, he could now afford to have the kind of life he has always dreamed of. He had the perfect house in mind and could not wait to put the mechanisms in place to acquire the house. It was a small condo in the hinterlands, away from the noise and poison of the city centre.

It was perfect for Paul, surrounded by the lush green of farms and a reserved area behind it. It had a single narrow entrance, surrounded on both sides by well trimmed flowers and fruit trees. The house looked a little eerie and abandoned, but the structures were in excellent condition. It had an adventurous feel, saturated with a strange ambience of a horror movie set.

"well, this is my own adventure, created by me" Paul thought to himself as he unlocked the house to creaking noise of the door. "here we go" he whispered to himself taking in the feeling of being a house owner. He strode around the house with square shoulders inspecting the structure.

Tired of the day's endeavors and with the sun setting fast over the western coast, Paul decided to get a quick feel of his new bed. He had unknowingly slept off only to be woken up by a creepy noise that sounded like a whisper between hideous creatures plotting a crime.

Paul jerked up from his bed and checked his time to see it was almost midnight. As he switched on the light, the noises seemed to cease as if they knew that he was awake. He turned off the light and the creaks and hisses resumed in ernest. The noise seemed to be emanating from the adjoining room.

This wasn't what he envisaged for his first night at his dream house, and he could not scream as there was no one within a mile of where he was. So he summoned courage and tiptoed towards the door to confront whatever is lurking in the dark of his house. As he opened the door, he could hear footsteps retreating rapidly, but couldn't see anything, so he shut the door back immediately shivering in fear.

"am I going to die tonight"? He thought to himself as he sat back on his bed scanning the room for anything useful.

"who's out there?" he screamed out still scared "you better come out clean before I kill you" he added. Then he heard squeaky noises that sounded like they were mocking him.

"oh you're mocking me in my house?" Paul shouted angrily. Then another creeky noise made him jump on his bed in fear as it seemed to be coming from beneath his bed. He bent down from on top the bed to check what it was, still nothing. "perhaps it's the bed" he thought to himself again.

"Okay, I'm coming for you" he shouted again. He grabbed his baseball bat and sneaked out of the room, moving stealthily towards the adjoining room. He made a cross sign across his forehead and chest as he turned the door knob slowly and quietly. As he turned on the light, two of the creepy creatures charged unexpectedly at him.

Paul jumped up in shock, stumbled and fell as the little creatures rode over his legs and ran into his room. Still reeling from the shock, Paul stood up, locked the room, locked his own bedroom and went to the sitting room to pass the night.

"Damn rats, running around like they paid for the house" Paul swore under his breath. Apparently, out of the excitement of finally getting his dream home, he had forgotten to fumigate the house before moving in.

"Tomorrow we'll know who owns this house" he murmured to himself as he settled into the sofa, just as the creapy noises resumed. That was when Paul knew it was going to be a long night.

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