The Dark

Her heartbeats broke the silence that had engulfed the apartment. The lights had gone out. It was horrid timing; things had been unstable lately and people had been rioting all day.

It was past midnight. She had been changing television channels in the hope of getting a glimpse of what was going on without getting all the details.

Now everything was pitch black. She waited. And waited.

Time stood still, or so she thought.

A creak on the wooden floor, the sound of something she didn’t know, the sound of footsteps, probably the neighbours.

She hated the darkness – at least when she wasn’t asleep – because then the mind begins to mischievously play its tricks.

A scream resounded outside.

Her already tense heart stopped for a second then beat like it was on the run for its life. She gasped for breath, but no air entered her lungs. She plunged to the floor holding her neck, writhing and wriggling, but to no avail.

She gave in to the deafening darkness.

A tear left her closed eyes as she lay on the floor, motionless.

Then, the light came back on. They had been fixing a nearby lamppost.