Dark Room.

It was dark, very dark. Pitch dark heaviness- you could feel it; almost cut through it. He crawled on the floor so he could feel his entire surroundings with every extension of his body. He heard footsteps from a distance. His heart raced. “It’s in a distance.” He thought to himself. His heart still raced. He tried hard to remain dead silent, even controlled his breathing. He had made it to the center table at this point. “Lord please help me”. He held on to its legs and felt them. He let go and maneuvered his fingers to the right. There, he felt the couch or something soft enough to have been the couch. Was he in the right room? He thought to himself. He was totally blinded by the darkness that surrounded him and couldn’t tell.

He slid slightly again to the left, to find a way to shift the center table quietly, so he could have room to wiggle the rest of his body past that area in which he found himself. He extended his fingers. He heard leg movement again. Only this time they felt different. They sounded pretty close. Too close for comfort. His breath began to cease and come out in short sharp darts. He couldn’t feel his heart beat anymore due to the speed at which it raced. At this point, he could feel a heavy presence stand over him. Its breath was quite audible. He froze on the floor. He heard the legs move again. Something broke.

“I am sorry!” said the voice that hovered over him. The lights immediately came back on and what lay there…

His glasses were broken. And his short temper wasn’t having it. Richmond’s heart raced even faster and faster. His veins popped out from his neck. “You know I can’t see without my glasses! You just had to take them from where I usually keep them and put them on the center table of the living room. And now you have crushed them with your feet”. Richmond stood up from the floor. Amina felt sorry. She felt like crying. She had never seen Richmond this angry. “I am sorry Richmond…” She dared not call him “Darling” like she was used to considering his mood. “I was tidying up and your glasses were in my way.” She coiled in. “So I had moved them temporarily with the intention of placing them back in the usual position as soon as I was done. I didn’t know the heavy rains would cause our lights to go off or you would come looking for your glasses. I thought you were napping and hence wouldn’t need your glasses immediately. I am really sorry!” A tear found its way down Amina’s cheeks.

Richmond began to pace up and down the living room. He would stop in his tracks for a while, stare at Amina and continue pacing the room. His breathing got heavier. His face was red. Suddenly, he opened his hands so quick and stretched them close to where Amina stood. He…

Grabbed his inhaler. Amina began to cry. She blamed herself. “This is what I wanted to avoid. Please calm down Richmond. You know how your short temper and asthma can get and it’s raining too. I don’t want to have to carry you to the emergency room”. Richmond just stared at her unable to speak, but his eyes carried his every word. He began to calm down. He realized he was getting worked up over glasses he could replace. Glasses he had access to in the form of a second pair in his home office for situations like this. He began to feel stupid and afterall, his wife’s voice was like sweet nectar to him – soothing. He hated it when she cried. Richmond loved Amina dearly. Fifteen years of marriage.

He sat down in the couch closest to him and continued pumping his inhaler.
There was a knock on their door. “Who could it be at this time of the night in this heavy rain?” Amina went for the door. “Who is it?!” she asked loudly. There was no response. She proceeded to open the door. Richmond looked up.
Blood?!

The End? Or so it seems…