Well, I am awake now. Might as well go to the kitchen and take a sip of water. I swung my legs off the edge of the bed and took a moment to compose myself. From the other room, I heard laughter. Oh these girls! Gossiping at this time of the night!
But I knew their laughter irritated me more because they were gossiping without me. Were they laughing at me? Well, we'll find out soon enough. My throat felt parched, partly cos of the heat and partly cos I hated being in the dark. I never slept without a night lamp and the total darkness was making me a little uneasy. It didn't matter whether or not they were talking about me; I wanted to be with my roommates right now.
I made my way to the kitchen, still hearing muffled conversation and suppressed giggles from the other room. I groped around for a tumbler. I jumped when I accidentally pushed over a stack of spoons. The clang of the spoons hitting the granite platform, and then the tiled floor was greatly amplified in the silence and stillness of the night.
After gulping down two glassfuls, I decided to walk towards my roommates' room. On the floor, I saw moonlight reflecting off the inner side of an empty biscuit wrapper. Oh God! Couldn't they use the dustbin! I did not want to walk back to the kitchen in the dark, so I walked straight to the other room, leaving the wrapper where it was.
That's when I remembered.
This is my new house.
This is my new one-bedroom house.
There was no other bedroom.
My roommates had died in a car crash last week, which is what made me move to a new house in the first place.
As I stood there rooted to the spot, in the darkness that suddenly seemed darker if it were possible, I heard it again, louder this time. Their high-pitched laughter.
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