The night was young but already a full moon had risen up and seated itself upon the dark canvas. The glowing globe, looking so fragile and lost in never ending depth of the night sky, shone brilliantly, illuminating the world in its silvery curtains. Everything seemed to be covered in a thin layer of pixie dust, shimmering softly as each gust of wind blew by, enchanted by the spell of the mistress of the night.
Ever so softly, the moonlight bounced off the roofs of the packed together neighborhood, squeezed itself through cracks between leaves of surprisingly tall trees in forest-like gardens, found its way between small alleyways but never venturing near the territory of shadows stroked the soft, golden hair of a curled up dog sleeping peacefully in someone’s backyard, and bathed the small balcony of an old fashion house with its magical glow.
Even to a normal person’s eyes, the balcony was a piece of art, especially in a town that was industrializing with the speed of a bullet. Thin and thick pieces of metal that made up the railings was bent to the sides into curves and elegant swirls, blooming out from its centre like an abstract image of waves parting way for the birth of Aphrodite.
Feminine and pure.
But if a person took his time and observed it closely, they might catch sight of two dried up plants on the far sides of the small balcony, hidden in the shadows, gripping onto the fancy railings in a death hold; strong and determined, but dead nonetheless.
Behind the balcony, sunk into the ivy-covered walls was a tall and thin arch with a double door made up of glass, white painted wood and metal doorknobs twisted into a renaissance design. Moonlight shone through the twenty panels of glass and printed the shape of the carved railings and twenty glowing squares neatly onto the wooden floor of the dark room. For a few minutes, the silhouette of a crow resting its wings on the handle bar of the railings contributed to the picture. But when the cursed creature departed, the shadows and moonlight were once again left alone with only their solitude for company.
A second.
A minute.
Half an hour.
An hour.
Nothing happened. Well, apart from the crickets cranking up their volumes like a static radio.
7:49 p.m.
A stream of curses erupted from the group of drunken gamblers from the house on the right. Something must be up.
A second.
A minute.
Half an hour.
8:20 p.m.
A cheer and a whole lot of applause went up from the same drunks in the same house. Apparently Italy had scored their first goal against Germany. It was Euro season after all, even in a miscellaneous and downright weird country like this one.
A second.
A minute.
8:21 p.m.
Oh, there went the crying baby from the family across the street. The little lad would never shut up. Just a little joke or a harmless touch would get his vocal chords working like a fire truck. A bottle of milk and … oh, there went the shouts and curses from his mama. That should do the trick.
A second.
8:22 p.m.
The moon’s brilliant spell was suddenly broken by a pair of blinding yellow light tearing through the forest-like property of the ivy-covered house. The car engine sounded distant, partially due to the fact that it was almost drowned out by the crickets’ summer symphonies. When the new light passed by the balcony and the glass-panelled door, every single detail of the room could be seen for a flash of a moment. Dark, reddish-brown wooden floor almost covered with dust, scratches and paint, a classic piano with a piece of thick crimson material draped over it just enough so that the keyboard can be seen, on top of it was a messy pile of books and paper, a world globe and a beautiful portrait of a young bride, multi-coloured pillows were dumped in a random fashion all over the room, jackets, hats and fedoras were hanged on a hanging rack and a working desk in one of the four corners.
The desk was a mess but as the light passed by, one can just make out the outline of a monitor and speakers among many tiny faces and eyes that appeared and gone as the light hit them for a few brief seconds. However, if that person was standing at the right angle and pay just the right amount of focus, there were things still hidden in the safety of shadows and not exposed to the flashing light that might still catch his attention; a pair of huge blood red eyes lurking behind the hanging rack and whimsical patterns in black paint printed onto a corner of the room, spreading its way onto the ceiling and a huge window, almost as big as the wall itself, with metal bars attached firmly to the frame like a prison cell.
The engine soon died down, accompanied by the shackling of keys and groans from the heavy iron gates. Suddenly, the light on top of the fence posts were flicked on, casting a warm golden light through the garden and bounced off the bricks on the walls of the house which the ivy spared.
It seemed like the family was home.
8:30 p.m.
The downstairs of the house was fully now fully lit up whiles upstairs, where the room with the balcony was, remained dark and untouched. The sound of running shower and Cartoon Network blasting out of the TV joined in with the crickets’ symphonies, the drunken gamblers’ howling, the baby’s magnificent fire truck siren and the mama’s spill of her wonderfully colourful language.
8:37 p.m.
Dinner time. Tomato and tofu soup, scrambled eggs and roasted eggplants. Grandma did a good job today. She even sent everything over in boxes! That meant one thing, no dishes. That meant another thing, no chores for the day (since everyone knew she’d never seriously considered cleaning the upstairs as a standard chore. It’s more of something that she did only when her mother’s broom’s was inches away from her butt).
8:45 p.m.
The light on the stairs was flicked on, its yellow light illuminating the dark hall of the upstairs. A wooden railing linked to the stairs handle and across the hall until it meets a wall to prevent unfortunate accidents. Three sliding doors were seen from the position on the stairs; one directly in front of it, one on the right, the other on the left. Apparently none of the doors were closed, they never were (unless grandma popped by for a sleepover).
Footsteps were heard coming up the stairs, along with an incomprehensible murmur of what sounded like the song Creep by Radiohead. A large silhouette moved with the speed of snails along the white wall that turned to an orange colour from the light. A back pack was dragged along lazily, its constant thumping on the wooden stairs matched with the sound of footsteps echoing off the plain walls.
A pair of seemingly dirty feet finally reached the top of the stairs, turned to the right and made its merry way down the short hall. A flick of the switch, a few flashes of the old neon light and it flooded the dark room with the balcony with, well, light.
She stood there, back pack on the ground, arms and legs crossed, leaning on the door frame with eyes staring into mid air. Anyone going upstairs at that moment would assume that she was observing and judging the state of her room for a full clean up but reality was her mind had temporarily gone blank and forgot what she was suppose to do. With her face completely black of emotion, her brain was actually concentrating hard on the task at hand. Suddenly staring into space didn’t seem too bad of a pastime. At least the light is on.
The room looked quite ordinary at first glance but held a strange air that could send goose-bumps to erupt and a chill straight down someone spine, though they couldn’t exactly put their finger on it. I mean, there’s a classic piano in the room, you don’t find that in the room of most teenage girls’ room. But again, we’re not talking about most teenage girls. On the wall behind the piano, the biggest wall of all, was a lively wall painting of an abstract tree with swirls for branches and colourful spiral patterns for flowers. Also, as mentioned, the room was filled with multicoloured pillows that guaranteed a soft landing in any case someone trip and fall, though usually they’re the cause for it in the first place. There’s even an ordinary hanging rack with jackets, hats and fedoras.
