Old-lady-long-arms who eavesdrops along with me to listen to late night conversations came back yesterday to check if it was her daughter calling on the phone.
At around 2 AM every night the landline phone goes off - when I pick it up, I can hear people talking on it. I don’t think either party can hear what I am saying. I’ve tried to speak, or even rudely interrupt them sometimes. Old-lady-long-arms decided to join in on this voyeuristic fun - this is how it was going on. Till last week –
He was standing next to her. First time she’s accompanied by someone. Those glowing cataracts have taken a brighter tinge on yellow than I noticed earlier.
“He’ll stay with you” – she says matter of factly.
One doesn’t argue with old- lady-long-arms.
“You’ve consoled my daughter Sheela many times – it’s been futile. My son-in-law is still an asshole, you two will have to take care of him”. She starts to walk away.
He’s not scary looking at all. Some relief - mid thirties average build. He limps a bit when he starts walking towards my door.
That’s when I notice it, his shadow has kind of a glow - an aura of sorts. He walks a bit further and a bit of his shadow falls on me. I howl in pain – I feel a severe burn, like it’s seared my skin where his shadow fell
“Grasshoppers” – He says.
I point towards the guest room so that he can sleep and stay there. My cat looks at the man, with usual disinterest.
The man just stares at me blankly and then crawls under my bed - and starts to snore.
There’s no shadow now - just a neon like glow surrounds the place that he’s asleep.
This really gets my cat to go crazy to try and get near him.
The cat and I decided to take the guest room. We hear a humming noise coming from underneath the bed, and ancient primordial curses being uttered – a lament towards old gods now dead and gone –
I look underneath our guest room bed, there he is. I don’t know how it’s humanly possible, but there he was – under the guest room bed – no neon glow as of now, just the humming and the curses.
I am shivering at this point and hold onto my cat tightly as we try to find some safety from this madness. At-least old-lady-long-arms would only trespass to access the phone. Now we have the glowy shadow man , who glows neon when asleep and utters ancient curses underneath our guest room bed.
Next morning I woke up late. I must have dozed off in terror if such a thing is even possible.
My cat isn’t to be found. For a second I have forgotten about glowy shadow man, till it all comes back.
I rush to the living room, my cat is sitting on his favorite couch. The glowy shadow man is sitting next to it – he’s looking hungrily at my cat.
I quickly run and get him a bowl of cereal. He accepts gladly – “Grasshoppers”
Okay so here’s the “non-plan” to take care of the asshole son-in-law.
I decide to at least take a methodical approach to this. Wherever I eavesdrop on the conversions that Sheela has, I start making notes in the hope that I can figure out where they live.
Yesterday night the phone rang at 2:00 AM again.
It’s Sheela on the line – “He’s dead” she’s saying to someone else on the other end of the line “Tonight, he died of multiple organ failure.”
She sounds nonchalant and inscrutable – the wailing, crying Sheela perhaps really came out of her shell after her abusive husband’s death.
I try to explain the situation to the glowy shadow man – I don’t think he understands a word that I am saying.
So – here I am typing away in the middle of the night, while the glowy man is asleep under my bed – it’s only neon glow today – I am mortified when the curses start.
The very reason he’s come to live with me is of irrelevance now. I asked him to go, since Sheela’s husband doesn’t really require taking care of – he’s dead. Alcohol did to him, what neither of us could do. Good riddance and hurray to Sheela.
“Grasshoppers” he said, before settling underneath my bed.
Grasshoppers indeed ! Jesus Christ on a grasshopper.
I am hugging my cat and as I type this, the glow from underneath my bed, is far brighter than the one from my mac.
Travesty.