..

Maybe i should have known. Maybe I should have taken my time, absorbed and observed, maybe I should have stopped — or stayed a little bit longer. Maybe then I would have saved a life, soul. Maybe. As i walked past room 09, and I stopped. I heard a noise, or I think I did. A muffled noise. A ruffle. A sound far yonder. The type you hear when you uhh, when you drop a melon inside a pool, a pond or whatever. You know, the type that creates a ploop sound. A muffled sound. A ruffled noise. The type you get when you are finally at the edge of life, and you scream your guts inside the community pool making air bubbles — or when you squeeze a couple of a4 papers. When I heard that, or thought I did, I should have stopped. I should have questioned it. Questioned the oddity of it all. But sounds like that doesn’t really pique your curiosity enough for you to be Nancy Drew all over it. So you just assumed it’s your neighbor playing Marco Polo inside their living room. Rich ass neighbors you would say. But, two weeks and four days later, the smell started to ooze out of room 09. Bad food, maybe? Dead pets? Corpses? Believe me, that joke didn’t age well. My neighbors from room 069, and room 052 had similar questions.

Do you think maybe it’s a dead pet, Esther? Perhaps Fave and Dae forgot to feed them.
That was Stark. A lanky, little man with hair like flowers falling over his face. His head looked like a flower vase with overgrown flowers reaching out for the sun. I shuddered, and shrugged in response. My lips didn’t uttered a word. My mind working out multiple scenarios. Inside my head, still trying to work things out — another voice broke my train of thought.

Hey, Esther. You can perceive this stench too, yeah? It’s so stretchyyyy!
That was Alfred. A chubby, nosy asshole. The only prominent thing about him was how radiant his skin glowed — sorta like mine. I stared at him quizzically. It’s so stretchyyyy? What does that even mean? My goodness! My lips were still sealed shut. He looked at me expectantly — expecting a word. I was mute. He was amused. Then he continued.

I feel it’s bad food. You know, like uh, rotten meat, spoilt eggs. Uh, the usual.
I nodded. Still not saying a word. My arms crossed across my chest. Few hours later, the popo arrived. Someone must have called them. I don’t blame whoever did. I really wanted to get rid of the smell, too. The police broke in the apartment. Room 09. They were in there for while — few minutes past, they stepped out. I heard an ambulance yonder.

Wee-hoo! Wee-hoo! Wee-hoo! Wee-hoo!

Fucking hell
I whispered.

Two policemen came to me asking a series of questions.

Did you see anything?
No, I replied.

You didn't see anything maybe strange, weird, unusual?
No. No. No.

One of the policeman wrote something down on his notepad.

I suspected it was “cuckoo”

Your name is Esther, correct?
Yes.

He nodded his head lightly. Pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He remained and maintained this position for a while. Five seconds tops. Immobilized. Then he continued with the interview.

How about sounds? Did you hear anything? Anything you felt was too bizarre?

I paused for a while — contemplating the best response to this question. Out of the periphery vision, I saw the policeman looking at me keenly, eagerly. I think maybe he’s new at this job. I could tell from the way he carried himself, the type of questions he asked me. A professional policeman with years of experience on his back won’t ask that.
Uh, yes I did. I heard a sound. I replied curtly. Uh, I heard a noise. A muffled noise. The type you hear when you uhh, when you drop a melon inside a pool, a pond or whatever. You know, a muffled sound. Then, I should have stopped. I should have questioned it. But sounds like that doesn’t really pique your curiosity and you just assumed it’s your neighbor playing Marco Polo inside their living room. Rich ass neighbors you would say.

I said all that inside my head of course — while deadass staring at the policeman — at his name tag. I could see his name tag. It was blurry, but I could make few words. Bshr. My mind wasn’t there. I was someplace else. The policeman I assumed tapped on my shoulder lightly with his ballpen to bring me back to life.

Hey, Esther, you okay?

I snapped out of it.

Yes, yes. I am fine. Uhh, yeah, I didn't hear any sound. I am sorry.

The policeman nodded in acceptance. He shook hands with me and walked away. Few minutes later, I saw a woman in blue scrubs moving a body on a stretcher. The body looks bloated. Bloated in a way that is caused by water. Like a corpse found two weeks and four days later in a swamp.

Poor kid, I whispered.
Must have drowned.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I squinted my eyes, then closed my eyes, and then reopened them slowly. I found myself in room 09. It was dark. No sign of the policemen, no sign of the ambulance. No sign of my neighbors. Alfred, nor Stark.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

An alarm kept blaring besides me. I ignored the alarm. It was too dark in here. I walked to the switch. The light switch. Flipped it on. As soon as the lights came on, I let out a breathless gasp. An inaudible scream. On the center of the room is a mini-pool. The type you make with inflated balloons. Floating dead on pool were the bodies of Favor, and Daebora.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I moved towards the alarm to shut it off, but stopped. There was a note pinned at the bottom of the alarm. I picked it up and read the contents out loud.

“For when you zone out, and regain consciousness, don’t fret. Don’t touch the bodies. The police would be here any moment now”

It has my signature at the bottom end.

Wtf?