Mold

Shuri and Bren checked into their hostel late. It was their first beach vacation together. The girls couldn’t wait to start their beach trek in the morning.

They got a small room with two bunk beds. Neatly folded towels lay on white sheets. The room smelled slightly musty with the coastal mold.

They were the only ones in the room. The other bunk bed lay unoccupied.

The girls were tired from their journey so they decided to quickly wash up and crash.

Shuri took the bottom bunk and Bren decided to take the top bunk of the same bed. They said goodnight to each other, turned off the lights, and retired for the night.

…

Shuri felt parched; she barely opened her eyes but what she saw almost made her scream.

Bren was hanging upside down from her bunk. Her hair was unusually long.

But that’s not what made Shuri want to scream.

Bren was looking straight at Shuri, eyes wide open.

Shuri didn’t say anything. She didn’t scream, she didn’t get up. She covered her head with the sheet, while she shivered under it.

…

In the morning when Shuri woke up, Bren was already in the shower.

Last night came rushing back to her. When Bren stepped out of the shower she looked completely normal. Herself.

Shuri told Bren about the incident & she just laughed it off.

“I have this habit of sleepwalking. I was probably trying to get off the bunk but the railings held me in. I’m sorry I scared you,” Bren explained.

Shuri was relieved. She was still a little shaken. The remnants of the nightmare was like the mold — not too much of a bother but hard to get rid of.

…

Two nurses walked in. It was time to bathe the patient.

Shuri had been admitted to the asylum 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. She rambled for hours about her imaginary friend Bren. She was found unconscious in her hostel room and when they revived her — she was hysterical.

She cried and begged for the doctors and the police to look for Bren. But there was nobody called Bren in her life. At least no one that her friends and family knew about.

The hostel reception confirmed that Shuri had checked in alone.

…

“What’s that musty smell in the room?,” one nurse asked the other.

“Smells like coastal mold,” the other replies.