Bricks

He heard the knock; he had been dreading this for weeks.

He knew the end was near.

This was not a knock for someone who wanted to come in; this was the start of something far more sinister.

He had been told that his life would be forfeit if he left his bungalow. At first, he thought it was a joke, but when he went out for shopping, there was always some dark character following him back, almost to make sure he was in his small home.

He received a notice in an official brown envelope, but with no stamp, stating that he had been found guilty of an unspecified crime and must remain in his home to receive the appropriate punishment.

He had committed no crime and there had been no trial, but the day after the letter was delivered, his phone line was cut and his TV service was stopped. He could still get shortwave radio broadcasts, but all other options were blocked.

This was destroying his mind. There was no one he could ask for help. He was on long-term sick leave and was unemployed.

The shop assistants avoided his gaze and told him to use self-check-outs; they would not have a conversation with him.

He knew this day was coming. and he had heard the knock.

He knew that the end was close, but he did not know what that end was.

He racked his mind to think of anything where he had transgressed some law, but as far as he was concerned, he was a model citizen. Apparently, he was not model enough for the authorities, and that was why this was now happening.

Then there was another knock, and another. He realised these were not knocks, but hammer blows, like nails were being hammered into the door. He went to the door and, although he was frightened to death, he tried to open it.

He knew that the people on the other side might cause him harm, but he never got that far. The door was nailed shut, and he could not open it.

Then he heard other noises; the door had a glass section, and he could see that the doorway was now being bricked up. This was his only way out.

These bungalows were built back-to-back for cheapness and efficiency, and he saw that the windows to his lounge and bedroom were also being bricked up.

His kitchen and bathroom did not have windows.

He was being wallled up, his home was going to become his tomb.

He screamed:

"Let Me Out, Let Me Go!!"

But his words had no ears to fall upon, and even if they had heard, they would have ignored him.

This was terrifying.

He couldn't open a window, so he might suffocate. He went to get a glass of water, but the water was turned off, so he could not get a drink from there.

Then the lights went out, and he was in darkness; he went to the fridge, and that was no longer working, and soon the frozen stuff would be useless, though now he wondered if that mattered.

He was in a bricked-up house with no way of escape.

He was trapped behind brick walls, and no one was coming to save him.

That first knock at the door had been his death knell.

He was going to die and rot here in total darkness. He could not even see the time on his watch, so he just sat down on a chair, waited and cried.

He never saw this coming, but he knew that death would soon be here.