The Night

The alarm clock rang, he cracked his eyes to the glow of the sunset cutting through the window and just onto the ground in front of the bed. It was his morning, though it was evening, 6PM. His shift began at 7 PM and wouldn’t end till 5 AM. Working nights wasn’t easy but he was adapting, waking up at sunset tricked his mind into thinking it was sunrise, and waking up, a little bit easier.

He walked over to the shower and kicked off his underwear, he missed the dirty pile of clothes. No problem, he could just kick the underwear back over onto the pile when he came out of the shower.

He scrubbed his hair with the soap bar, lathered up his hands with the foam from his hair, then scrubbed his face. He moved downward to his shoulders, scrubbed each arm down, moved to his belly, scrubbed his genitals and down his thighs, and finally, finished off on his feet. He shut off the water and grabbed his towel from the hook. He dried his hair and face, then his ears and neck, flung the towel backwards and tugged forward, dried his back downward to his butt, flipped the towel forward, dried his genitals, down his thighs and finished off with his feet.

He opened up the underwear drawer and pulled out a blue pair of underwear. He could see the red ones peeking out from the bottom of the drawer, thankfully, it wasn't red underwear day yet, those days he had to be a bit more careful, more observant, those were dangerous days. But today was a blue day, blue underwear day, there was no need to worry about the red underwear now.

He walked over to the kitchen, he made his usual morning coffee or evening coffee, they tasted the same now, a mouse ran between his feet, he jumped and let out a scream. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, startled by the little mouse, the anger billowed up inside him. It was one thing that they ran around at night, or day, and sometimes waking him from his sleep, dropping dishes, turning on the faucet, but to be so shameless as to run right between his feet, while he was in his own kitchen!

“ You little mother fuckers! I’m gonna set traps and crush your insides, and as you struggle to breathe in the trap, I’m gonna laugh, and watch you as you take your last breath!”

Breathing rapidly, he put his coffee down on the counter.

The mouse, after it ran between his legs, now ran through his mind, but was he really willing to set traps, to put the bait in the traps, to pull back the spring and set them,to lay in bed and hear the trap go off, and know, that the mouse was taking it’s last breath. Would he find pleasure in it? He was more honest with himself these days, no more denial, deep down, he knew he could not do that to a mouse. He and the mouse breathe the same air, they ate the same food, and shared the same kitchen nonetheless. For now, he just had to get rid of the mouse in his mind, he still had things to do before heading off to work. He grabbed two sugar cubes and stared deeply into them, making sure that neither cube had any missing corners and that all edges were straight. He liked two sugar cubes in his coffee, no more, no less. He opened the refrigerator and pulled the half-and-half container out, he picked up a teaspoon that was sitting in the sink, he measured out 1 teaspoon of half-and-half into his coffee, he repeated the process four more times for a total of 5 teaspoons of half-and-half into his coffee. That was the exact amount of cream that he liked in his coffee, no more, no less. He became so distracted with measuring the half-and-half that the mouse was gone from his mind. He placed the teaspoon on the counter and put the half-and-half back into the fridge. As he walked away, he remembered that he had to put the teaspoon back into the sink, but he would do it before he left, no biggie.

He looked over to the back window and saw that the sun was almost completely gone, which meant he had to get going really soon, he noticed the plant in the corner was drooping, perhaps he could water before he left, yeah he could get to it, before he left, on his way out the door, he could grab a cup of water, it was already sitting in the sink, and then he could put the teaspoon back into the sink, yeah, no problem.

His rituals, though exhausting, were necessary for him to keep calm, ever since working nights, he had figured out a way to make it to work on time, and still find some sort of normalcy in his daily life.

Hopping on one foot he struggled to put on his second sock, he quickly glanced out the back window, the sun was nearly gone, he had to really hurry now. He was trying to make it to his car by 6:40PM, before it was completely dark. He knew it would be out there on the tree, watching him, it was instinctual he thought, to be afraid of them, they were a bad omen. He could feel himself start to vibrate, when he felt anxious he could feel every cell in his body start to rotate, he could feel himself tremble, no time for that, time to go.

He looked over at the back window, the purple sky consumed the last bit of light. He put his hat on his head, the brim of the hat would block him from seeing it, if it was out there, no , it would be there, he knew it. He stepped out the front door and quickly turned his back to the night, he put the key in the hole, he felt it’s eyes on his back calling him, he quickly turned around, there was nothing in the leafless tree where it usually sat. He turned back to the door, he checked it once more, unlocked it and relocked it, surely locked this time. He felt something urging him to look back, he couldn’t resist, he turned around and there it was, staring him directly in the eyes, he cast his stare downward as he walked over to his car, he opened the car door, the keys were already in the ignition, must have forgotten them in there the night before, or day before, whatever the case he had to get away. Without a seatbelt, he threw the car into reverse and accelerated out the driveway, the car did not make a full stop before he threw it in drive, it let out a sharp squeal of the tires as he sped off. The car’s clock read 6:44, he was four minutes late from the time he usually left. The owl, now the least of his worries, he was going to be late for work.

The owl perched on the leafless tree watched as the man’s tail lights blurred and disappeared in the distance. There was lots to do before the man returned. It flew down off the tree and headed towards the front door, the keys still hanging from the door as he usually left them, the man was always in such a hurry. The owl turned the key to the right with his beak and then pressed down on the door handle with his talons. With the keys hanging from his beak, it closed the door behind itself. It flew over to the wall where all the other keys hung and placed the keys on the hanger.

It walked quietly over to the fridge and sat patiently, it would only be a matter of time before they peek out. Like clockwork, the mouse stuck its little head out and looked both ways before completely emerging. The owl watching its every move, waited until the mouse was out just far enough, it sharply struck down it’s foot, clenching the little body between its foot and the tile, it watched as the mouse gasped for air, watching it breathe its last breath.

After devouring the entire mouse, it made sure to lick every last drop of blood off the tile.

The owl looked over at the back window, the stars now in full view, it had plenty of time to complete everything it needed to do today, or tonight, in other words. The owl noticed the plant wilting, it flew over to the sink to fill the cup of water. It noticed that the teaspoon was missing from the sink, it glanced over to see it on the counter. Before filling the cup, the owl flew over to the teaspoon and picked it up with it’s beak and flew back to the sink. It turned the faucet on, only to a trickle, then the owl began filling the cup,measuring one spoon of water at a time, until the cup was entirely filled. The owl then carefully picked up the cup with its beak, flew over to the wilting plant, and poured the water in. It flew the cup back to the sink and placed it next to the spoon.

The owl continued its routine and made its way down the hallway. It walked over to the bathroom where it usually napped, and it noticed that one of the underwear was not in the pile of clothes. It quickly grasped it and tossed it onto the top of the pile. The owl nestled itself into the pile of dirty clothing, shut its eyes, and went to sleep. It was unlike owls to nap during their day, at night, but it had gotten used to it, and it rather enjoyed a little shut eye before sunrise.

The owl cracked open its eyes, still laying on the pile of dirty clothing. It looked out the bathroom window to see a faint light, sunrise. It stood up and stretched it’s long wings before making its way to the kitchen. After that long nap, it could go for another little snack. It stood over next to the fridge, waiting patiently for another unsuspecting mouse, but nothing. It glanced at the front window, it was getting brighter outside, it had to hurry, the man would be back any minute.

It flew over to the pantry where it grasped two crackers and flew over to the fridge. It placed the crackers on the floor in front of the fridge, with two swift kicks, the crackers disappeared as they slid under. The owl knew if it was to keep enjoying mice, it had to cultivate them, keep them fed, in order for them to reproduce.

The owl glanced over at the front window. It was brighter out. Just then, it heard the tires crunching down the driveway. The owl flew over to the front window and saw the man coming out from his car. The owl, now frantic, flew through the hallway into the bathroom. With its beak, it grabbed the frame of the window and shook it violently. The window was seized, the owl trapped. In a panic, it shook the window once more, then, it noticed that the lock was latched. It quickly unlatched the lock with its beak and slid the window open. It jumped from the window so fast, that it barely caught its flight before hitting the ground. The owl flew up into one of the nearby trees, trembling, it could feel every cell of his body vibrating.

The man walked up to his front door and jiggled the handle, he couldn’t find his keys anywhere. He was locked out. He walked around to the back of the house, the only window that had any possibility of being unlocked, was the bathroom window. He walked up, and to his surprise, the window was fully open. He must have opened it that morning, or evening, they were the same to him, to let the steam out from the hot shower.