Klempner
299 Words
Klempner
My eyes snap open to darkness…
A clicking sound…
Claws on concrete...
Was I awake as I heard it?
Or asleep?
Scratching and scraping…
A skritching noise…
Cold sweat soaks the sheet under me. My hand, of its own volition, slams toward the light switch. But before I reach it, something cold and wet shoves at my face: Bear’s nose.
My heart gives a mighty slam…
Christ...
… and I snatch for air.
Pull yourself together man...
Heartbeat decelerating, I switch on the light anyway. Bear wriggles his backside in an ecstasy of wagging, poking at me with his snout, claws tap-tapping on the hard floor, then muffling as they snag on the bedside rug.
Reaching from under the blankets, I scratch an ear, keeping my voice low, trying not to disturb Mitch. “Good boy.”
He blows air in my face, sweet and a little meaty, gives my hand a perfunctory lick, then huffs, dropping to the rug. Head on paws, he faces the door, eyes drooping.
No rat’s going to get past him…
A short-cut to snacks…
I roll onto my back, staring up, reluctant to switch off the lamp. Bear’s breathing grows steady and slow.
Turn off the light…
…
Turn off the f*****g light…
There’s nothing there in the dark that’s not there in the light…
Inhaling, feeling the rise and fall of my chest, the quickening of my heartbeat again, still I hesitate…
You’re a grown man…
Half the world is scared shitless of you…
So, what the f**k’s the matter?
… then flick off the light-switch.
Staring into the gloom, I become conscious of the warmth of the body beside mine: warm, comforting…
Mitch…
I roll again, this time to face my wife…
My wife…
All I ever wished for…
She’s watching me, her eyes a green and white glint against the dark, fixed on mine. Drawing close, she contours herself to me. Her hands in my hair, stroking, wordless, she opens her mouth over mine.
*****
- Writer
