Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.
What’s that sound? Oh it is the church bell. What time is it anyway?
Found my phone, oh dear it is bright. 3 AM. Who would ring a church bell at three in the morning? Then I knew that someone must have died. I was also thirsty, very thirsty.
I got up, and flicked the light switch. Nothing happened. Switched it again three times, still nothing. Did we always have a power cut in the middle of the night? I never stayed up this late so I wouldn’t know. I reached for my phone, when suddenly the church bell rang again. I dropped my phone in shock, and it fell into pieces.
Well, I thought, now I have to grope in the dark towards the kitchen and find a candle. I cannot possibly reassemble my phone in the dark. So I slowly made my way forward, and it was just my luck that a waning moon was throwing some light through the kitchen window. I had moved only a few inches when I saw that the house was in complete disarray. It was a sight that immediately sent shivers through me.
Just before me, on the floor, was an arm! It had been removed at the shoulder (dislocated is the word I'm looking for), and from the looks of it it must have been separated from its body for many days. I turned away in disgust, and then I stepped on a cloth. With shaking fingers I picked it up, and discovered it was a dress, very worn and torn, obviously belonging to a little girl.
What to do next? I was nowhere near to my destination, the cabinet where candles were kept. I couldn’t move any faster, because the kitchen floor was littered with teacups and plates and pans. And what is a tyre doing on the kitchen table? Who had left it there?
I stepped carefully, and was just about to open the kitchen cabinet when my feet touched something cold and sticky. Now what could that be? Who had visited us and left behind all this mess?
Whatever the answer was, I had to have some light first. I found the candles, lit the first one, and then the lights came on.
I drank the water. Then with a weary sigh I started picking up the children’s things. The Barbie’s arm, the tiny tea-set, the wheels of the bicycle, and the doll’s dress. Two energetic little girls can really drain an aunt’s energy, were my last thoughts before I drifted off to sleep.
What’s that sound? Oh it is the church bell. What time is it anyway?
Found my phone, oh dear it is bright. 3 AM. Who would ring a church bell at three in the morning? Then I knew that someone must have died. I was also thirsty, very thirsty.
I got up, and flicked the light switch. Nothing happened. Switched it again three times, still nothing. Did we always have a power cut in the middle of the night? I never stayed up this late so I wouldn’t know. I reached for my phone, when suddenly the church bell rang again. I dropped my phone in shock, and it fell into pieces.
Well, I thought, now I have to grope in the dark towards the kitchen and find a candle. I cannot possibly reassemble my phone in the dark. So I slowly made my way forward, and it was just my luck that a waning moon was throwing some light through the kitchen window. I had moved only a few inches when I saw that the house was in complete disarray. It was a sight that immediately sent shivers through me.
Just before me, on the floor, was an arm! It had been removed at the shoulder (dislocated is the word I'm looking for), and from the looks of it it must have been separated from its body for many days. I turned away in disgust, and then I stepped on a cloth. With shaking fingers I picked it up, and discovered it was a dress, very worn and torn, obviously belonging to a little girl.
What to do next? I was nowhere near to my destination, the cabinet where candles were kept. I couldn’t move any faster, because the kitchen floor was littered with teacups and plates and pans. And what is a tyre doing on the kitchen table? Who had left it there?
I stepped carefully, and was just about to open the kitchen cabinet when my feet touched something cold and sticky. Now what could that be? Who had visited us and left behind all this mess?
Whatever the answer was, I had to have some light first. I found the candles, lit the first one, and then the lights came on.
I drank the water. Then with a weary sigh I started picking up the children’s things. The Barbie’s arm, the tiny tea-set, the wheels of the bicycle, and the doll’s dress. Two energetic little girls can really drain an aunt’s energy, were my last thoughts before I drifted off to sleep.
