The airport shuttle landed me at the entrance to my apartment complex. Exhausted by the journey, depressed that the vacation was over, despondent that the only thing I can look forward to for the next 4 months are the 8 hours of oblivion each day, I amble past the apartments that separate mine from the front. The listless body drags the luggage to the door. With only a few fumbles, I manage to get my keys and unlock the door. The only thought on my mind is to crash and wake up only the next day. No sooner that I open I door, before my eyes catch a glimpse of the apartment, I am greeted by a pungent, nauseous stink beyond my tolerance. As I take a few seconds to focus my weary eyes in the bright light of the living room a total shock comes over me. The garbage has been accumulating for the past three weeks, but no one has bothered to take the trash out. The last person to leave the apartment for the xmas vacation has switched the AC off, so the air has been still and stale for over 2 weeks now!
Actually, the last person to leave the apartment left the place for good. He moved to LA, leaving behind a legacy that is unlikely to be forgotten by me for quite a while. The grey carpet on the floor was semi-brown with shoe marks, the entire dining area and kitchen was a bioharzard quarantine. There were three large trash bags full of trash, there were three mattresses lying around unused (and unusable), a table with one broken leg was juxtaposed against the wall. There were empty carton boxes lying all over the floor. I slowly made my way through to the kitchen, there was a ‘look of apprehension’ on my face, fearing the worst. The sink was empty and clean, but that was the only thing that was empty and clean. The utensils were all over the kitchen platform. there were prepared dishes left and they were brandishing multicolored fungi and spores whose spectrum seemed to extend beyond the UV and IR. The refrigerator was a live illustration of Weird Al‘s parody “Living in the Fridge“. Overcome by frustration, anger, annoyance and the unbearable stench, I dashed to the bathroom to wash my face and, hopefully, cleanse myself. To my horror, the sink was decorated by infinite layers of waterstains. Somebody had overused the sink, and conveniently forgotten to clean up. The bath tub seemed to have been replaced! I bend down only to discover that the white bathtub on of mine looked the face of the dark lord of the sith! The floor of the tub was black, and the space between the tiles was an indescribable mixture of bottlegreen, darkblue and black (it was originally white). I think it is best if I refrain from describing the state of the potty seat.
I couldnt take it anymore. I took a paper bag and was slowly breathing into it. No, I was not hyperventilating, it was just that I couldnt take the stench anymore, it seemed to have permeated in to every square inch of the apartment. I was too scared to look into the rooms, with a few soft, frightened steps I made it to the main door.
The news papers next day reported an inexplicable blood chilling scream of a stranger running to the night.
Comments are disabled for this post