It all happened in the blink of an eye. One moment there was an orange glow of light, and the next moment, there was nothing. I rubbed my eyes in confusion. Outside, it was pitch dark, the power supply company was having difficulties supplying electricity to households. Our neighbours, Baba Svinurai and his wife had travelled all the way to their rural home for a funeral the previous day. There was no one at the house, I was very sure of it as they had asked me to keep an eye on the house. As I was having trouble finding sleep, I sat on the bed and kept peering outside through the window although there was nothing much to see beyond my hand as it was too dark outside.
I rubbed my eyes again, but there was no more light at our neighbour’s house. The orange glow of light had vanished. Mai VaMaidei was sleeping soundly on the bed and snoring lightly. I envied her, how she could manage to sleep so easily as it was intensely hot, despite opening our window. I kept looking out of the window, then suddenly I saw the orange glow of light again at the house, but it was for only a milli-second and it vanished instantly. I tried to wake up Mai VaMaidei.
“There is someone in our neighbour’s house,” I said. I shook her up, she just grunted and turned on the other side. What should I do? I quickly put on my clothes and grabbed Mai VaMaidei’s T-shirt by mistake. I only noticed it later. The children were all sleeping peacefully in the next room. I went outside as I slid on my slippers. I wanted to investigate and make sure that there indeed were intruders at our neighbour’s house. The night was still and the air was palpably hot. There was no moon to assist with visibility on the ground. My heart beat fast as I approached the house. I felt a sudden fear and this reminded me of the time I ran away from a blood-thirsty mob in South Africa as they were attacking foreigners in an orgy of violence and looting foreign-owned shops. I was only saved from fate by a freaky thunderstorm. That happened a few years ago.
I should have phoned Baba VaTata who lived in the next street to join me. As I stood outside the house in the dark, something suddenly darted across the yard. My heart almost leaped out of my mouth before I saw that it was only a cat I had scared out of its hiding place. Age was slowly catching up with me. These adventures were not good for my health.
I removed my slippers and clutched them in my hands. The next moment I put the slippers on the ground and left them there. I tip-toed to the window. I peered through the window as I waited for my eyes to be accustomed to the darkness. I stood there for what appeared to be a long time but was only for about three minutes. Fear cried out in every part of my body. Through a chink in the window, I could barely see anything. Inside the house, it was pitch dark, there was no movement, sound or light. There was dead silence. Maybe my eyes had played tricks on me. I was almost satisfied that there were no intruders in the house. I was happy I had done my part.
I heard voices of people walking on the road. They were two or three people, and they were probably coming from Zororo Bar, which closed in the early hours of the morning on weekends. I often wonder what these people will be doing in the bar so late in the night than be home with their families sleeping. It cannot just be imbibing beer. There is some secret with beer, it tantalises some people, so it seems. One can drink beer all night without getting sick. Funny. As I was about to turn away and head back to my house, I suddenly saw the orange glow of light again in the house. My worst fears were confirmed. Someone was using light from a phone obtrusively. My hair suddenly stood on end. There were intruders in the house. I wanted to get a better look again when all hell suddenly broke loose, but that is the story for next time.
- Onie Ndoro OnieX@90396982