My Phobia Man

4. Dreamcatcher

Seven more days had passed and now we were in May.

During those seven days, he brought me more food and sometimes coffee. Though I never had a nice conversation with him, he seemed pretty offended when I put the fence between us. As if I cared. As if we were friends. Well, after suffering for hours from night to morning, we were more like enemies.

Initially, I thought that things wouldn't go worse than April, but I was soon proved to be wrong.

I guess it was the second of May when I woke up with a start, hearing something like a scream. I waited a few minutes, thinking what to do if that nuisance got hurt seriously. Holding my breath, I waited and waited, but then the music echoed in the walls and filled into my flat as usual.

I exhaled the breath I was holding, and the next time when I inhaled, it was annoyance rather than air. Maybe I just heard it wrong. Not wanting to think about him, I plucked my new earplugs, hoping those would work better than my old pair.

Nope... they didn't...

Helpless, I turned on my laptop, put on my headphones and continued to work on my book with my own music.

.

.

Zztt... zzttt...

I woke up with the vibration near my head. Opening my eyes, I saw my head was on the table in a very uncomfortable position. Slowly, I leaned back on the chair, my hand supporting my stiff neck. Apparently, I dozed off while working on my book. I shut the lid of the laptop and grabbed my phone to check the message. Damn, it was the delivery message, informing me that they would leave the ordered books in fifteen minutes in front of the door as per I requested.

"I could sleep more," I snorted, but my stiff neck kindly reminded me that it would have been worse if I did.

"I will sleep more after showering," I said to myself and walked to the bathroom, hoping hot water would soothe my stiff muscles.

The magic was made and I left the bathroom, feeling heaps better. Tossing the towel on my head aside, I went to the door to take my books, but there was again something moving on the ground next to my box.

The nuisance!!!!

"Oh, good morning, did I scare you?" he asked with a tired voice, as he looked at me over the book. My book.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked curtly.

He gave me an apologetic look, "I was just going to work, but then I saw this book about nightmares and... you know."

I narrowed my eyes and gestured at the box for him to leave the book inside. Was he turning on the music every night to escape from nightmares? I thought he was just an insomniac.

He wet his lips nervously and asked "can I read it first? Maybe it can help me a bit? I am really troubled, you know."

I didn't know what to say. I was clearly taken aback by his sudden honest confession. I might even have pitied him for a second.

"Ah, you don't want to? Okay, can I at least take a picture of the cover?" he mumbled, misunderstanding my silence. As if I was talking a lot normally.

"Bring it back as you get it," words spilled from my mouth of their own volition and he beamed.

"Thank you, thank you so much, Veera," he sang out and ran away fast, holding the book on his chest.

Wait, how did he know my name? I wondered, but then I noticed the invoice stapled on the box and heaved a sigh.

"What did I get myself into?" I reprimanded myself, looking behind him and pulled the box in.

The following three days, I didn't see the nuisance although I knew he was at home every night 'thanks' to the loud music. I really wondered if he was really reading the book because there was no improvement of the music playing, but then I checked the new books on my bookcase and realised the book he borrowed was about the folktales about nightmares. Well, they wouldn't help much, right?

Wondering about him and trying to convince myself that I wasn't wondering about him, Thursday came. Though I hate to admit it, I was kinda happy when I heard the familiar knock on the door late in the afternoon.

"What is it?" I asked as I opened the door, trying to look aloof as usual, but seeing the huge bag of dreamcatchers in his hand, I am sure my face looked shocked.

"Hey," the nuisance greeted me with a trademark wide smile, "I brought your book back... wait," he said, and with difficulty, he put his heavy burden down before he took out my book from his blue backpack. Reaching the book to me, "I brought it back safe and sound," he said proudly.

I just stared at his hand, unable to take the book. What if I accidentally touched him? It had been a while contacting a person and I was afraid of having an attack. Even though my heart never palpitated in front of the small man unlike others, I still didn't want to take the risk.

"Oh, I am sorry," he said after a minute of waiting and moved his hand to the very corner of the book. With the unbalanced weight, half of the book dangled towards the ground.

I was so shocked by his action, but somehow I managed to get the book from his hand, earning a grin from him. Weird.

"AAA!" the nuisance cried out suddenly, almost making me drop the book. Pointing at my left hand, he said "you have a dreamcatcher tattoo!"

I looked at him blankly.

"In your book, it said dreamcatchers get the bad dreams away from you. I would like to have an amulet carved on my skin, but I am afraid of sharp tools. That's why I bought a full bag of it!" he announced unnecessarily as well as proudly, showing me the bag on the ground.

"Hope it works, for both of us," I said and closed the door before my headache got worse. Jeez, how much he liked to talk! Was it really necessary for him to reveal that much about himself to a total stranger?

Of course, I had my own demons and nightmares; and therefore, I got that stupid tattoo in a moment of stupidity four years ago. However, I never pestered other people with my own problems. I even moved out from my family house to save my parents from the trouble. Couldn't he do the same? What was so good about announcing his weaknesses freely and bothering other people?

Unwittingly, my hands around the book tightened, creating fingerprints on the cover.

"Stupid," I murmured with heavy feelings, "how can you believe that this stupid amulet would bring any relief..."

I am not sure if I was talking with the ghost of the nuisance or with myself...