Living a Nightmare

THE AUCTION

At exactly half past nine, we enter the auction room. The room is already packed with bidders. There are so many people that all the seats are already taken and people standing to the left and the right of the auction room, all with their folders or phones ready for when the auction starts.

The three of us decide to stay at the back of the room as there are not too many people there yet.

"Wow, look at all the people here. Didn't expect it to be that full," Layla looks a bit shocked.

"Yeah, how long is this thing going to take?" Andy already sounds annoyed.

I am not exactly sure how long it will take, as I do not know how many houses are up for auction today.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The auction starts at ten o'clock on the dot.

Half an hour has passed and ten houses have already been sold, but the house I want has still not come up.

To be honest, it is getting really tiresome to listen to the same sentences over and over again. I really do not understand the appeal of auctions, not just house auctions, but all kinds of auctions in general. There are actually people, who go to auctions on a daily basis. 'Like, what is wrong with these people? Do they not have a life?'

But my thoughts are interrupted when Layla suddenly nudges me in the side.

"Ow, what was that for?" I look at her in confusion.

"Next up is Lot 62 and I wasn't sure if you were paying any attention to what is going on ahead. You looked a little like you were dreaming," she whispers and has to laugh.

"Oh right, thanks," I smile back at her and turn my attention to the auctioneer standing at the auction block at the other end of the room.

"Right then, moving on. Lot 62. Lot 62, ladies and gentlemen, is being sold without reserve. Here we have a house being sold with all the furniture still in it. Right, so, someone start me off wherever you want, because it is being sold without reserve," the auctioneer says, scanning the room.

"Five hundred? Five hundred pounds over there to the gentleman in the blue jacket," the auctioneer points to a person sitting in the front row. "Do I hear any more? One thousand? Do I hear one thousand?"

"Three thousand," shouts a woman sitting somewhere in the middle of the room.

Oh dear, this is not going as I had hoped at all. These are the first two bids and I was hoping to get the house for as little as possible. I should probably make my move slowly if I want the house. But then others might bid higher and then it might be too expensive for me. Maybe I should wait out and see what happens. You know, until no one else is bidding anymore and the price is not too high either.

"Three thousand over there to the woman in the white dress. Do I hear any more? No?" the auctioneer scans the room again. Now nobody makes a move.

'What should I do? Do I bid three thousand five hundred? Or do I wait?' I am getting really anxious now and my hands are starting to get all clammy, as if I was in an oral exam at university and I did not know the answer to the question that the professor had asked me.

"Okay then, three thousand for the first..."

Still nobody budges. 'What should I do? What should I do?'

"...three thousand for the second...," the auctioneer continues, still scanning the room to make sure he does not forget anyone.

"Three thousand five hundred," I shout into the room, shocked that those words had actually come out of my mouth.

"I hear three thousand five hundred from the lady in the back. Do I hear more?"

Again, the room is silent. Have I won? Please let my bid be the final one.

"Anybody else still for Lot 62? Bids three thousand five hundred pounds. If not, three thousand five hundred for the first... three thousand five hundred for the second... three thousand five hundred for the third and final time... SOLD!" the auctioneer points in my direction as he slams the gavel down on the auction block.

I cannot believe what has just happened. It has all happened so quickly that I am finding it hard to process. I just bought the house for three thousand five hundred pounds. And I was prepared to go up to five thousand, which is my budget, but now I have even managed to save some money.

"Well, congrats on winning the house, I guess," Andy interrupts my thoughts.

Now all we have to do is wait until the auction is over for today, so I can pay for the house. Well, at least a little bit of the house for now. You see, when you go to an auction and want to buy a house, you have to pay ten percent of the price immediately, and the other ninety percent you have a month to pay through the bank.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When the auction is finally over, we head straight to the bank to pay the rest of the money for the house.

Only a few days later, the papers are signed and the house is finally mine.