Creative Works Of The Mind

Knocking

Knocking

"Malissa, what are we going to watch tonight? You know it's your turn to pick. So just choose something already."

"I told you, I don't know what to watch. Maybe that's a sign that we should be doing something other than watching a movie. We always watch movies and never do anything else."

"Well you're the expert then. What should we do if we aren't going to watch a movie?"

"Adrian, why do you always have to be like this? It was only a suggestion, I was just thinking about how I'm kind of bored of only watching movies with you every Friday night."

"Then what do you want to do instead. If you give me an answer then we can do something other than watch a movie. If you give me something fun to do other than a movie we'll do that instead, I promise."

"Okay fine. I like painting and i have all the stuff for it. Would you like to paint with me instead? We can put on some music, set up the paints and talk."

"Okay fine I'll do it, but can we please watch a movie next time? I love movies, you know that. I want to get a job as a director."

"Okay, deal."

Suddenly there's a knock at the door and I tell Adrian to wait in the kitchen, that I'd only be a second. I hurry down the hall to the front door and throw it open. To my utter surprise the porch is empty. I shrug and close the door again.

I make my way back to the kitchen, thinking about what I should paint and someone knocks on the door again. I turn back around and think again. I yell to Adrian to go up to my room and get my paints and paint set from my closet.

She races up the stairs and I rush back to the front door. I throw it open once more and look around the street. Still the porch is empty of any life or any thing. I am confused, but shut the door again. I run back to the kitchen and take out my mom's old Tupperware pots, the ones she doesn't really care about if they get wrecked.

I set up the table with newspapers and fill the containers with water. Faintly I hear a knock at the front door again. I run and answer it. I open the door and stare out into the empty street. I step out onto the porch and look about the street. Not a person is in sight, a few lights are on in houses on the street, but no one is out this late at night.

I turn around and look around the door. I look beside the porch for anyone that could be playing a prank, but I come up empty handed. "Hmmm." I go back inside and shut the door behind me. I lock it and go back to the kitchen where Adrian is places a canvas in front of each of the two chairs, a set of colors in front of her chair.

I smile at her as we get our painting capes on and I hear that unnerving knock at the door again. Instead of going to the front door I go and check the back door. I throw the door open and it bangs against the wall. I scowl at the empty back porch. How is it that someone keeps knocking, but no one is ever there? I wonder if Adrian heard any of the knocking.

I head back to the kitchen after slamming and locking the back door out of frustration with the situation. I sit at my stop and look at Adrian as she dips her paintbrush into her paint.

"Ad, I have a question."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Did you hear the knocking?"

"What knocking?"

"So you didn't hear it?"

"No, I hear a lot of knocking, which time are you talking about?"

"Knocking, there was knocking tonight. Did you hear any of it?"

"Yes, of course, why re you asking me this?"

"I was just wondering because each time I answered the door no one was there. I was starting to think that I was going crazy and hearing things, but you said you heard them too. So I don't know what to do."

"How about this. If there is another knock, we will both go and look together and if there is still nothing then it must be nothing and if there is another knock then we will just ignore it, okay?"

"Okay."

We continued painting, I'm still not sure what I am painting exactly. Maybe I'll end up figuring it out. Again the knock makes it's sound. My eyes flick up to Adrian and her eyes are staring back at me. I nod and she nods and we both stand up from the table. We quietly sneak to the front door and i swing it open. All that greets us is a cold breeze from the night. The porch is again empty.

"Then it must be nothing and remember, next time, we don't answer, we ignore it. Maybe whoever is doing this will get tired and give up."

We go back to our spots and continue painting. A knock sounds and we sit there ignoring it. Again a knock comes and goes and we just sit there, no longer able to focus on painting. We wait and wait, but no other knock comes. We sit there for what feels like days, but what must've only been a half hour and still nothing.

I look up at Adrian's smiling face, "I told you they'd give up."

I smile back, but the smile fades and my mind wanders to before when I was answering the door by myself. There is no way that it could have been a couple of kids playing a prank. I searched the front yard and found nothing and it's only me and Adrian in the house. My mind jumbles with all of these confusing thoughts.

I don't know what happened tonight with the knocking, but I do know that it wasn't by accident and it wasn't a prank from a couple of kids. Weird, when Adrian told me that we would ignore the knock that last time it sounded again, twice, but when I stopped thinking about it as much I no longer heard it. Strange, very strange.