Hell of a hell !!

Was that a knock?

Pausing for some time, and listening for any potential danger of being caught, Sam resumed his doing. His back in an arc, and straining his body, he gawked into the computer without the blink of an eye. He strained hard with his bloody eyes-the sleep deprived and nearly dead ones- with a pair of glasses that has been repaired many times. Layers and layers and the color of the tape around the frame seemed to make it heavier than its actual weight. His hands were dirty, with mud and blood clad fingers and nails. He drank something cold from the bottle that was kept on the table. He had all the qualities to be a hood, but his small but neat room was a contradiction.  There was a bed, neatly made, with an old and torn cover. It had prints of fire that shone like little orange embers in the light of the small lamp by the bed side. It seemed he never kept footsteps in the kitchen. It was empty other than the worn out wall paper had pictures of oven, pans, spoons and even an expensive cutlery set.

Brooding over his computer, he again heard the knock. He had no idea of what was going on. At repeated intervals, the knock was heard. But, but no one answered to his call. Once or twice, he thought he heard the bleat of a sheep.  Either he was imagining things or he was losing all his sanity. And that was totally preposterous.  He looked around and could not figure out where he was. Or how he ended up in this small room. And again, he felt, he was missing something. He could remember that he was at the height of pleasure not so lately, but why or how – remained a mystery.
He could see no visible injuries on his body, but his whole body was aching. The only familiar object in the room was his computer and he found a sense of home in it. He remembered how he cursed it when it crashed often, owing to its age and the brutal usage. It was his only and a meek sense of delight in this eerie, haunted room.

The knock again.
This time it continued. Did not stop with one or two.
With a heavy noise the door came to the ground with a thud.

Smoke rushed into the room.
It was all flames.
“Like hell” he said.

A voice replied “Not like hell you!!! It is Hell and you deserve it “        

Emerged a man. He looked neither a serpent nor did he have horns or devilish wings.

Just an ordinary man.

“Are you the devil?” asked Sam in bewilderment.

“Do you have any reasons to believe that I am not?” asked the man.

“You are not like serpent and you don’t have wings and horns. You are… normal!! And Human!! ” Exclaimed Sam.

“Who said I have devilish wings and horn? Who said I slither? Has anyone seen me for real? And those who have seen me never left to explain.” Answered the devil.

While they were having their talk, clatter of pots and pipes were heard.

He looked at the devil with lot of questions and the devil simply smiled.

“You can have a walk around, you know” The devil teased Sam.

With a heavy heart pumping hard, he took his first step. And the second. Then the third and the fourth.

His instincts made him turn around. The devil has vanished. Pooff!! No smoke, no flames and not the devil himself.

This was the paramount. Sam could not bear this torture any longer. He could not say what was happening. Was he losing his mind? Was he completely insane now? He felt his head split, his tongue twitch and his eyes roll upwards. And his hands searched his own body for something to end this misery. When his hand reached the left pocket of his jeans, he got a gun. He didn’t have a clue on how it got into his pocket. But he did not think much. With trembling hands and an aching soul, he shot himself and freed his mind.

 Was that a knock? Again ??

Sam opened his eyes to life. Trying to get up, he tumbled down. But he was relieved to find the familiar mat. He was contented to find him in his room, in his house. He was happy to fill his lungs with the satisfying smell of his room.

“So all of that was a dream. One hell of a dream!! “ .  He uttered with a smile.

COPYRIGHT © 2019- 2020 Nima Mohan, thetenthzodiac.wordpress.com, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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For Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – First Line Friday The first line is “Was that a knock?”

Also tried to combine “Take seven 24th April challenge” by Di.
This week the words were arc, back, bottle, cold, computer, cover, crash, delight, hood, injury,lamp, noise, oven, pan, pipes, pleasure,pot,print, pump, sheep, shoot .