Stumbling Upon Unseen Secrets- 2

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Checking behind me frantically I shoved my body against the door. I even tried banging, hoping that my mother would wake up and open it. But to me, it felt like I was invisible. I felt helpless ... like horrible things have been set in motion and I was no force to change that. And then, something changed.

It took my a minute to realize it but when I did, I knew not to turn back. The dogs had stopped howling, the wild breeze was silent. It seemed as though everything here was on the side of the invisible force and I was on the other end. What was I fighting this unseen force with? A screwdriver. I was fumbling with the screwdriver to lever the door open and right now that was all I had. 

I drew a long breath and turned around hoping to see some ugly creature, a shadow figure, a dark entity. But nothing could've prepared me for what I actually saw. I saw myself.

It wasn't a mirror reflection, it wasn't an exact replica. Something was distinctively different, but it was me. I could sense an instant connection, some fragments of an old and forgotten past. While I was wondering why I couldn't see this version of myself before, she talked. My arm instantly extended to jab her with my screwdriver, but she dodged so swiftly that I had to blink to understand what had just happened. 

When she talked, it sounded more like a melody. Her voice, the tone, the choice of words, all flowed into a beautiful song. And because I understood it, it sounded even more beautiful. It had a unique harmony... almost like the ones the dogs were howling away every night. 'The dogs' I thought to myself. As if she heard me, she moved to make way for me as I walked to the railing. I looked below but the dogs I had seen earlier weren't there. I glanced back at her. I cocked my neck like bird and looked closer at her. Her eyes... they were brown like mine. But they reminded me of someone else. No, something else. Then it dawned. I struggled with myself to get a few words out to her. 

Swallowing hard and clutching my stomach that was caving in, I whispered. It cut through her melody with a flat, insensitive tone, but I was glad I had succeeded. 

'Are you a personification of the dogs?' 

Wait a bit to know what happens next.   

Stumbling Upon Unseen Secrets

Time slipped away slower than the pendulum as I tossed about in bed. No amount of rearranging my pillows or shuffling the sea of sheets was helping me tonight. And so I lay there, reminiscing on abstract phases of my life, when it all began.

Fishing for my phone, I eventually found it at my feet. '1:30 AM'. I sighed to myself. The street dogs had begun their choir practice ... again. This is was a routine observation I made. The howling always began around 11:30 pm and went on till 2:30, every hour on the hour. This annoying habit of the dogs broke my attempts at sleeping almost every day. But today, I wasn't going to try and sleep. Today, I was going to see what the noise was all about and instead lay my curiosity to sleep.

I padded my away across the house, feeling colder than usual. One quick scan at the dark spaces and I was at the window that was letting a cold draft in. I slid it shut as slow as I could, glancing at the sight outside. The empty streets where lit golden, the trees were at complete standstill and yet there was a draft. The dogs were howling away at a plot outgrown with weeds and whatnot. I squinted and looked on hoping to catch some movement. I got nothing. I needed to get closer.
Pulling the sleeves down my arms, I hugged myself and made my way to the kitchen balcony which, I assumed, would offer the perfect view. The howling continued. 'Longer than usual'. 

All caught up in the rush of excitement, I closed the door behind me and leaned over the railing from my fourth floor. More dogs had gathered now, some barking, some howling and some just watching. Well, I was watching too. A sudden breeze picked up and ruffled my clothes a bit. I held my breath as the howling fell into a perfect harmony with my deep, slow heartbeat. I watched on unblinkingly afraid to wake up and chalk this all up to a dream. The dogs shifted themselves into a semicircle and paused before they moved in unison, maintaining the formation, the open end facing me.

My knuckles turned white as the temperature fell and I tried to keep clam as the dogs moved towards my building. There was obviously some force in the circle and this was obviously something I did not want to watch any longer. I didn't want to get any closer. I detached myself from the railing and reached out for the handle when it struck me.
'Holy crap' I muttered.

Our flimsy lock worked in a way that you always pull it shut to lock it and turn the key to unlock it. But I was on the other side of the door. The dogs didn't stop. Some barking, some howling and some just watching. But now, I was panicking.


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