Monday, March 24, 2014

the pool



It was a little after midnight when Adam walked out of his apartment and into the night's breeze. The city was dim and quiet, with most people fast asleep. Adam desperately wished he could join them, to fall into a deep slumber in the middle of the night and wake up in the morning like everyone else. Unfortunately, much like an owl, Adam was an insomniac. Being able to sleep while the moon was still up was a rare treat. 




Just like every other night, Adam got into his car and drove. He was never sure of his destination; sometimes he'll bring himself to a park, a bar, or back to his own home after a thirty minute drive. He didn't mind, he trusted his instincts and the city. That night, he found himself at a private swimming pool. The gates were locked, so he climbed over slowly, making as little noise as possible. Adam had successfully managed to get across and felt relief to find the place empty. He hadn't brought anything to swim in, not knowing he'll end up in a deserted pool. Adam stripped out of his clothes and was left in his briefs, with tiny little hearts all over them. "Thank God I'm alone," he muttered as he looked down at the only piece of clothing on him.

Without a second thought, Adam splashed into the pool. As he swam, he thought of dozens of things. With his mind as an anchor, he disappeared deeper and deeper into the water.

Adam was sure his only companion was the moon and stars. But when he had his head out in the air, he noticed a girl standing at the edge of the pool, her arms crossed. "Hi," she called out loud when she realized Adam was staring at her. Warily, he swam to her. "I've been standing here for ten minutes and you've only seen me now," she pointed out when he had finally reached the end of the pool. "Oh, sorry," Adam replied because he didn't know what else to say. While Adam was still in the pool with only his head out of the water and his arms leaning on the ledge, the stranger squatted across him."Who are you?" he asked. Despite being inches away from her, the place was dark without a single light on. He couldn't make do much of her face."The police, of course. Breaking an entry is against the rules, you know," she stated calmly. Adam froze. He knew one of these wandering nights was going to get him in Trouble. "I'm so sorry, ma'am, it's j-just that I have trouble sleeping at night and I l-like to go places and I--" before Adam could finish explaining, the girl laughed, her head thrown back. "God, you should've seen your eyes! It was wide open, your eyebrows went missing! And you're so cute when you stammer, oh God, I'm so telling Ryan, he would want a boyfriend like you. I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm no cop. Just a random soul bothering you," she said in between giggles. Adam stared at her in disbelief then shut his eyes close with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. "That wasn't funny, also, I'm not gay,"
"Oh, lighten up," she chimed. "You're really serious. I haven't seen you smile the whole time! I bet you're a college student studying law or medicine or something dull like that." Adam was about to correct her and tell her law was not dull and that it was rather interesting but he was interrupted by the sound of jiggling keys from a distance. "Is that you?" the girl whispered. "I'm in the water for fuck's sake, how can it be me?" Adam whispered back in annoyance. "Who's there?" a gruff voice said. Behind the girl, Adam saw the shape of a man walking out of the pool shed. "Run!" Adam belted without much thought and rushed out of the water. He snatched his clothes from the ground while running behind the girl. For some reason, the gates weren't locked and closed as he remembered so there was no need to climb across. He quickly unlocked his car and jumped straight into the drivers seat. The girl followed suit into the other side of the car. Adam drove out of the place so quickly the girl slammed into her seat. "Sorry," he mumbled.

They were back at the main road, both of them breathing heavily. Adam didn't stop driving until he was sure no one was following them. "You should put your pants on," the girl whispered when they stopped at the side of the empty road. Adam turned to her and he could finally see the details of her face now that there was light from the post lamps. Both her hair and eyes were chocolate brown. Even her skin was olive. Everything about her was kind of... golden. "Can you please, please, put your clothes on first? THEN we can have a staring contest," she whined. Adam rolled her eyes while picking up his shirt.

With his clothes back on, Adam started driving again. Out of nowhere, the girl started giggling. "That was fun," she smirked. "We could've been caught! I would have gotten a criminal record!" Adam snapped. The girl laughed even louder. "Oh my, God, you're hilarious," she squealed.
"What? What's so funny?" he demanded.
"That man just now? That was my dad! My family owns that place! Why would he be angry at you if you're with me?"
Adam processed this in his head. Silently, with one hand on the steering wheel, he used the other hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Do you do that when you're stressed or annoyed? I think you did that like five times tonight," she stated. Adam wanted to correct her again, that he's only done it twice in front of her but ignored the urge to. "So why did you run from the man, then?" he groaned.
"Because you told me to! You screamed in my face to run, I was following orders."
"I need a sandwich," Adam grumbled.
"Great, me too! I'm Leyla, by the way,"
"Adam,"
From the corner of his eyes, he could see Leyla beam. "I've a feeling this is only the first of our many adventures," she sang. Adam made an inaudible groan as he drove to the nearest convenience store.

--

i finished this at 530 AM.
i wrote this at like 3 AM and couldn't stop writing. ok well goodnight.

3 comments:

  1. This is amazing. I've never come across a story plot like this before despite being an avid reader. Two thumbs up for this!

    ReplyDelete


Singaporean, lover of words.
ask.fm / tumblr / twitter

alternatively, you can email me at raudhah.hanafiah@gmail.com

labels: fiction, outfits, significant other