My Achilles Shoe | ONC 2024

○ Chapter 01 ○

With a whole new level of frustration, I striked off another page in my notebook. Yet again. I had managed to hit the writer's block, or more like a writer's iceberg. And it wasn't planning to melt anytime soon

“There goes my bestselling story. That's right. A book with blank pages. Everyone would love it,” I grumbled as I pulled at the roots of my hair.

Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to ease down my tense nerves. It didn't work though. I closed my notebook and hid it on my shelf between some other thick books. I couldn't relax if it kept staring back at me like that, showing me how much of a loser I was. 

Who knew that writing a single page could be this hard? ‘Almost everyone except for you?’

I snatched the phone off my desk and decided to listen to some music. To not swallow in self pity, I put my playlist on shuffle and instantly relaxed when Savior by OneRepublic started playing.

Gradually, I was out of my sulking mood and completely fine by the time ‘Waiting On A Miracle’, Encanto's soundtrack started playing.

Without giving it a second thought, I started belting out its lyrics like I was holding my own concert in my bedroom.

“I can't move the mountains, I can't make the flowers bloom,” I sang out while jumping around in my room like a crazed person.

But before I could sing the next line, an unknown voice sang out, “I can't take another night up in my room, waiting on a miracle.”

Startled, I tripped on my own legs and looked at my window cautiously. I could feel the goosebumps erupting on my skin. A gasp escaped my lips when I realized that it was open. Who was out there? I was debating whether or not to scream some profanities back at that person. However, the sane side of my mind blocked that decision.

I quickly sprinted toward my window and glanced down to see a guy waving up at me. It was dark so I couldn't make out his features but I could see his white teeth shining. I assumed he was smiling.

My heart started beating on its own accord. Calming myself, I grabbed the first thing that my hands could find without even looking at it and threw it out the window.

I heard him yelp before he screamed something undecipherable.

With fear biting my whole body, I quickly bolted my window shut, drew the curtains, turned off the lights and hid under my covers as if hiding from a ghost.

I was shaking so bad that I felt the ground quaking underneath me. Just when my heart was starting to slow down, there was a knock on my apartment door.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered. “Please save me. I promise that I'll-”

“Could you please tone down your singing and dancing! Some people are trying to sleep here!” A familiar voice scolded me from the other side of the door. It was a really small apartment so her words carried on to my room easily.

It was Mrs. Brown, a 70-year-old lady, living in the downstairs apartment with her husband. On any other day, I would hate to hear her voice but today she sounded like an angel. Who knew her voice and words would assure me to sleep?

Anything but encountering again with that smiling stranger from below my window. Even though I didn't have to see him in real life, he did invade all my dreams. He definitely had the face of a monster with white, clean teeth.