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The sultry afternoon was impregnated in darkening warm tones. The sky hidden behind heavy clouds, thunder echoing in the distance. Those lime green curtains of questionable taste whirling enormously in the wind. Definitely not a good scenario for going out to skate.
"Wanna watch a film instead?"
Reki's retorted mouth made clear his displeasure. He was so bored that Langa could only pity him.
"Can I at least close the balcony doors and turn on the AC?"
"Yeah yeah, man, go ahead. It's gonna rain anyway… And yeah we can watch a film." Reki added after a sulking pause.
"We can do something else if you want, Reki. Like… a game?"
The curtains had floated back into their natural resting place and Langa pulled them close together. An abrupt move followed by a horrific scream.
"AAAAAAAAH Fuck!" Reki sprinted across the living room and hid behind the couch. A flash from lightning, then thunder resounded. That was all Langa could register before the reddish-brown monster took an awkward turn and grew in size and power towards his forehead.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A sharp cry left his throat. Lucky him he was fast and dodged the feculent winged entity. "Reki, fuck! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The once placid living room rapidly succumbed to an apocalyptic battlefield, absolute panic installed; Langa running from the flying threat, twisting, spinning and turning as in a terrorised ballet; Reki brandishing cushions to defend himself, hurrying to open the windows and the balcony doors; the wind blowing into the flat, curtains, papers, hairs all storming in the air. And the beast, the most deranged and unhinged, a being impossibly anti-aerodynamic, wobbling in its clumsy flight, its body being carried with the whirling currents, hitting walls, TV, couch, more walls, table, the fridge, more walls, then-
"Reki, the hell you're doing? WAAAH OUR FUCKING LADY! REKI!"
"Wha- Opening the doors! The way must be free for the- WAAAH- roach t-to g-g-get out!"
"YOU'RE DOING WHAT? OH MY GOD REKI PLEASE KILL THIS SHIT!" After pirouetting and darting around the whole place, Langa was found trapped in a corner between the shelf and one half-open balcony door. "Reki, please!" He had tears in his eyes.
"You're so dramatic! I'm NOT killing it, ok? I'll l-let it escape!" He asserted despite visibly shaking from head to toe.
"Reki I-" Langa paused in his nervous fit and looked around, a terrified demeanour taking him over. "Reki, it's not- where's the-"
Reki - who was shielding himself behind the largest cushion - looked around and put on an unconvincing smile. "See? Haa! It-t's already gone." He rushed and the windblow was finally cut with the other balcony door slid closed.
"No?! It's not?!" Langa glued himself to Reki's side, alert to the surroundings. "Can't you feel that we're being watched?"
"Wa-w-watched?" A shiver ran through his spine. "Y-you're saying that to scare me!" Now he was the one glued.
"I'm not, Reki!" Langa pulled him from the centre of the living room in search of the best wall to protect their backs for an escape route. "Reki, my fucking God, Reki." He was cold-sweating. "It's the worst scenario. When the roach disappears. Shit, shit, shit!"
"Langa, I thought I was the wuss here, but, man, you're baffling me! It's just a cockroach, what big evil can it cause?" Reki said, suddenly feeling a bit too brave.
"Reki, you're the one afraid of ghosts and they don't even exist. A very real cockroach is hiding here spying on us and you're calling me a wuss?" Langa had Reki caught by his wrists and was hurriedly dragging him to his bedroom. It was so unlike him, Reki would have laughed in a less frightening situation.
"How do you know it's still here?"
"That's the problem, Reki! I don't know! You make me sound like you!" The door clicked closed behind them both, Langa allowing his heartbeats to slow down a little. Yet something felt off with the way Reki seemed silent and paralysed. Then cautiously stepped back, one step, then another. A lightning bolt flashed and the lights flickered for a split second. He was pale.
"Reki?" Dread tinted Langa's voice with tremble.
"Run!" Reki murmured with his eyes fixed on those execrable wings, spreading ungraciously in wait for the right air flow to take-off. "Langa, run!" As he raised his voice, Langa was already seizing the door handle - "Lan-GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" - and forcing it up and down, so hard and fast. Everything seemed in slow motion. The metal pieces disassembling, and the handle coming right off in his hand. Langa's face went so livid that Reki thought he would pass out. That's when the behemoth hit the door, its cursed wings fluttering, unsteadily losing height down to their heads.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Impossible to know whose scream was louder, higher-pitched or even if at this point they both shared the same throat. Reki dived under the comforter and promptly enveloped himself, tucking every edge under himself and in the bedsides to seal completely any entry way.
"REKI! REKI FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET ME IN!" Langa grabbed and pulled the comforter in unforeseen despair, violently shoving himself under it with Reki, both freaking out under the covers, each tugging with so much strength that the inevitable had to happen: it started with a brittle sound, then suddenly the comforter was tearing apart in the middle exposing both to the open air. Thunder again. The colossal flying creature flapped its stinky wings over them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
A leap propelled Reki over Langa, aiming for the door handle on the floor. Langa caught a frantic grip on Reki, only to be left with his shorts in his hand. That was definitely not how he'd dreamt that would happen. With no time to mourn his fate, he hastily waved the shorts in the air while fighting to unstick his leg from the comforter and fell miserably on his face. Quickly untangling his foot, he crawled and threw himself forward with all his weight on Reki's back and locked his arms firmly around his body. "Do something, Reki, anything! Please!"
"I… tried." Reki sounded hollow. The dead words followed a clang on the other side of the door. Holding the door handle like the remnant of a long bygone last hope, Reki looked Langa back in the eyes. A bolt flashed silent, then thunder rumbled loud. The rich golden brown eyes staring at him were glassy now and Langa started to cry. That was it, their inglorious end! The leviathan landed on the wall near them. It was bigger than ever before, its legs sturdier and longer, with even more spiky hairs ready to tickle their delicate human skins. Its antennae pointing long and bold forward in erratic circling movements as if casting a demoniac spell. With an ungainly march the repulsive creature made its way towards the quivering victims.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH" Langa jumped and started to punch the door. "OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!" This time it was Reki who had his arms around Langa, his eyes fixed on the approaching innominable, his heart racing as if on the verge of death. Once again he witnessed those atrocious wings opening wide, the gross striped butt lifting up and the moment the flight of doom took air. Never before his deepest guts vibrated in such a terrified holler. Echoing in the stormy dusk, the screams felt distant and unreal. Thunder and lightning bolts laced their ill fate.
That's when the handle crossed the thickness of the door and an insistent push caused them both to move back. Their freedom! The door was open! In primal instinct, a rush took over them. Both ran over their saviour, down the corridor, Reki mounted on Langa's back, their exhausted asses relying on the powers of the newly come force.
"What's- AAAAAH" VRAU! The hero. The true hero of this story, Nanako Hasegawa. Her gym-toned arms flashing brightly under the tempest lightning. It finally started to rain. The abominable, disgusting being was defeated. "Oooooohhh, noooooo! I loved this purse!" RIP the pricey purse. In all honesty, though, nothing compared to good, life saving karate skills. "Is this why you were- Oh my!"
Nanako's face suddenly turned bright red, hand unconsciously raising to her mouth. Inside the bedroom, a torn comforter lay on the bed with parts hanging from the edges and denim shorts carelessly thrown on the floor. On the living room couch, her son entangled in a disorderly jumble of legs and arms, face stuck on Reki's neck. Reki, well, in his purpley-pink briefs, impossibly wrapping her son, limbs locked around his hips and shoulders. Both sweaty and dishevelled to their souls.
Still recovering from the events, the two took their sweet time to realise their compromising condition, leaving Nanako to agonise at the mercy of her imagination. At some point, reality had to sink in - and, oh, it did. Furious blush spread over their faces and they both pulled apart. Reki contorting himself to hide his heinous briefs, Langa offering him a cushion to cover himself and Nanako stuttering whatever she was trying to say.
"Mum, it's- it's n-not what you're thinking it is! I can explain!" And that's how Langa found out how to make such an embarrassing situation even worse.
"NO! No. No, thanks! We're having this talk later." Shit.
"We'll… eeeh… b-buy a new purse!"
"Langa, shut up!" Reki was about to implode. Taking a deep breath, he half-bowed, half-stood up, trying to keep some pudency. "Excuse me." Holding one cushion over his crotch, another over his buttocks, he made his way to rescue what remained from his dignity. To his dismay, it came with a remark.
"Cute briefs, by the way." Nanako patted his shoulder as he, dead inside, walked past her. And over the smacked cockroach. "Holy shit! That was a big one!"
Langa approached her to acknowledge her job, a properly dressed Reki soon joining them. All the three stared at the gigantic corpse leaking a viscous white liquid. Impressive. That's when a rumble cut through the silence and the lights flickered again. It might have been an illusion, but they've caught the impression of an antenna moving. Langa jolted. They glanced between each other then landed their eyes back on the still creature.
"Let's get rid of it." Nanako decided.
That's right. They were getting rid of it. The smacked corpse of a disgusting cockroach. Forever.
Langa once more eyed the plastic bag thrown away directly in the building waste bin. He faltered, but turned his back and left for his home. His finally safe home, now waiting for a thorough cleaning session. It had to be only a coincidence that a lightning bolt crashed a power outage. Then the loudest thunder roared into the stormy night.
Definitely a coincidence. Unless the contents of the plastic bag had its own icky revenge plans.