The scream

It was a rainy morning. The rain and darkness was making it a lazy morning. I was sitting on my bed sipping up the coffee and reading news on my phone. I was taking slow sips of coffee so that I go to stay longer in the bed before starting of my work day. While I was reading through a news article about one of the new discoveries about the strain of amoeba, I was startled by a scream. It was a blood curdling scream. The scream came from my upstairs neighbour, I recognized her voive.

My upstairs neighbour stays with her two year old daughter. Her husband works with the merchant navy so he was away at the sea. The scream made me jump. I lept from my bed immediately. The adrenaline had rushed, making me ready for action. My first thought was to call her and ask her what had happened. I took out my phone and dialled her number. I waited for her to respond but she did not pick up the phone. This made me uneasy and with each passing second the uneasiness kept growing.

The scream made me worried about her. Many thoughts crowded my mind, "what if she got unwell? What if her daughter is unwell? With their relatives away they have nobody to turn to. I should check on them. If they need any help at least she would have me and my family". I could not brush off the thought of them having a trouble at their home and nobody to help them swiftly.

I picked up my phone and keys and headed upstairs. I rang the doorbell and waited for her to open the door. Every minute was making me more worried for their safety. After waiting for 2 minutes the door was still not answerred. I stayed outside her door and kept thinking what should I do next. I kept contemplating my choices whether to call the neighbours or to call the ambulance. While the thoughts were keeping my mind busy I saw that the door was being opened. I saw my neighbour right in front of me. She smiled at me but also looked confused.

I was glad to see that she did not look unwell or injured. As she smiled at me I concluded that she and her daughter were fine. I asked her, "I heard a scream a couple of minutes ago. I came to check if you and Sanika are okay".

Now her smile broadened. At the same time I could see embarrassment on her face, "oh my god. Was I so loud? I am really sorry to disturb you".

"Is everything okay? Do you need any help? Feel free to tell me," I empathized with her situation. Being a single parent without the presence of husband must have been difficult for her, I thought.

She looked at her feet, visibility uncomfortable, but finally decided to speak, "actually some time ago I was bathing Sanika. Suddenly in the bathroom I saw a lizard. Without even realising I screamed. I did not realise that I was so loud that even you would hear me. When I screamed the lizard too got scared and escaped from the bathroom window. I am really sorry, I got you worried about us. We are fine. Thanks for checking in. I really appreciate your concern," while we had been speaking I saw her daughter in the background playing with her toys.

Her confession made me laugh on the spot. Of course I felt ashamed to laugh in front of her. But that laughter was mixed with relief as well. Seeing me laugh, she joined me as well. I apologized for laughing and bid goodbye to her. She thanked me again for checking in on them.

I left from there and returned to my home to get ready to start my work day. I knew this was going to be an interesting day.