A Knock On The Door (There's An Alien At The Door)

1 - The Look Out

We stood there, our hearts beating as one and watched through the small opening in the window by the side. Our breathing reduced to the minimum, we posed ourselves for what we expected would be the big reveal. It was dark inside as we had turned out the lights. It was dark outside as the street lights had suddenly tripped off. There was light in the house though we were watching though, but we couldn’t see what was happening inside.

I felt Ngozi squeeze my right hand as the light at the back of the house came on. Darkness. The light was off again. Suddenly I felt a touch on my shoulder. Instinctively, I pulled Ngozi behind me and tried to swing the club in my left hand until I saw the face. It was Ego, my girlfriend. We turned at once to the window and continued our surveillance.

“Ochuko, what…”

“Shhh…”

I opened the window a bit and pointed to the sky.

“I can’t…”

“See anything? Yeah!”

That was the ultimate evidence that there had been a covert alien invasion.

2 - The Evidence

“But what does it mean?” Ego whispered over my head. I wonder why she couldn’t figure it out. Even little Ngozi did.

“Mama Shita, the one who sells late night meals… do you see her?” I asked and noticed Ego press against my back as she tired to get a better look. I felt her shake her head.

“The blind man that sleeps by the empty stalls at the junction, do you see him?”

“Where is everyone?” Ego asked, finally getting the point.

“The alien took them.” Ngozi announced.

“The alien?” Ego asked, her tone heavy with disbelief.

It was then I told her the story. It wasn’t my story; it was Ngozi’s but I could tell it better. “You know Ngozi has been watching this house for some time. Well, she had always thought the house was invaded by an alien but I never believed her. Of course, she wouldn't tell you because you would write her off. Well, Ngozi told me she saw a strangely formed man in a weird car go around the neighbourhood knocking on people. He knocked here but Ngozi didn’t answer. He was…

At that point, we heard a loud noise. We saw people staggering, trying to grope their way in the dark. We saw Mama Shita and the blind man and Mr Akpan… In fact we saw the entire neighbourhood walk out of the large compound that surrounded the alien house. Each one looked like they had sapped life from everyone of them. Some were even walking like zombies. Just then Ngozi shouted, “It’s him!” We all ducked instinctively as we saw a very large man emerge from the house. They was a red glow in the house. Suddenly, the man turned to look in her our direction. We knew we were busted at once. We closed the window and hide behind wall counting our breath.

There was a soft knock on the door

This is my entry for the 24 hour short story contest for May 29--A man suspects his neighbor is an alien, from outer space. by . It’s been a long while I wrote fiction; too long actually. I had to bring myself to write this. Hopefully, with time, I regain my flow.

[Image source: Public Domain Pictures]