Tap

I heard the first tap while I was laying in bed on one of those nights where I couldn’t sleep. I heard it coming from the neighbor’s wall.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

They were infrequent, but I heard them loud and clear in the silence of my room. Eventually it stopped, but I remember cursing to myself about my annoying neighbors.

After that I heard the tapping only rarely. It wasn’t every night, or at least I don’t think it was. A full day of work usually burned me out enough that I could fall right to sleep at night.

Then the tapping followed me to work. The company had sent me to fix this AC unit for a department store, and that day was one of the hottest days of the year. I got into the habit of wearing hats and long sleeves to protect me from the sun. Still, eventually the sun would get to me. I went to take a quick break on the shady part of the roof. It felt so nice that I actually dozed off.

Not long after, I was woken up by the feeling of someone tapping me on the cheek. I sprung awake to find nobody there. I figured it must’ve been a bug or something.

When I really started to get paranoid was the night I was walking home from the bar. Sure, I was pretty drunk, but there was nobody around. As I was crossing the street, I felt the tap on my shoulder. Instinctively, I spun around, and, as you probably guessed, nobody was there.

As these occurrences became more regular, I started to get worried. I went to see the doctor, thinking that I might have some weird nerve disease or something. I did some tests but they found nothing wrong. He suggested I see a psychiatrist, but I never ended up going. Still, I would get really frustrated any time I felt a tap, and they were getting more regular.

One day the company sent me back to that same store where I felt the tap on my face the first time. Their unit was having problems again. I let my mind wander for a bit too long while working. One of the screws from the unit fell.

Instinctually, I lunged to grab it out of the air, but as I stepped forward I whacked my head on a panel. The blow sent me reeling backward. Then, I stumbled over one of my haphazardly placed tools.

It all happened so fast. I stumbled backward, dazed, not realizing I was so near the edge of the roof until I stepped and found no floor beneath my foot. I was about to fall, but I waved out my arms instinctively, trying to balance and keep myself from going over.

I was just barely hanging on to my life, teetering on the edge of death when, Tap. And I was sent into freefall, the asphalt awaiting me below.