Upon meeting him, he never thought that his feelings could sweep him away like the waves of the sea, that his world would change in a second. In the darkness, his mind repeats the moments when their destinies collided for brief instants, while his heart aches…
Noah was an ordinary man; he never wanted to be special, nor to attract the attention of other people. Since childhood, he felt comfortable observing the action. He always thought it would be awkward if other people expected something from him; he liked tranquility and comfort. Upon reaching adulthood, he decided to move to the capital. There wasn't much for him in his hometown, apart from painful memories that relentlessly haunted him.
Everyone thought the capital was a paradise where you could feel alive, even if you weren't really living. He lived alone in a small apartment, which he only used to sleep. Living in the capital wasn't cheap, so he had to have several jobs. Due to his size and build, it was easy for him to find work where he had to use his strength, carrying things from one place to another, in nightclubs, whatever was necessary. Since his twenties, his life had passed quietly. He kept his mind and body busy, working almost daily, seeing his friends occasionally to get drunk and talk about life, he exercised frequently; his life was comfortable.
One August 12th, as usual, he was in his small apartment about to leave when he spilled a cup of tea that he had irresponsibly left in his way. His socks were ruined, and so was the floor. It took him about 15 minutes to clean up the mess caused by his clumsiness and the spilled tea. He left 15 minutes later than planned. As he left his apartment, he managed to see a tall, ridiculously pale man, with skin he wouldn't have even in his wildest dreams and disheveled white hair, blue eyes that seemed too deep. Was he an angel? Or quite the opposite? He didn't give it too much importance and walked towards the place where he saw him disappear, but there was no one where that man had gone.
Later, he casually asked at the reception; they only told him that someone had come to investigate some strange noise in some of the uninhabited apartments. But who in their right mind would hire a guy like that to investigate? He simply gave up on the whole matter. What could he do? It wasn't his business.
The days passed, and so did the weeks. One day, very late at night, he heard quite strange noises in the apartment next door, a bit sinister.
'Are those voices?' he said to himself, but he couldn't understand what they were saying.
Then he resisted the fear he felt and waited until dawn to report his discovery. He repeated to himself more than once that this is what happens when you have too much free time; you start imagining things and getting obsessed. He promised himself to find something to do after fulfilling his duty of reporting this matter.
The landlord didn't seem surprised, but rather annoyed by his report. He only told him that he would send someone to check, that it wasn't anything serious, that perhaps it was some rodent causing trouble. They both knew that wasn't the case, but he pretended to believe him. He just hoped someone would put an end to the noises. He tried not to give the situation too much importance. After a few days, he heard someone walking down the hallway that connected the apartments.