He could ask anyone, and whoever it was he asked, Konnor would get the same response: get out of there.
It was the first day of the week; not Sunday, but Monday. Sweat was streaming down from his forehead as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Another long, grueling day working in the summer heat was behind him. All Konnor had wanted to do was check off the last tedious task on his daily, routine, to-do list: hose himself off in the shower. It was relaxing, but showering felt like a chore that he'd rather not do. And with the temperature so high this time of the year, his furniture couldn't afford being doused with body odor and sticky dirt.
Upon opening his door, he felt an unusual presence; the feeling one might get when they are the seeker in hide-and-seek. It wasn't a person hiding in his apartment, rather, an item out of place, perhaps something left behind by his friends or girlfriend. This "feeling" he had was just that: a feeling, and not anything concrete. Still, he scavenged his living room to entertain the idea of finding something that had been misplaced. Numerous hairbands and scrunchies were littered about the floor and tucked in between his sofa cushions, but he didn't consider his girlfriend's accessories misplaced items.
He shrugged his shoulders, then went to the kitchen which was connected to the living room to put his bag away. The kitchen was the only place in his apartment where he felt that his work bag belonged, despite it being covered with mud, sand and dirt. With the floor of the kitchen being tile, it made for cleaning up after the twenty-pound bag a cinch. The bag was quick to dirty in his line of work, and cleaning it regularly was like caring for a house pet. As he dampened a paper towel to wipe the bottom of the bag, he looked at the TV that was directly in front of him in the living room, visible from the window in his kitchen. There it was: the "misplaced" item, nested in the decorative, bushy, potted plant that sat on top of his TV stand. A camera, that did not belong to Konnor was pointed directly at him from where he was standing. The sofa, the kitchen window, and the sink were all in sight of the camera.
Seeing this caused Konnor's heart to sink down into his stomach acids. His phone vibrated, but he was too distracted by fear to check the message. However, he played it off as if it he hadn't noticed the device sitting in his decorative plant. As he scrubbed the muck off the canvas bag bottom, he thought to himself: "That camera does not belong to me; that's for sure. Someone was in my apartment, and they planted that camera to spy on me." He shook his head to try flinging away the horrifying thoughts that his mind raced to. I have to pretend like I don't notice. If someone is watching me right now, and they see me staring, it might cause them to do something malicious.
After he was done wiping off his work bag, he took his shirt off and headed for his room. Inside his room, he swept the corners of his walls with his eyes for other cameras that might be lurking in the dark. He even went as far as inspecting under his bed, but he found nothing of interest.
As his mind calmed, he unlocked the door and went to the bathroom to tackle that final, tedious task. "I don't need to worry," he thought to himself, "this isn't some movie where someone is hunting for proof of my wrongdoing." To be sure, he begun recalling every notable event that occurred in the past two years that he spent living in his apartment complex. Nothing significant came to mind. He broke his leg a year ago at work and as a result, he was given paid time off to recover. Could the camera have existed back then? he thought. He shook his head. While, yes, Konnor did own the decorative plant since before he moved in, it wouldn't have mattered if the camera was there or not. He wasn't cheating his employers for time off. His leg was indeed broken, and the camera would only have caught him hopelessly hopping around on one foot from room to room.
After his shower, he returned to the living and sat at the bar on the other side of the kitchen window. The view was perfect for watching TV, although, he would have to twist his back to see it, but also perfect for being spied on while he ate his cereal every morning. From his refrigerator, he retrieved some turkey, cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato, then grabbed some rye bread from his bread box. If it wasn't turkey, he'd be eating ham. Maybe the camera was there observing his eating habits and what he consumed. Was it at all possible that I'm some subject for data collection? he thought. It was unlikely that some corporation had planted a camera in his home to learn from their consumers.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
The Two Minute Experiment (Short Story)
रोमांसA story of a peeping tom who means well. Perhaps a line was crossed, but perhaps it was necessary. Konnor and Misty have a relationship like no other that is manifested in a way that exceeds the limitations of the physical world. A love only possibl...
