Rhythm

She idly messes with her left earring, twirling it around, around, around. The pen in her right hand sounds out a rhythm onto the desk—tap, tap, tap, tap—as she gently chews on her lower lip, staring at the piece of paper in front of her. A book lies open beside her, her eyes momentarily turning to its pages.

Around, around, around.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The light flickers off. She glances up, setting her pen down, and leans forward to whack the lamp. The light pops back on. She settles back into her chair and lifts her pen up, holding it poised in the air for a moment before scribbling something onto her paper.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

She has begun to rap the pen on the desk again.

Around, around, around.

She doesn’t notice as the slightly ajar window slides open all the way. She is too engrossed in her schoolwork, tapping her pen and twisting her earring. She doesn’t notice as I stand in her room, feeling an imaginary heat from the glow of her lamp.

Tap, tap—

The light flickers.

She moves forward to hit the lamp again. I move forward until I am behind her. The room brightens again. She leans back, picking up her pen. She pauses, body stiffening. She begins to turn around, but I quickly slip a loop of scarf over her head and pull it tight. She jerks, her fingers flying to the cloth around her throat.

I pull tighter.

Her mouth opens in a soundless scream as her head tips back. Her eyes lock with mine, and I smile. I let the scarf slip from my fingers. She gasps in one breath. I slit her throat. Her blood sounds out a rhythm on the floor—tap, tap, tap, tap.

[Word Count: 300]