The Visitor

The Visitor

The night sky sparkled with stars, and the crescent moon shown unhindered. It was already a little past one in the morning, lights coming from inside houses were rare and people outside even rarer. A dog howled, an answering bark came a little further away. A bat flew overhead, and a rat scampered out of its hiding place to scavenge amongst the pile of garbage in a street corner. The nearby shopping mall had been closed for hours, and the last kuligligs and tricycles in the vicinity have sleeping people in them.

The place was asleep, except for a few drunks who were almost all have fallen asleep. Heavy footsteps were heard, as if a horse went hurriedly by, accompanied by a loud sniffing. A lone drunk who saw the tall, equine-like man, thought he saw an illusion. He drank the beer dregs in the bottle in his hand, and promptly collapsed face-down on the table. It was met with guffaws and shouts from his companions.

The apparition, a creature of myth, stopped in its tracks. Its ears pricked up, eyes bright and searching. It sniffed again, and smiled. It slowly made its way towards an alley-like street. Its crimson eyes shown brightly in the dark, its hooves making no noise on the cemented road.

"What do you want?" Pamela Balani asked. She was sitting on a round-backed monobloc chair outside, clutching her knees and looking up towards the night sky. She had her back to the creature, and yet she had sensed its arrival. She wore knee-length shorts, and a baggy t-shirt with a comical cartoon on it. Her black hair was untied, it was dancing to the rhythm of the cool night breeze.

"What do you want?" she asked again, not facing the creature.

"I have come to take you back," it said, its voice like deep drums, yet soft as a caress.

Pam sighed, she stretched her body and stifled a yawn. "It's getting late, you need to go home," she said. She stood up and was about to go when the creature spoke.

"I cannot go back home," it said.

She faced the creature for the first time, sweat making trails along its steaming shanks. They stood face to face, the creature's breath smelled strongly of tobacco. She stared at its equine face; a scar on its left eye glowed faintly bluish in the shadows. It was carrying the standard weaponry of its kind: a bow, with various feathers tied to it; a quiver full of arrows; and a small dagger stuck in its belt. In addition, two kali sticks were on its back, red ribbons tied on their ends.

"I like it when you are angry," it said, wiping sweat from its shank with its tail. She ignored it, continuing to stare at it.

"What do you want from me, Mailap?" Pam asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Your mother misses you, she had been asking me to fetch you."

At the mention of her mother, memories both good and bad immediately invaded her mind. Pam turned around, her eyes brimming and her nose runny. She sniffed, which the creature heard and caused and whinny. She wiped her eyes with her arm and faced it again.

"Tell my mother, I would come back as soon as possible," she said, and then turned away.

"She wants you back now," Mailap said, its face still hidden in the shadows. A lamp post flickered behind it, and the creature shifted from hoof to hoof. "I told you, I cannot go back unless you come with me."

"You need to go back now," Pam said firmly. "My roommate might come out and ask questions. I do not want that to happen to her."

Mailap watched her open the gate of one of the houses lining the dead end street. It snorted, white breath floating around it. "Your mother had ordered me to take you now. I even have your kali sticks with me, your mother said they will convince you to come back."

Pam ignored the creature, and went inside the house. Mailap watched her go, his fists at his sides were shaking. "You will come back with me, Maya," it whispered, before running off into the night. The faint sounds of hooves on asphalt, the waning cheers of drunkards, and the distant howling of dogs broke the silent night.