Watched

She flipped through the channels, dissatisfied with everything she watched in the three seconds she took to assess the screen. It was sticky hot and it was 10 p.m. She had two fans going and her bedroom window was open about five inches. It was all it could go. She had hammered nails into all the window sashes to ensure that they could only be opened so far by an intruder. Even so, it still made her uneasy, sometimes, to have the window open.

She heard the rustle outside again. Odd, since there was absolutely no wind and hadn’t been any for the last two days. Maybe it was a neighbor’s pet going through the bushes. Again, odd, she thought, as it was 10 p.m. and she knew her neighbors to have their animals in well before then. It was a coyote neighborhood. Pets weren’t safe outside any time and especially at night.

She ignored the rustle and continued flipping through the channels.

“For God’s Sake! Just watch anything!!”

Her breath caught for a second then she let out a scream heard across two streets. Lights went on.

“Oh jeez! Now ya done it!”

She screamed again.

“OH MY GOD! SHUT THE FUCK UP! ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS WATCH TV!”

With this, her mind jumbled. Seriously, what the fuck?

“SERIOUSLY!!!! WHAT THE FUCK???” she yelled.

“Dude! I’m homeless! I just wanted to pretend I have a TV for a little while. I was just hanging out, leaning on this bush. Why did you have to fuck it up? Shit! The cops are gonna come! Half the neighborhood is awake, now!”

“I’m sorry!” It flitted through her thoughts how ridiculous it was she was apologizing to him, when he was the TV peeping tom.

A minute of quiet and then, “Naw. I’m sorry. I scared the crap out of you. I sort of forgot myself.”

“It’s okay.” Again, the ridiculousness of comforting the offender made her thinking feel a bit wonky.

The phone rang and it was her neighbor. She assured them she was okay and had been startled by a movie. She apologized several times for scaring them. Their lights went off and, soon, the lights at a couple of other houses did, too.

“I suppose it’s okay if you stay, BUT, I’m not watching just anything. You shut up or move on.”

Another minute of quiet and then, “Deal! Thanks!” She ignored the slurp of liquid that followed.

https://www.andothervignettes.com/2017/05/24/watcher/