The Lizard in My Room

On one of the many uneventful days, I walked inside my dark room, moved my hands over the switchboard to turn the lights on and there I saw it - a filthy lizard right above my hand. As I gripped and twisted my thoughts about which planet to relocate to, the lizard quickly vanished among the shirts hanging by the hooks behind the door. The time to burn the shirts had arrived.

Not soon later, I realized that both of us were equally scared of each other. I ran out of the door when I saw it and it vanished on its usual journey in the maze of my clothes. While we continued running away from each other, I started to see the lizard as an extension of myself - my own Richard Parker. It began to appear everywhere - on the mirror, on the fan and on the computer screen.

However, the unsocial breed of humans that I belong to, the disease of dissociation bred the idea of driving the creature out of my life. It's easy catching a mouse than driving a lizard out of one's life. I could not present it with a worthy bait because the monster thrives on insignificant insects. I could not drive it out with a stick because it would hide among the gaps.

I plotted the most vicious of plans. I threw away the electric lights. I darkened out the windows with dark curtains. I bought a candle and kept it in the middle of the room. I opened the door momentarily at night and the insects arrived soon. I was waiting for the lizard. I kept myself still for hours not willing to scare away the monster with my movement. It arrived soon - crawling from one of the corners to the centre of the room. I could not take its sight. I had to drive it out of my life. It started snapping on the insects - that evil creep. I pounced on it with my pillow. I could feel it wring under the weight of my hands over the pillow. I couldn't hold myself back. I had to finish it now. I wanted the worst death for the monster. I held the candle and set the pillow on fire. My hands started burning but I was determined to finish it off. Soon, my shirt was ablaze but I could still feel the lizard moving under the pillow. The fire began to gorge into my skin and every bit of my body was in pain. The failure to kill the lizard would've finished me faster than the burns. The glare of the fire kept me going. I felt my skin falling off and energy seeping out of my body. I was consumed by the flames. It was a pleasant end. "Surely it must've died by now," was my last thought. With a smile, I opened my eyes for one last time. The lizard was sneaking from underneath the pillow out of the door.