Running through a crowd of people. Not knowing where you’re going. Being chased? Maybe. Problems have chased you all your life. Some were created by you and others not. You just keep running as fast as you can.

He lit a cigarette. Took a drink of whiskey. Had not eaten for days. Waking up on a hardwood floor with wicks still burning. Candles melted. A window open.

I see a pattern here, I said. How much do you sleep?

Not much, he said. Maybe two or three hours. Too much on my mind. Worried about the guy next door.

What about the guy next door?

He’s a strange one, he said. Plays weird Indian music all night long. Sometimes, he listens to songs from the Far East. Asian. Maybe Chinese. It’s hard to tell. I don’t speak anything but English. And the smell of burnt sage comes from under his door. Through the vents. Stinks up the place.

He’s trying to keep his room clean from evil, I told him. People do that. They burn sage and other spices to eliminate evil.

Does it work?

Not sure, I said. Never tried it.

Do you have evil in your house?

I don’t believe so, I poured myself a whiskey.

He chants throughout the night. A loud humming noise comes through the walls.

Have you ever met him?

Not officially.  Hello and goodbye, he’s says to me in the hallway. You know, have a nice day. Short talk. But no. I do not know his name or who he is. Not sure where he comes from. I just know I don’t like it. These disturbances.

Maybe you should introduce yourself and ask him to turn it down a notch.

I’m scared to.

Why?

He’s a foreigner. He scares me.