Neighbours

The brown spot on the floor
Of the dingy corridors
In the 20 year-old flat
Should be avoided at all costs

It cannot be washed away
Permanently
For it always comes back
Shortly after it was removed

It reeks of blood,
The neighbours whispered.
Of the sin
which happened so many years ago

Did you hear?
Sssshh...
She brought her other man home
And he chanced upon them
when he returned home early
after getting fired by his boss

There the pair of lovers were
Entwined in bed sheets
The ones he bought for Valentine's day
After she complained of how unromantic he was

That was the last anyone saw of the couple
For the next thing they knew
He was standing in the corridor
His blood-stained hands still clenched onto the knife
Dripping into a brown puddle at his feet

Panting and heaving
In his last act of defiance
He had plunged the knife
Fresh with the couple's blood
Into his heart
The one with which he loved his wife so

The blood spurted
And as he spasmed and collapsed
Onto the brown puddle
His last cries of maniacal laughter
Reverbrated throughout the
Long dingy corridors

Now the estate management had sent its cleaners
With their most advanced tools and latest chemicals
To clean the whole block of flats

The brown spot was gone in a flash
And it never came back

The neighbours cursed and swore
They were displeased
They say the spirits may be angered

Still their ears remained pricked up
Their eyes sharp
Their noses sniffing
For any hint of sin
That could be taking shape
Behind the closed doors

Behind the greetings each morning
Behind the small talk in the lift or at the wet market
Behind the sharing of soy sauces and spices
That's what true neighbours are for.

---By (Lia) Leow Hui Ting, first copy right