The Novel

The fan is on as usual. He is beneath a thin blanket. It’s 3 at night. There’s always a 3 at night. He sees it daily. Today he went to bed at 10. But he woke up to see the 3. He feels cold. The fan regulator is set at 3. He wants to make it 2. If he does that, he would feel uncomfortable beneath the blanket. He can’t put the blanket away. It would feel a little cold then. He huddles himself in a bundle. The touch of his body feels warm and he closes his eyes.

He can’t sleep. The fan should have been operating at 2.5. The blanket should have been thicker. Fans operate only at 2 or 3. No 2.5s. We need to have a continuous scale for fan speeds. Most modern regulators have that. But this one isn’t very modern. He gets up, drinks a glass of water. He is even more awake now. He moves to the switchboard and sets the fan at 2. It’s no use, he smiles, it won’t help anymore. Another night when it won’t help. His fingers move to another switch. The tube light throws violent strokes of light before glowing open. There is a sound associated with that. He doesn’t like the sound. The sound proclaims that he is fully and finally awake for the night.

It’s hours that he needs to kill now. Just a few hours, he tells himself. A slight wave of excitement runs through him. He would read. It’s been months since he has read anything. He picks up the newspaper for a start. The newspaper is put down in less than 10 minutes…