Going to Bathroom at Night

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This is a cryptic story!

When I go to the bathroom in the middle of night I don't turn on the lights, afraid that the brightness would make it hard to get back to sleep again. I've done it so many times that even in the pitch dark I can easily find my way. Often while in the dark I imagine what sort of things would scare me in a situation like this. For example, I imagine a pale face suddenly appearing out of the darkness.  Yesterday too, I was thinking that wouldn't it be funny if I saw a long-haired woman hanging upside-down from the ceiling, and in my dopey state I fancied I actually saw such a figure and that scared me, but it was probably all just my wild imagination.

However, it was right then that it went clank! and a sudden pain shot through my toe that I became breathless. It seemed my toe hit on something hard. Then I remembered that I had left a box of fruits, sent by my family, lying about on the floor. I managed to go to the bathroom, but even after I got back to bed the pain kept me wide awake. Next morning my neighbour said he heard a scream come from my place in the middle of the night. It must have been when I hit my toe on the box. I apologized to him. I was stupid not have turned on the lights. All my laziness got me was a pain, a sleepless night, and a proof to the neighbour that I'm a dumbass, screaming like a bitch in the middle of the night....

Comments

Anonymous said…
maybe the pain is not caused by the kicking on the box of fruits, but rather the long-haired woman hanging upside-down from the ceiling drop on his/her toe...?

that explains the scream too....

this explanation is kind of funny, but that's the only thing i can think of right now. :/
White Valkyria said…
this one's easy. he/she kick the long-haired woman's head, hence the scream

yea maybe next time he/she should've turned on the light
Anonymous said…
Maybe there actually was a long-haired woman in his house, and she stubbed her toe on the box on her way to him.

Idk tho, I've never been good at these
Sydney Pacione said…
He said the scream left him breathless, and yet the neighbor heard a scream...
Sara said…
I love these cryptic stories!
Keep 'em coming. <3
nunu said…
The narrator said he/she was breathless.. but the neighbor heard him/her screamed like a bitch?

The narrator probably accidentally kicked a ghost and that was the ghost's scream in pain :p haha

Good one, Saya-san. I love your crytic stories. Awesome brain teasers.
~桔子~ said…
I have this weird imagination that there was a woman upstairs, who found a hole in ceiling to access the author's apartment.
That night while she was doing it again, head first, she slipped and hit her head on hit the floor (Clank!). She screamed with pain at the same time.
Having noticed the author was infront of her, she then immediately bit the author's toe (sharp pain) so he wouldn't switch on the lights and check (and found out she was in his apartment). That's why the pain was so bad that the author was kept awake throughout the night lol!

P.S: Who knows the neighbour could be that woman-hanging-from-the-ceiling? She asked about the heard scream so as to try to divert the author's suspicions on what had exactly happened that night =P
CRRobbins said…
So what I gather from this is that there was a scream in the night. I'm not sure how the author did not hear it though, especially after a sleepless night.

The fact that he was breathless after stubbing his toe rather than letting out sound shows that he surely is not the culprit.

So it does seem reasonable to assume that if there was a scream in the night and aside from himself the author fancies he saw a long haired woman, It would have to be her or whatever figure he sense in the dark surely.

I'm not entirely sure what he hit his toe on or what the clank was. To me Clank is the sound of metal being struck so I doubt someone would us a metal box to give full of fruit. What else could it have been though since he is very accustomed to his space and would more than likely not run into usual things.
Rosy said…
The woman fell from the ceiling and landed on his toe. It's the only explanation I can think of. I'd scream if I suddenly fell from a ceiling, too!
CY said…
I thought he must have kicked the woman as well. Then, he saw her hanging from the ceiling. Unless his apartment has a very low ceiling which in that case she would be standing rather than hanging or she is extremely tall. I think Anonymous said about she dropped on his toe would be likely and yes it will be really funny.
Anonymous said…
I dont know if i can go to the toilet at night now.......
Anonymous said…
Maybe the loud noise from stubbing his toe scared the ceiling ghost, causing her to scream haha!
Tia said…
Awww, that poor, poor yurei! :O She must have got hit in the face or something by the narrator's foot! That's actually kind of hilarious though :P This story made me laugh so hard, thanks Saya chan! :D
Anonymous said…
A ghost would not feel pain of being kicked by a human right?

How did the neighbour hear the scream but not the author who was kept up by the pain?

My guess is there was a stranger living in the house who escaped after being kicked. During the escape, she howled in pain while passing the neighbour's house.
Julia said…
I don't think it really matters who screamed? I think the scary answer is simply that he was 'breathless' and yet his neighbor heard a scream coming from his place, a scream that the story teller didn't hear. So like...he didn't scream, nor did he hear one, but someone else did. And thats the scary thing.

I dunno, that's what I think xD
Misa said…
I think you are all going about this wrong...

You all are portraying the author to be innocent.

He says he always turns on the light... Yet the light was off? He couldn't see what he hit his toe on?

Something isn't right... I feel as if the author has done much worse than he puts on.

He may have hit a weapon or a chair that may have had a hostage/kidnapped individual of sorts on it, hence the scream. Why would he mention the scream when he, of course, doesn't want to get caught.

Which is why he made the excuse that he stubbed his toe. Either convincing himself that he "didn't do such a horrible deed" or to help make it believable when he told the neighbor what had happened.

Fruits come in cardboard or wood. Clank would be a metal sound or maybe a chair falling.

I honestly think he has paranoia due to his constant horrible deeds.
Misa said…
Apologies, disregard my comment about the lights. My theory still stands.
Anonymous said…
i think some people think too much...... #justsaying

in a story, ghost can feel pain/getting kicked :P
Dispedia said…
agree with anonymous @08:24

@misa you think too hard on the story haha ... i don't think it's that complicated > <
Anonymous said…
I don't think anybody is thinking too hard. They're just theories, people should be allowed to imagine what they like till Saya provides us the answer. Saying that might be discouraging for some people.

I think they're all viable and interesting theories :)
Anonymous said…
@dispedia

well, since misa stated in her first sentence that 'I think you are all going about this wrong.' so i assume i can have my opinion on her theories as well? no? :/


I don't mean to be mean, but yeah, in MY opinion, some theories may be interesting, maybe possible? but too complicated ^_^

hope the answer can be reveal soon~
Anonymous said…
Anonymous @ 08:39...

Dispedia was AGREEING with you. No need to defend yourself against people who AGREE with your opinions.
Anonymous said…
anonymous @ 04:58

i made a mistake, it should be @Alysia Liao.

i guess perhaps that's you(?)..so yeah, sorry because i @ the wrong person, i am definitely not defending myself against you who agree with me. thanks.
Anonymous said…
No, Dispedia is not me. I neither agree nor disagree with you.
Anonymous said…
Anonymous @ 22:18

Anonymous @ 4:58 isn't me.

I wasn't really specifying about Misa's theory or his/her comment about people being wrong, but rather everybody else's theories. Since it is a cryptic story, you're supposed to think (too) hard, especially if you can't get it the first time you think about it by making deductions :) But I understand, it's your opinion and you weren't trying to be malicious ^-^
CRRobbins said…
Let us all not forget the Schrödinger's cat experiment. Till a box is opened all things are possible. Nothing being more or less valid than the next.

We are all friends in thought so let's continue to work together to uncover our own answers.
Kitty said…
"So what I gather from this is that there was a scream in the night. I'm not sure how the author did not hear it though, especially after a sleepless night."

That's what I've been wondering; why he didn't hear it. And that made me think that maybe a) the lady made him black out- maybe she possessed him for a moment, short enough to leave him standing- and as he did so he screamed. Then gaining consciousness, he was breathless from doing so and didn't remember
or b), the neighbour was in his apartment (whether or not they were on the roof) and forgot whether or not he yelled when they made their alibi of being at home as it happened.
or c) it was an otherworldly shriek that the man couldn't perceive.
Disturbed Child said…
Hmm. I agree with Kitty. Maybe the neighbour sneaked into his house and was afraid he might have seen/recognised her face. Afraid that he would have realised, she made up an alibi that she was at home but can't remember if he shrieked or not when he hit his leg. So she said he screamed, when he actually didn't. :)
Krazilazy said…
What made the sound clank? Who screamed?