“I Slept With My Neighbor”
We were neighbors. That was all.
Door to door.
Thin walls.
A shared staircase we rarely climbed at the same time.
We didn’t talk. Not really.
Just greetings.
“Good morning.”
“Good evening.”
Nothing more.
After that, it was just movement and panic inside compounds.
And in the middle of all that confusion, one truth settled in without anyone saying it.
It wasn’t another village anymore.
It was ours.
We didn’t notice when fear entered our village.
We Only noticed that sleep started disappearing after news of attacks in nearby towns began spreading.
At first, everyone believed it was something happening “over there.” a place people mentioned like it was separate from us.
People didn’t wait to confirm anything.
They just ran.
Children were grabbed by the hand.
Doors were opened and slammed shut almost immediately.
Then the first loud sound came from the direction of the road.
Close enough to understand what it meant.