Ha!

I bet I know what you’re thinking! You’re thinking that Tefo and Milli would be paired instantly on any dating app. They share common interests. They enjoy the same things. Like they were made for each other.

And you’re probably also thinking: How can Melissa risk leaving the two of them alone together?

Well, I have left out one small detail – like Stephen King does sometimes in his books. And sometimes it’s the little details that count most. The truth is: Milli and Tefo are siblings. Not just siblings, but twin sister and brother! No wonder they are so alike.

It was Milli who got me and Tefo together.

“Let me set you up with my brother,” she said. “I’m sure you and Tefo will connect.”

“Never, Milli! He’s studying to be a vet – and you know how I feel about animals. Including your yappy chee-wa-wa! And he doesn’t like horror movies. Or the countryside. And he loves boring sport like you do. We’d have nothing to say to each other.”

“But Mel, you and I don’t have anything in common. Yet look what good friends we are. We never stop talking.”

That was true.

“Anyway, Mel, you know the saying: ‘opposites attract’.”

So I agreed to a blind date with Tefo. Our eyes locked across the down-town street where we were meeting. And it was love at first sight! Instant! Who cares about animals or horror movies or cricket or city streets? Or being compatible?

“Told you!” said Milli afterwards. “My bestie and my twin brother – how perfect is that?”

* * * * *

So here I am, walking through the bush while the sun glides beneath the horizon. I’m thinking: Maybe I will read just the first chapter of The Tommyknockers? But then I must put it away till after the exams.

There’s a lovely story Stephen King tells when people ask why he writes horror stories. He says he was bending over his baby son’s cot, and he was thinking of all the terrible things that can happen. And wondering: how could he keep his child safe?

So he decided: I will write stories of all my worst nightmares. Then there is no way they’ll come true in real life. That would be too much crazy coincidence.

And I’m also thinking about the amazing horror movies lined up for Halloween night. Just three days away now. I’ve checked the TV schedule. Three in a row: boom, boom, boom! Starting with Will Smith’s I am Legend. I can’t wait! And Tefo mustn’t even mention ICC or the Los Angeles Lakers.

Somehow, darkness has fallen. I mean, pitch darkness. The sun has gone. There is no moon. The stars are too far away to light up the bush.

I look around, panicked. I can’t even see the lights from the house or the Surgery. A dark shadow, even darker than the night, is moving towards me!

I start running, hoping I am heading for the house. I bang my shin on a rock and fall. Strange sounds come from the bushes. A snake? Some creepy crawlie that stings or bites – or worse?

Okay, so by now I am crying. I love horror movies – when the monsters are safely confined inside the TV screen. But horror in real life – that’s a different story. I don’t do real-life horror, thank you!

“Tefo! Help me!”

I’m screaming now.

***

Tell us: Will Tefo rescue Melissa? Or is he too busy watching cricket?