4

The hand moved before the alarm went off, and stopped it when it was barely a buzz. The man rolled over on the bed, with eyes already wide open and smiled. He got up and jogged to the bathroom, exuding energy and with a happy smile in his face. He sang in the shower, and hummed while shaving, without losing his smile at all. Ten minutes later, he was already suited up all in black, so he gave a faint wake up kiss to his wife and went downstairs to the kitchen.

By the time the kids came, running and screaming, he had already fried eggs and made toast. The wife arrived five minutes later, and grabbed her coffee mug with both hands. She blew into the cup to cool it while the man was seating the kids and serving them breakfast. The oldest child was talking about something that had happened during his soccer practice the day before, and though neither of the adults cared about it, the man was able to smile and nod in all the appropriate moments. The woman left the cup on the table and picked a tablet that was lying on the table, launching the morning paper app. Her face grew dark when she read the headlines and she looked at the man. When he noticed the way she was looking at him, he raised his index finger, telling her to wait.

It wasn’t until the kids had left that the man took the tablet and read about the mystery possession in national TV from the night before. He let out a “hm” sound, and kissed his wife in the forehead. She looked worried.

“When will you be coming back?” she finally asked. The man smiled and looked at his watch.

“I haven’t got the faintest idea, my darling,” he replied. “It seems like it’s going to be a fun day at work”.