'I felt like watched prey.'

"Duck!" A panicked male voice screamed above me. I turned towards the voice in askance and noticed an object hurtling in space towards me.

I fell down into a crouch immediately and held my head between my arms in an effort to protect myself from whatever my saviour stranger wanted to warn me about. And good thing I did, because I felt a huge volume of air displaced above me as, what I would soon realize was, a bucket of paint whirled past my head, a cat's whisker away from turning me into a headless corpse.

"Thanks, mate!" '

Though I would have preferred clearer instructions next time,' I muttered. On second thought, I wouldn't want a second time.

I sent up a short prayer of gratitude in my heart as I thanked whoever saved my life and ran out of there as if my pants were on fire. It was always dangerous passing through a construction site.

There were enough 'No Trespassers Allowed' stickers posted everywhere, but that didn't mean anything to me when I was dog tired from this walk I forced myself to go to. When I see a short cut I follow the shortcut.

The name's Sol.

Just Sol.

My parents surfed the newly invented internet during the period of my conception till birth and settled on this foreign monosyllabic word that set me apart from my peers since kindergarten.

They had hoped for a joyful and energetic child who would be the symbol of their success at life, marriage, society, etcetera. But considering I last saw my dad in court for a custody case five years ago, clearly life turned their expectations into mere fantasies.

I would also turn out opposite to their dreamlike expectations. Being a normally careless, highly imaginative firstborn child who had no dreams or aspirations but for a quiet, simple life in a middle-class suburban house with a huge backyard. And the money to make such a life happen. Seemingly wasting all the sacrifices they made in order to move to a fast-paced, first-world country.

Good thing my little brother Dari, short for Darius, is still malleable and would perhaps be better suited to fulfil their hopes and dreams.

My sob story aside, why was I walking through a construction site in the first place?

Good 'ol exercise.

Seeing that I had rounded up quite unattractively over the past year I sort of convinced myself to go on these 10,000 step walks every day. Hopefully I'd be all whipped up to shape when I join university for further studies next spring.

Despite my couch potato habits, I turned out to be quite persistent. Since the holiday began two weeks ago, I lost two pounds and I am so proud of myself.

Regardless of my hyping it up, it felt like torture. It was only made tolerable by the sights to be seen in my neighbourhood.

I turned the corner and walked past an amazing mural of a king cobra with its mouth wide open, making one feel like a mouse in trap. I then walked back and stared in wonder.

The content on the walls of Mural Lane changed every week. Last week, it was a bitten apple on a tree. I was intrigued by the mural, especially the fact that it wasn't signed. Same with the mural today. An anonymous artist. How mysterious.

It made me feel like I was experiencing real life magic. Like the ones in fantasy animations not the cleverly conducted psychological tricks found in magic shows. I didn't notice anyone painting anything yesterday when I passed through here. Could they have done it at night?

Like always my overactive imagination created meaning out of the mundane common items splashed on these walls. Today's cobra might just give me nightmares.

Nevertheless, I indulged my imagination.

… I stood right below the deadly creature's fang and felt a pinprick sensation on my finger, as I imagined how sharp the real thing should be. I must have stood there for a while gaping because when I came to, my toes were frozen from the chill of winter that seeps into ones bones silently like a cobra in the marsh.

Look at me, being so poetic.

The sun was setting, and the darkness made the mural feel deadlier. I pulled myself from my entranced state and ran back home feeling suddenly nervous. Looks like I'm staying awake tonight.