Neighbor

He moves into the next room next to mine. His head is balding but a thick mustache covers his upper lip. Even when he smiles, there is no indication on the lips to express his pleasant feeling. When he talks, the voice seems to appear from the fingers on his left hand as they twitch every time he speaks. That's how thick his mustache is. Then, he burns incense every day where the smell of the smoke enters my room, choking me to oblivion. He knocks at my door and gives me that invisible smile, saying "I hope you don't mind the smell. It's the gods." I watch the fingers on his left hand rapidly flickering on his palm as he talks. I swear, the voice comes from there. I look up to his mouth, to see if it's some kind of a visual trick that he's playing on me. If only he had a puppet on his left hand, I would have believed it talks. But his own self, minus the left hand, must be the puppet while this left hand takes control. "No, it's fine with me", I tell him while staring at his mustache, trying to find a hint of voice or expression behind it.