NBR WORD PROMPT: Your character is a writer. But his/her new neighbors are so noisy that s/he can neither sleep nor work. S/He decides to take action. Word count 918. (BE SURE to LISTEN the VIDEO clip at the end. LOL.  Would love your COMMENTS and VOTES too!)

It had been three sleepless nights since I had moved into the Whispering Pine's apartments. Boxes still lined the hallway, and I had serious doubts on unpacking them at all.

"It can't be that bad," my fiancé said.

It was. I felt like I was living in a fog with my mind stuck in an exhausted sleep deprived state. "Our new neighbor has to be the loudest human being on the planet!" I said strangling the phone in my hand. "There's no way I can write with all this noise."

"Sweetie..." An alarm sounded in the background. "Oh, Geez, I have to go. I'll be home in a few days. I know you'll think of something."

The line went dead, and I was staring at the phone, seething. I'm not overreacting. I could hear my awesome neighbor's door slam shut, followed by some girly giggling. The next thing I knew the wall was shaking my desk with a rhythmical thudding sound. Really? It's like two in the afternoon. Doesn't this guy ever sleep?

I flipped open my laptop and smirked. Two can play at this game. I turned the mic on and hit record.

It was a few hours later when I heard 'Yeah baby' leave. I was standing in the kitchen making myself a cup of tea when the words, "Level five," was announced in a computer generated voice through my wall. He must have turned up the volume because when the game said, "Jump, jump," I almost dumped my tea down the front of me, it was so loud. I pursed my lips, put my mug down, snatched my laptop off the desk and turned on the mic.

I must have fallen asleep on the couch with my laptop on me. Startled awake by his yelling at the TV, I still felt less than rested. It sounded like he had friends over and they were cheering on some sports team. I looked at the time on my screen, six o'clock. Hooray, I've now officially had thirty minutes of rest in three days. I looked at the blank computer screen—zero words written—the cursor mocked. My editor is going to kill me.

"Chug, chug, chug," the guys next door hollered louder and louder. The floor of my apartment shook, and my laptop record button blinked green. The chugging turned into partying. People arrived outside with their car speakers blaring, tromping up and down the hallway like a herd of elephants. The party music wafted beneath the crowd of voices laughing and carrying on.

And still no writing.

I didn't even know if my tired brain could form a sentence let alone a paragraph. I gave up on writing for the night, grabbed my laptop and threw a CD into the drive. After shuffling and playing with the audio clips I had recorded, I burned the final clip to the CD, took a felt, and wrote, Yeah Baby, on the front of it.

Then I plucked a piece of paper out of the printer and jotted:

Dear Neighbor,

I feel I have come to know you in the past few days. Well, actually, you, yeah baby and a few of your other friends. Not only do you have quite the social life, but also some amazing video game skills! Level five in under ten minutes? I'm not sure I could accomplish such a feat.

With our thin walls, I guess nothing is kept under-wraps, huh? I thought I would share with you all the entertainment value you have provided me over the past day. So for your listening pleasure, I hope you enjoy the enclosed CD.

Sincerely,

Your new (and quiet) neighbor

PS. Please feel free to listen to the CD with the enclosed earphones. (I've already had the pleasure of listening.)

I stuffed the note and the CD in a zip lock bag and marched next door. Geez, his apartment was finally quiet for the first time all day. Or was that night? It was four in the morning, and I was beginning to question my sanity. I shoved the package under the door, headed back to my apartment and collapsed on my bed in hope of some rest.

Bang, bang, bang, someone pounded on my door. It felt like I had just closed my eye and it was already morning.

"I'm coming." I peeled myself off my bed still dressed in yesterday's clothes.

Bang, bang, the door rattled.

"Where's the fire?" I said as I opened the door.

"Hey, cool, a chick. Brent said he thought his new neighbor was female." Mystery guy shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Come again?"

"Oh, Brent, your neighbor. I work with him, and he sent me over to bring you down to the station."

The station? The young kid standing in my doorway didn't look like a police officer. "Listen bud. I'm not going anywhere with you. You can tell Brent to—" I said as I started to close the door.

He jammed his foot in the doorframe, then winced when the door slammed against his sneaker. "I don't think you understand. Brent's a DJ at our radio station. He got your CD when he woke up and has been playing it on-air all morning."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Not joking. The station has been flooded by calls all over the country from people wanting to buy the single, Yeah Baby. That recording is a huge hit!"

I left the door open, walked over to my laptop, hit record, and banged my head against the table. I started to laugh.

Maybe I can write a book on my rise to music stardom instead.

https://youtu.be/wZn3VykwVn0