use Term::ReadKey;

sub flush_stdin {
  ReadMode 4;
  ReadLine(-1);
  ReadMode 0;
}

sleep 5;      # type 'something'

flush_stdin();
$|=1; 
print "---> ";
chomp (my $answ = <STDIN>);
print "answ: ($answ)\n";    # w/o 'something'