Dusk

She was plain. Thin. Fragile. Not the one who would turn heads wherever she went. Not the one who would attract a second glance automatically. Not the one who would inspire calls from every passerby.

“But I do not think of you that way.”

She was sad for him. He said nothing. He couldn’t look at her face. It was more than he could take. He kept walking with her by his side.

“I understand.”

She looked at him. He turned his head to the trolley passing.

“You can get anyone. Someone who would love you. Who are we kidding? You can do a lot better than me.”

She chuckled softly, glancing away.

“Now, C’mon! Do you want me to set you up with someone? I know some of them who were talking about you yesterday. I know they’d be interested. Tell me who do you like.”

He kept walking. He refused to look at her. He knew all the things that she said were true.

But I don’t want to!

He smiled.

“Who was it you said?”

She smiled gaily.

“Now we’re talking! So there’s Priyanka. She is definitely interested. Then there is my roomie, Rachna. She has a thing for you. But I think you’ll like Priyanka more. Let me send you her number.”

He looked at the plain innocence of her face. The childlike smile.

Why can’t you give me just one reason. That’s what I’m asking for! One! To hate you. To hate you forever!

“Sure.”

“I’m so excited for you guys. Oh shit! I forgot how late it was. I will have to go now, catch up on my assignments. I have loads to do before I finally hit the bed. Tata!”

She leaned towards him, kissing him on his cheek.

He kept walking.

He felt her trailing back, trying to look for an auto. It’d be difficult to find one at this hour, he knew. He should have dropped her, he knew. She wouldn’t ask him, he knew.

He kept walking.

The lights around him slowly disappeared.

He kept walking.

The ground turned from cement to sand. To water.

He kept walking.

He heard faint cries behind him. No one would dare try at this hour, he knew.

He kept walking.

Souls

Note: This is the first part (of hopefully more). I guarantee that any critique/suggestions will fall upon keen ears.

It was evening. The ritual of the day had begun. It had been a long time since I was outside on an evening. It was almost peaceful, reassuring to see them float up once again. I tried to trace one very closely, concentrating hard as it rose. I tracked its movement as it went up in the sky disappearing among the clouds. I tried to search for another. Didn’t take very long as my second attempt turned futile as it dissolved into nothingness. As I desperately looked for another I knew I wouldn’t find it. Darkness had already covered the sky and everything around me.

I distinctly remember when I had asked my mom. "Those are birds", she said. "Those don't look like birds" I replied after thinking about it for a while but her mind was already engrossed in a pressing task. She had not paid attention, I could tell. It was not until the passing of our neighbor, I called Dadu, had I the slightest idea of what I was seeing. I was up on the terrace, looking down on the road at two kids trying to fight their way as they raced to reach a tattered football when I had seen something rising from the adjacent house. I gasped. Never before had I seen it so up close. It looked at me. Dadu smiled. I smiled back. He waved his hand and continued his ascent as he turned towards the sky. I shouted "Dadu! Dadu! DADU!" until my mom came up and took me inside the house. "He is not dead", I shouted. “He was with me just now. He was flying mommy! He was flying like a bird mommy! Those aren’t birds, those are Dadu! A lot of Dadus! Dadu can fly mommy! Dadu can fly! Will he teach me how to fly? Please, please let me go up so that I can meet him. I want to meet him. Mommy! He will teach me how to fly!" She slapped me. I started crying, heartbroken. Why couldn’t she understand? I thought. Soon, I fell asleep, exhausted. I dreamt of him. We were both flying. We were happy. It was the first time I had seen him so content. Upon my asking why was he so happy today, he had said "Because there is nothing left for me to worry about. All is gone! and yet there is all to come." At that moment his speed of ascent had increased multi-fold and his face had turned towards the sky brimming with excitement. I had flapped my hands, hoping that would help me rise with Dadu but it had ended in vain. I had watched him in despair as he disappeared into oblivion. Then I had fallen down, straight to the ground, into my own body and woken up with a start.

A New Year

31st December 2015.

23:59 Hrs.

A street full of people, reeking of alcohol. Flashes all around. A jizz of beer flies high up in the air and lands with a splash on my head. I am soaked. The vision goes blurry. I take out my two eyes and desperately search for a proper piece of cloth on me to clean it up. Someone on my right shouts “HAPPY NEW YE...” and out comes the undigested bile with a significant stench of yet more alcohol and lands on my brand new jacket. The red “FERRARI” is now “F#$%&R@”. I look at the guy. He laughs like a maniac, feebly mumbles an apology and goes back to the Heisenberg in his right hand. I feel sick. I start walking towards my orange CBR, removing the jacket and throwing it in the nearby bin. I loved that jacket.

I insert the keys in, rev the engine up to full throttle and disappear into the darkness.

1st January 2016.

00:20 Hrs.

The signal reads GREEN: I push the throttle; GREEN…GREEN...GREEN: I rev more; GREEN...ORANGE: I release the accelerator, decelerating instantly. The speedometer drops to 67-53-39-13-0. The signal now reads RED. A duke just behind me breaks in panic and barely manages to stop in time to prevent colliding with an adjacent Swift. The biker takes out his helmet and yells at me “Why did you stop?!” I gesture towards the signal, which still read RED. The biker looks there and then back at me and grunts. I make out a few curses under his breath as he fastens his helmet once again. He starts his Duke, revs it: a standard call for “Bring it on!”. I keep the CBR shut. After a couple more revs, he lifts his visor and shouts “I’ll race you, you shit!”. I shrug. He grunts again. His pillion gives me threatening looks. I start the CBR. The race is on.

00:33 Hrs.

I hear a pronounced wailing of an ambulance coming from the opposite direction on a single lane road. I move left and decelerate giving it ample space to move by me. I hope he is not dead. It would have been worse for the pillion. What a way to kick off 2016. I remember someone saying “Half of the people who have ridden Duke are no longer with us.” No surprises there.

01:24 Hrs.

Home. Goel won’t be home till after 3. Swapnil would be out with Nizam, trying out his luck. Why didn’t I go with either of them, I wonder. Laying flat on the bed I try to recollect the happenings today. No, yesterday. Images flash in my mind. Fireworks. Booze. People shouting. Vomit. Red. Collision. Bodies flying. Red.

I shudder, switch off the lights and try to get some sleep.

04:20 Hrs.

I am awakened by noises that no one wishes to hear. Let alone at this time of the day. It is a cry which cannot be mistaken. It is the cry which is true and long and full of agony. A loss. The loss of a loved one. The year does not always bring happiness. Not for everyone. What’d have happened, I imagine. I’ll race you, you shit! I tremble. I put a pillow over my head, the muffled cry pierces through. I desperately try to get back to the dream I was dreaming. Was it good? I ask me. I don’t remember. Can’t be, a voice in my head answers.

09:30 Hrs.

I wake up with a headache. The sun is shining brightly for the first time in days, smiling over the world. A new year?

My room is full of sunlight. It’s too bright. I get up and draw the curtains. Visibility ensues. My throat is parched. I open the door and walk towards the kitchen. Goel is fast asleep on the sofa, drooling. I kick him to this realm and start getting ready for the day.

As I have breakfast, Goel narrates the happenings of yesternight. About how crazy it was. The shit crowd they were with. The girls.

11:12 Hrs.

I sit staring at the laptop screen, trying to concentrate on what’s in front of me. I look around: everyone is happy. Wishes all around. I think of the cry I heard at night: Not everyone.

I put on headphones, open itunes and double click on “Weathered” and select “Lullaby”.

The Story of a Teddy Bear

Based on actual events. All the characters in this compilation are not at all fictional. They are very much sentient like each and every one of us and are breathing as of March 28th 2015, 6:30 A.M. or so I've been told and made to believe. I've tried my best to leave the reports unaltered and unadulterated but sometimes the best of us also fail at something.

Disclaimer: The incidents compiled here contain horrific and atrocious accounts of torture on a teddy bear. The images ahead may not be suitable for children/ heart patients/ pregnant women/ extremely sensitive people/ teddy lovers.

Please proceed with caution.

Rated: PG-13.

Teddy Bear apprehended, found running with keys!

December 13th, 2014.

A compilation of the reports by various journalists in a chronological order.

01:00 AM IST, Outside Nilgiri. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

A teddy bear was apprehended today outside of Nilgiri at 01:00 AM, IST. It was caught red handed running with the keys of a vehicle. Currently the police have no information of the owner of the keys and there is no FIR filed. Even after long and extensive search of the premises, the police were unable to locate the exact position of the vehicle. There are rumours that the bear has hid the vehicle somewhere remote. The only information we have got is there are letters "TVS" written on the keys. The teddy bear is being questioned strictly in this regard.

Update 2. 01:47 AM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

Somehow the teddy bear has attached the keys to its body, which will be surgically removed tomorrow (photo attached). The doctors say that it will be a long and complex operation which may extend for many hours.

Teddy under interrogation

Update 3. 01:54 AM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

After rounds of torture (photo attached) the teddy bear has refused to give any names. Even after one of its eye was removed, it stayed quite. God help it! 

Stay tuned for more updates. 

Teddy Mutilated!

Update 4. 04:28 AM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

Even after multiple mails from Teddy Rights activists and demonstrations outside the police headquarters (Room 7, OBH) to stop such appalling feats, there has been no reply from the police. They seem to be shoving the demonstrators out of their way. The owner is yet to claim the missing key. Meanwhile, another horrific photo was leaked on twitter, which showed both ears had been cut off of the now maimed teddy bear. It is extremely detestable. Oditi, one of the demonstrators was quoted saying "Maybe the bear was under a lot of pressure. Maybe it was not his fault. We will get to the bottom of this. This is totally unacceptable! Poor poor bear!" 

Want to know if justice will be served to the partners of this heinous crime, which seems to be the police itself? Stay tuned. Another demonstrator Gary (who just got a summer intern at Xilinx) said, "I know who is calling the shots in this. He will never, and I repeat NEVER stop doing what he is unless the bear either breaks and gives him what he wants or dies in the process." On asking the name of the person he was accusing, he refused to comment.

Teddy under Torture!

Update 5. 06:47 AM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

The size of the crowd outside the police headquarters keeps increasing with the hour. Some people led by Mr. Arvind Kejriwal have gathered outside and started fasting until death marking the first political move in this case. The traffic outside is badly affected. Clearly, the case is getting traction everywhere. Among the common public, Raveesh, who was happily singing nearby with his girlfriend was asked if he did not feel any sympathy towards the bear. He said and I quote, "The bear can go f**k himself. He got what he deserved. I don't care! I am enjoying this!"

He was booed by other protesters and shouts of "sadist" and "monster" went up among the demonstrators and he had to leave the premises. Meanwhile, a new photo leaked on 4chan (attached) now shows that the bear has lost both of his eyes in the process. There are rumours of him being taken secretively into surgery for the removal of the attached key. Nobody knows what turn this story will take. This is totally unprecedented but such things can be expected in the world of social media. The abominable acts of police are now in the open. The teddy bear has clearly been scarred for life. Who is answerable? Is there something more to the story that is being let out in the open? Conspiracy theories have started budding up on blogposts all around the internet. The key still remains unclaimed. 

Stay tuned for more.

Oh My!

Update 6. 11:28 AM. [By Gary Gary]

Meanwhile, news comes from the camp of Dr. Subramaniam Swamy that the Teddy Bear was originally 'Teedas Barid', a virat hindu who was allegedly caught by Christian missionaries on his way to NBH. They changed his name to 'Teddy Bear'. 

Dr. Swamy further claims that these Christian missionaries are holed up in Room 7, OBH and torturing 'Teedas Barid' to not divulge this information. "Now only the true owner of the keys can come and save 'Teedas Barid'. Who is this chosen one who will preserve the dignity of virat hindustaan?", Dr Swamy asks. 

Stay tuned for updates.

Update 7. 01:18 PM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

Just in, 4chan leaked a photo of the person who is allegedly calling the shots of this whole operation (attached). Police have put up a 25,000/- reward on any information which would leads to subsequent arrest of this person. It is believed to speed things up. Everywhere we have local mobs hunting the neighbourhood.

The story involving Dr. Subramaniam Swamy, which was posted by some other reporter and was getting heat initially has been proven wrong since the person in the picture looks like a typical Hindu extremist (and some say a daaku). People are now saying that the whole story about the Christian missionaries being at the behind of this is a ploy to get the real culprit (rumoured to be the Swamy himself) out of the picture. Because of possibility of religious sentiments being exploited to disrupt the "peace and quiet", the police have declared a red alert in the district. As our correspondents gather outside Dr. Swamy's house in hopes of getting some clarification/comment, people continue to protest outside the head quarters. The teddy is still said to be in the operation theatre and no one has heard anything else from the police station. Will the key ever be claimed? Will the real culprit(s) ever be exposed? Will the person in the picture ever be caught? Will the teddy survive the long and exhausting operation?

Stay tuned to know the answers.

Monster behind!

Update 8. 04:08 AM. [By Gary Gary]

The owner of the key is still nowhere to be found. Pressure mounts on the police to find the owner. Reports leaking out of the police headquarters confirm that they plan to feed the teddy bear to the dog (attached) if the true owner does not claim the key by tonight, 10 PM.

Meanwhile the monster has been confirmed to be a mere henchman of the mastermind (attached) of the plan who has been pulling the strings so far. This guy runs by the alias 'Paan Singh Tomar'. Officials say that this behaviour is a result of his future being secure and his desire of having all the fun before he moves to the next phase of his life."This should be something to remember me by", he says. Will the teddy bear be fed to the dogs? Will Paan Singh Tomar pull another pose of 'KA-ME-HA-ME-HA'?

FIND OUT IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF DRAGON BALL Z!!

Much_filter So_doggy Wow!

Apple Fanboy

Update 9. 07:08 PM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

We apologize for getting a little bit off track. The journalist who wrote the previous post has been fired. You cannot let personal feeling cloud your judgement, not when you are in such a responsible position of power. Let us make one thing clear, we have zero tolerance for such deeds. We promise you that nothing like that will happen in the future. Lets get the right things back in perspective. The teddy bear is said to have successfully undergone the operation and the key has been successfully detached from his body. However, bandages have come up on the teddy bear at odd places (photo attached) which has led the public to speculate. No one dares to speak out loud what might have happened.

Reshmi, who was just placed at buy-hut-ke, said maybe we should try and think-hut-ke. She said "What proof does the police have that the owner of the vehicle was not the teddy himself." This has led many people to re-evaluate their initial stance and the police is even more confused than before. Even though the operation might have been a success, the bear is in a very delicate condition. There are rumours that the chances of his survival are 20-80. If he dies, who will be responsible? Since no one has yet claimed the key there are all sorts of questions being asked. The commissioner of police Mr. Harsh Vardhan Rathore, who was kind enough to pose for us (photo attached) said "We have not yet looked at the case from this angle. If the key was indeed the property of the bear, we will release him at once." On asking who will be responsible for the sorry condition the bear is in, he refused to comment.

Mr. Pani was quoted saying, "It is all about the ride." We are still trying to figure out what it means.

Will the... well f**k it. We all know and we all are waiting for it.

Stay tuned.

What the ****

Our Own Commissioner of Police

Ab.lip

Update 10. [The one never published]. 09:18 PM. [By Paan Singh Tomar]

And there we have it. A total anticlimactic end to such a big story which left the poor bear much dead. It turns out that the bear was mute from birth and he didn't learn read and write because he never went to a school. Apparently his gestures were wrongly interpreted by the police officers and they thought that he was just putting up an act or making fun of them. This caused them to loose their mind. The sign interpreter who arrived later on the scene managed to get this message out of the bear before he closed his eyes for the last time: "I saw the key as it dropped from the pocket of the owner and was running to return it to him when I was caught by the police. It is not my fault. Help me!".

(The attached photo of unimpressed Sardar child aptly captures our reaction to all of this)

Mr Kejriwal who had said that he will remain fasting until the criminal is behind the bars was force-fed some fruit juice from the juice centre in the vicinity. Watching Mr. Kejriwal drinking (reluctantly at first but vigorously later, photo attached) other AAP supporters also broke their fast and had what he had, the mausambi juice. Mr. Rajnath, the minister of home affairs has said that a probe will be led into this and the real culprits will be found out. He said that he will not stop until he gets to the bottom of this. A compensation of 50,000/- has been promised to the family of the bear which is said to be not near enough by the family members. Dinesh Yadav, the owner of the juice centre (photo attached) said "Baiya pehle kabhi nahi dekha itna saara janta. Humari bikri to hui hai par sab udhaar leke chala jaata hai, aur wapis nahi karta." Nobody knows if the AAP supporters are gonna pay him back or just treat it as one of the donations.

Anyway, this marks the end of the bear who found a key and died in the act of returning it. It is clearly a shame.

Unimpressed Sardar Kid

Dinesh Bhaiya, The juice stall owner

Kejriwal drinking

What the Conspiracy Theorists are saying (which is clearly ridiculous!): 

The Teddy bear is not alive. It never was. It is the part of a keyring of some TVS vehicle, which was found in front of Nilgiri at 1:00am on 13th December 2014.

If it belongs to you, you can collect it from this person (photo attached) in Room-6, OBH (if he still has it).

Barça Fan

Oh! and he is also a part time warg or a white walker (I always confuse between the two). Photo attached for easy identification. Knock before you enter or you get the shock of your life. Cheers!

Warg/ White Walker

Void Dream () { Dream(); return; }

“You have to promise…”

“I do! I promise I won’t, for the hundredth time. GOD! Tell me already!”

I let out a long breath.

“I keep waking up, but I don’t remember sleeping.”

She stared at me for a while, broke into a laughter which faded to a nervous smile with a hint of terror.

”What is the last thing you remember?”

“I was playing in my room as I used to in the house where we used to live when I was a small child. Even I was little. It was like I had been in my first class. It was night time. I looked outside my room in the gallery. There was a flutter in the otherwise continuous luminescence of the bulb. Guessing it to be my mother, bringing me the glass of milk as she used to in the night time I stealthily moved towards the bed and tucked myself in the covers.

My mom seemed to take longer than usual. Anyways I stayed put. But then it was too long. I had to take a peek, just a small peek and then tuck myself in again, so that my mother won’t catch me awake and force the glass in my mouth unless I gulped down every last drop of it. I slowly removed the covers from my head… my eyes… opened one and covered myself again, like a camera opening its shutter for a nanosecond. I analysed the capture. The shadow was almost at the door, but it seemed to have moved very slowly itself. And there was something off about it. I removed the covers up to the nose once again and opened my eyes. The room vanished, and the face of our maid stared right at me, inches from my face. She had a butcher’s knife in her right hand which dripped blood. She smiled like a maniac and advanced towards me. I died there. Right in my bed. But then I woke up.

It’s so absurd that I would dream of a time so long past having that maniac of a maid in it. Even when I think of now all my life seems to be a collection of dreams and dreams and dreams that I had. In fact I cannot even remember anything else at all. Just instances where I have been woken up.”

“Oh! C’mon. You are joking, right?” She whispered.

“No! I can even tell you the dream I had woken in that dream from!”

“Oh! Please don’t!” She said.

“It’s unreal. I don’t know what to do. Initially I used to think it was just a dream within a dream. But now I don’t know. Everything is so confusing! I don’t even know if this is for real. It’s ridiculous.”

She pinched me.

“Ouch! That hurt!” I wailed.

A smug look appeared on her face, relieved she said “See? It is not a dream. You don’t feel pain in a dream. You would have woken up.”

“It’s not so simple! This doesn’t prove anything. In all my dreams I feel as real as I’m feeling right now.”

“You are an idiot. It proves everything. Besides I’m telling you this isn’t a dream, so it isn’t. Now shut up about it.” She crossed her arms and jerked her head to a side, trying to seal her point.

“You don’t understand, do you? Nevermind! It was not me who brought up the matter, only you wouldn’t let it go.”

She looked at me, then away. For a long while both of us said nothing. I watched her face as it oscillated between concern-amusement-terror-concern.

“You go home now. Go to sleep. Take a sleeping pill, if you must and you’ll feel better tomorrow. We’ll talk then. Ok?”

I could see she needed reassurance more than I did.

“Ok. I’ll go.”

“And SLEEP!”

“Yeah yeah! I’ll go and SLEEP!” I said dismissively.

“Good.” She smiled again. I got up and turned around.

This room doesn’t look the same as it did the last time. She must have redecorated it or something. No, something is definitely off about it. The size of it, the furniture… Was it the same when I entered? Oh! How did I come here? My god! WHERE AM I?

I turned around again and faced blankness.

“Hey! Where did you go?” I shouted.

What is happening?

I turned again. Blankness. I strained my eyes to get a better look in the darkness.

Oh God! What is happening?

Panicked, I made a move towards the direction where the door stood a moment before.

For a split-second I couldn’t understand what had happened. The foot did not hit the ground as it was supposed to. The ground seemed lower, lower and even lower and then there was no ground, there was nothing. Legs swinging, I tried to grab hold of the surface on which I was standing, but nothing caught my hands. I strained and stretched and hoped and prayed for a touch of something steady, something solid, anything at all but felt nothing, nothing but air, cold dead air rushing past me, swooshing, as I fell freely, subjected to gravity. Helpless, a scream left my lips.

NOOOOOOO...

**************************************************

I got up with a jerk. I was heavy breathing heavily, covered in sweat, awoken by my own shriek. I looked around to the familiarity of the surroundings. Old Boy’s Hostel, IIIT Hyderabad. Satisfied that it was my room and my bed that I was sleeping in, I closed my eyes and buried the face in my palms and tried to comfort myself. The respiration returned to its normal pace in a few minutes.

Thank goodness! Only a dream. The dreams were growing worse by the day.

“I have to tell someone about it.”

“But didn’t you do already?” A voice inside my head spoke.

“That was different, that was in a dream. I have to talk to someone in the real world regarding it.”

“Well, you felt real enough back then.” It mocked.

“Fair enough. I don’t even know if this is real.” I spoke to it.

“Oh God! Again?”

“No, this is real, alright.” The rational part of my brain which has the deep voice of an English butler chimed in.

“How do you know?” The mocking voice said grinning.

“Well, those surroundings were foreign, these are not. Clearly, those were the result of my over-imaginative enthusiastic cousin who tends to get active when I retire.” The butler spoke.

“What he says makes sense.” I agreed.

“We’ll see about that soon enough” The mean voice snorted.

“I don’t want to hear you. Shut up already. You’re making me feel even more uncomfortable.” I grunted.

If these voices reside in my head why can’t I take them out at my own will? Fucking parasites!

I got up, irritated. The floor was cold. I immediately fell back on the bed and looked for my slippers. One was right in front of me, the other nowhere to be seen. I looked under the bed. A dark brown ellipse covered the otherwise bright yellow base of my second slipper. A close inspection revealed that contrasting spot to be a cockroach, who probably spent the night on those bright grounds. I shook the slipper and it clumsily left its sleeping spot, cursing. I think.

“Ok, that might be real. Ha!” The mean voice mocked, again.

I placed my foot upon recently vacated space and stood up to get out. I’ll have to wash the fucking thing! I moved towards the door.

There were drums playing somewhere, faint at first then increasing in loudness. The sound seemed to come from the Gachibowli stadium adjacent to our hostel. I rushed out of my room. But then I realised the direction of the sound couldn’t be that at all. It now seemed the sound was from the next room, adjacent room to mine. I banged at the door, cursing.

“Saksham! Turn your fucking speakers off! @#$#^&^%$#”

The door opened. Nope not here. I realised.

“What happened dude? Why do you spoil my morning sleep? Always! And it is you who plays songs in the morning, not me!”

“Ugh! Where is the sound coming from then? It is definitely not me!”

“The only sound that I hear is in my brain, which is your thumping of my door at goddamn 7 am! You are a nutcase bro, get yourself tested.” He shut the door in my face.

“FUCK OFF! You’re DEAF!” I shouted.

The loudness was increasing steadily. Another door opened. Rafa appeared.

“What happened bro?”

“Don’t you hear anything? The sound of drums?”

“What sound?”

The realisation dawned on me all of a sudden. The sound was nowhere in my vicinity! Not in my room, not in the stadium, not in Saksham’s room. Nowhere but in my goddamn head!

“I think I’m dreaming.” I spoke softly.

“Come again!” He spoke.

The world grew blurry… shapes were fading into smoke…

Try to remember the last thing you have been doing. Some voice in my head spoke. I tried. And I remembered, her concerned eyes looking at me almost feeling sorry for me and the fall…

THUMP!

**************************************************

I got up with a start. There was an old man standing at the foot of my bed, he smiled at me baring his crooked teeth between his broken lips. There was something oddly familiar about the face. I had seen the man somewhere. Surely! Oh! How can this be? My heart skipped a beat, I blinked and he was gone.

This couldn’t be! There is no chance in hell!

“Oh! In hell there might just be!” The mocking voice returned.

I pulled my hair. I grabbed my slippers, which were the same shade of yellow as the night before. Or should I say, the dream before. The drums were still playing, louder with each floor I descended. Four… three… two… one. I jumped the last few steps of the lowest level and ran towards the main gate of the apartment. Next lane… I ran.

The body was placed on a white bed sheet, covered with flowers and the same face stared at me, with two cotton pieces stuffed in both the nostrils. My head was spinning. I grabbed the nearest chair.

After my head steadied a bit I got up and returned.

I looked around. I was in the PG that I had rented. Bangalore. I had seen the body the night before while returning from office.

That is a good sign.

“Seriously?” The mean voice returned.

“Not the casualty, you idiot! The fact that I’m recalling past happenings” I sulked.

“But what if it’s a dream? And what you saw yesterday also a part of it? An elaborate setup.” It said.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. I’ve given up! I’ll wait for it. I’ll wait till I wake up again.” I resigned.

I was at a loss. I did not know what to do...

“Should I visit a doctor?” I posted the question in my head, waiting for anyone to answer.

“Probably” The butler answered.

“No, I’ll look like an idiot.” I said.

“Meh!”

**************************************************

Three days have passed. I haven’t woken up still. Maybe that is a good sign or maybe not. Maybe I’m in a very, very deep sleep. Limbo they say? Did I meet with an accident? Am I in a coma? Is this what happens while a person is unconscious to the world?

“Nothing can help you.” It said.

I know that. I know all of it. Probably it’s best that I should wait for this terrible nightmare to get over. Yes, wait. Wait and see what unfolds next…