'You wake up, go to the bathroom and look
at the mirror' said a spooky feminine voice.
At 6’O’Clock in the morning, Raj was shaken
awake by this phone call.
"What the hell did you say?"
replied Raj, in a sleepy voice.
"You are going to die within the next
24 hours if you don't do what I say" replied the spooky voice.
"Hello, who's this? Hello...
Helllllooooo...."
Raj's attempts went in vain as the line went
mute at the other end. He immediately rushed into the bathroom only to realize
that there was no mirror inside it. He could only hear the words ringing in his
head “… bathroom ........ mirror .....… die ........ 24 hours …….”
"F#$%&! My Luck" he
sighed and banged on the door.
"What happened?" shouted his
mother, anxious to know if something went wrong.
"Nothing Ma!", he replied,
while his mind already started wondering what could possibly kill him that day.
With a mind full of thoughts, he got ready
and came to the breakfast table. His mother came there with a box full of
steaming Idlis. His mouth started watering at the very sight of them. The
powdered groundnut chutney with Ghee & mango pickle formed an excellent trio
for his taste buds.
“Happy Birthday kanna. Have your favourite
breakfast today” said his mom, as she came to the dining table.
“Thanx Ma.” He said as he started gulping
the Idlis down his throat. “Today I have GMAT Special classes till 6 PM. So,
I’ll be home late in the evening”, he said as he left his home.
------------------------------
The Bus stop in front of the secretariat was
over-crowded that day. The decibel level on the road should have been 80.
Adding to that, the voices of people at the bus stop discussing every damn
thing were irritating Raj. Some of them were waiting for their buses to come,
some others waiting for a Green signal to cross the road, few of them pushing their
way towards the shops behind the bus stop and few others blocking the road with
their never-ending bargaining with the Autowalas. Amidst all this confusion,
Raj’s phone began to ring.
“Come on Dear. I’m waiting for you”
Raj could hear the spooky voice, as the signal in front went Green. He started
moving with the crowd across the road when he suddenly dropped his phone. While
he waited to pick it up, the crowd went ahead leaving him behind. In the
meantime, the signal to his right went green and a speeding truck coming along
the road hit him.
“Noooooo!!” Raj’s sudden and shrill
cry startled a bunch of girls standing next to him. One of them came closer and
spanked him on his head and Raj suddenly came back to reality. He was a little annoyed at the furore his
thoughts created in public. Thanking his stars, he waited for 83B.
------------------------------
The road leading towards Ameerpet was
completely crowded. Raj was struggling to retain his balance on the footboard
of 83B. It was not even two minutes before the bus crossed Panjagutta when it got
stuck in traffic. The driver after a series of futile attempts, showed his
frustration by turning off the engine. Raj, out of helplessness, got down and
waded his way forward towards his office in Ameerpet. He entered his office to
find his secretary Priya missing in her seat. Moving restlessly up and down in the
corridor, he tried reaching her on her mobile, but in vain. He went straight
into his cabin and sat down, idle.
Fifteen minutes later, Priya entered the room
gasping for breath. Her dishevelled appearance and hasty gestures appeared
incoherent to her usual behaviour with her boss. She stood next to Raj and
narrated to him, the schedule for the day and went back to her seat, outside
Raj’s cabin. A few minutes later, his phone started ringing.
“Good Morning. Is it Mr. Raj Kumar?”
“Yes, speaking”
“Mr. Raj Kumar, this is Suresh Naidu, Superintendent
of Police, Special branch. We came across an accident in which a lady on a
Honda Activa, was hit and run over by a Trailer. Her hand bag lay aside her and
in that, we found her Identity card, which bore the name Priya Ravichandran..........”
The brand new Voltas AC in the room was
displaying 16 degrees, but that could not stop Raj from sweating profusely. In
no time, his clothes were completely wet and he could not hide the horrified
look on his face. He immediately rushed to his door and peeped out to check if
Priya was there. He went pale and his face turned white at what he saw. He
could just see the keys on the keyboard go in and out, but there was no one at the
seat.
Raj took all his might and ran out of the
office. He found himself in an open ground. He could see the Hitech City in the
distance. He tried shouting for help, but his throat was parched. He ran
steadfastly towards the nearest road he could see. As he ran, he felt a jolt
and the next moment, he found himself in air and landed on the ground with a
thud. He could feel his limbs break and life suck out of him. As he was about
to breather his last, He could hear the same voice say, “At last, You’re
mine!”
------------------------------
Raj was startled as he awoke with a shock. The
clock in front of him was showing 05:30. He was taken aback by this completely
uncorrelated dream. Early morning message, mirror, home, birthday, GMAT
classes, Office, Ameerpet, Open ground near Hitech City; None of them appeared coherent
to Raj. His left brain was insisting him to just leave the trash aside and get
going for the day, whereas his right brain was forcing him to think that early
morning dreams may come true. While this mental battle reached its peak, ‘beep’
went his phone. He received a SMS from a Private Number which read...
'You wake up, go to the bathroom and look
at the mirror'
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda
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