The Urge!!!

Joe got down from the train. He knew he had very little time. He started to run, making his way through the crowd with great vigor. He climbed three steps at a time, he had no time to walk, attracting weird looks from people passing by. He got out of the station, picked up his pace; he knew he has only few minutes. Time is of utmost essence, he knew it all too well.  His heart  was pounding fast, adrenalin rushing to his head, he ran, ran like never before, ran like the world was crashing down behind him. He jumped up onto the sidewalk.

Sweat dripping down from his forehead, no time to wipe them down. He was losing his mind, he ran like a mad man. Like he was chased by an blood thirsty ogre. He pushed himself, he has to make it in time. He cant afford to lose even a second. Just around the corner was the coffee shop which was almost like his second home. He spent most of his time from office here. This is where he met Rachel. He  has been seeing her for months now. They were suppose to meet tonight. He saw her through the window. She caught sight of him. Whole world goes on mute. His was heart pounding like safri duo playing a tribal  number. Joe slowed down.


A woman with a baby carriage came out of the coffee shop. She was totally fixed on the baby and wasn’t aware of the speeding Joe-truck. Joe calculated his steps all in split seconds. He was closing in. He sprang like a wild cat. He cleared the carriage, clean and clear. Rachel who has been watching Joe do all antics outside, was startled, she stood up and waved hectically at him. Joe took no notice of her. He started picking up his pace again. He ran with every ounce of energy left in his body.

Joe got to his house. He threw the doors open. Within seconds... a beastly holler so sickening was heard. Then aaaaaughhh….. A humongous sigh of relief….

  

Romance and Cigerettes

      The Car came to a rolling stop. Sameer got down and walked to the front. With his back against the bonnet, he stared at the waves. Waves of the mighty blue ocean, clasping each other, trying to get shore. It’s been so long since the last time Sameer came here. Years back, he used to come here with Archana every week. He loved coming here with her. Holding hands and walking along the shore, wetting their feet. Talking for hours, mostly inane stuff. He just loved to be with her, lost in these waves.

      He pulled out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. His right hand now rummaged his pocket for the lighter. It had the alphabet A on it. Archana bought him that, hoping he would think of her every time he smoked. Hoping eventually he would quit. But that didn’t seem to happen. Archana was always bothered with Sameer smoking and Sameer knew that. She never him asked to do anything he didn’t like.

      Things turn out pretty ugly when you let your ego get the best of you. Sameer learnt that the hard way. He
promised himself he would never let his foolish pride make decisions for him ever. Days rolled to years and there he stood reminiscing things he missed. He felt a comforting touch. “That’s strange. Cigarette in place and you are not smoking,” Nikitha, his wife. She gave him a tender smile. Sameer put his arm across her shoulders and moved her close to him. He leaned and kissed her forehead. Now staring back at the waves he said, “I’m gonna get over it.”  He threw the cigarette away,   “smoking that is…” He placed the lighter in Niki’s hands…

THE TAVERN – 2

The morning came. Jim was all in one piece. He woke up, was glad that he was still alive. He thought may be last night was just a nightmare. He looked at the shelf, the cross; he had a strange feeling deep down in his gut. He picked up his rosary, held it close and said his morning prayers. He walked downstairs staggering a bit. The Man in black was still there sitting at the same stool at the bar. Jim sat next to him, “Some night eh?” He paid no heed to Jim; he just sat there, without a response.  “Morning Mister” said an old voice, Jim turned to see Simon standing near the door, “Seems like you had a terrible night” seeing Jim, all crumpled. “I started working on your wheels, and I’ve stripped them down. Once I’m done they’ll as good as new” Simon just gave a smile and a nod and walked out. 

Jim walked out of the tavern. It was noon already. He wondered how long have he has slept. The land showed bleeding signs of the heavy pour last night. Jim, looked up, was not happy with what he saw there. The sky wasn’t clear yet.  It could be packing up for another rainstorm. He went to the stable, was happy to see Charlie there, the only familiar face here, out in the dry lands. He gently patted him and Simon came in, “He’s a good boy, that Charlie.”   Jim still patting Charlie said “Yeah… I brought him up from a little pony… Always treated him like family”

Then he turned to Simon, his face filled with anxiety, “Did you hear anything odd last night? I mean something that was abnormal?” This piqued Simon’s curiosity, “No Mister Jim, I was sound asleep, a bottle of whiskey helps on a cold night like last” Then he scratched his matted mesh of silver hair on his head, “Is there something that matter? What did you hear last night?” 

Jim felt a bit relieved and was talking to himself; ‘maybe it was a nightmare after all, I have been riding for days, I was tried, maybe I imagined it a lil’ bit.  The thunders outside, yeah, I thought someone was banging on the door. But the little girl’s scream that was so vivid, what was that? Was it all just a nightmare?’

Simon, “Mister? I came here to tell you, I can’t finish up your carriage today. I’ll have it all done by tomorrow morning. Is that alright with you…?” He coughed, “Besides, it seems like another rainstorm is upon us. You’ll be caught up in it before you reach the village. There’s nothing out there you know, no shelter, nothing but dry patches of mud, the very sight of which, makes one thirsty, it makes you crazy, it makes you see things.” Jim was still assimilating what old Simon just said, he started again, “I was a messenger once. I had to ride for weeks sometimes. It made me see things, I was getting old, thought it would be better if I just settled down here”

Jim, “Guess, I’ll have to stay the night here, I’ll go inside and check if there’s something to eat.” Jim was still pondering over what Simon just said, about seeing things and all that. He entered the tavern; the barkeep was behind the bar again. Jim walked up to the bar, “Can I get something to eat?” He nodded his head and went back into the room behind the bar.

Jim turned around “Last night I had a worst nightmare. Something evil came knocking on my door. It sounded like a little girl first, so I thought I would go and look it out for myself and then somebody tried to break in, it so frightening. Then there was this screaming, the thunder, rain… woooh… that was eerie, you know” shaken up from the very thought of it. “That my friend is no nightmare. It did happen” said the Man in Black. “What? What are you talking about?” still not believing what he just heard. “So tell me how two people sleeping in different rooms under same roof have same nightmares?” with a smirk. Jim, “It did really happen. Didn’t it? It was real and horrifying. That Old Simon had me thinking I was seeing things.” Man in Black, “Trust me, I’m from around here. And I have seen this before” Jim, “Before? What is this place?” said terrified. 

Man in Black, “Relax; it’s not that bad, you gotta take it easy” Jim, “Easy!? How can anyone take this easy? This is still so weird and unbelievable” Man in Black, “It did happen and now get over it. If you are to stay another night, just do what I say, you’ll be alright” Jim, “What should I do Mister…. Er.. I dint get your name” Man in Black took a quick sip of whatever he was drinking, “Cause I dint give it” Jim was in jitters and the name didn’t seem much, “So, what happened here? You know something about this right?” Man in Black, “Trust me, it’s not a story you can tell someone. What happened here was so brutal and barbaric; no one even talks about it. They all pretend, it never happened” Jim, “please I have to know. Tell me what happened here?”  Man in Black, “If you wish…”

And the Man in Black begins…..

THE TAVERN

It was a windy evening. It seemed, a thunderstorm was upon them, which is rare, in this god forsaken dry land. There was a screeching sound outside the tavern. It was a horse drawn carriage, which came to sudden stop. A short plump man of late thirties got down from the carriage. He walked to old man sitting on a stool outside. He flipped a silver coin and handed it to the old man, “Take mighty good care of my ol’ Charlie there and the carriage, will ya?” Old man paid little or no attention to the traveler, all the while staring at the silver piece, took it with a wide grin. He walked to the horse, “C’mon Charlie boy, let’s get you some water and hay” and he rolled the carriage to the stable which was adjacent to the tavern.

The traveler walked in. There was a bar right opposite. It was a little place, which had only two tables set to four and none were occupied. A door behind the bar was closed and a staircase next to the bar. He gazed at the bar, the barkeep with a toothpick in his mouth and seemed busy wiping a glass jug, with a dirty rag. There was another man, dressed all in black, with his head down. The traveler walked to bar and took to a stool and said in a husky cheerful voice, “Whiskey! My good man” He turned to the man in black, his face was shadowed by the ten-gallon hat. “Howdy mister”. He got no response, the barkeep, placed a glass before the traveler. He picked up the glass and just as he was about to take a sip, a thunder broke down and startled him. He sloshed almost of half the glass. He looked through the dirty dim window, it started to pour like the sky was cut open. The old man came staggering in, drenched and he sat down on a chair away from the bar.  

Traveler turned to the barkeep, “Who runs this place? Or rather who should I see, if I wanted to stay the night here?” Barkeep, “You can rent the room upstairs”. He pulled an old worn-out ledger from under the bar. “Who should I put it under?” “Jim… Jim Carson” Jim now turned to man in black, still couldn’t see his face, turned to the barkeep, “What’s his deal?”  Barkeep quite niggled, pointed to a board over the bar, it read, “When the cock pays, don’t pull its pinion”. “Mighty well said” he sniggered and rose up from the stool.

Jim, “Is there someone around here, who can fix up my carriage wheels, I’ve been riding for days together” Barkeep nudging his head to the old man, “Old Simon, can take care of that. But, you know, he’s a bit slow cos of age and all that” Jim turned to the old man, he coughed up. “I can do that, it’s gonna take me another day or two If you’re fine by that, or… you can take it up to the next village about another day and half from here” Jim, “Fine… I can stay here for another day and take a nice break” The Barkeep gave an approving nod to the old man, to which he started out and brought Jim’s luggage. 

Jim quaffed up the drink, what left of it at least and followed Simon upstairs. “Simon, the man in black, who was sitting at the bar? You know him?” Simon, “I see him at the bar sometimes. He always keeps to himself, shy guy I suppose. He just arrived before you did. Might be for the sudden thunder pour you know. It’s hard to keep riding if it’s like that out there. ” Jim gave Simon another silver piece and stepped inside the room and locked it.

It was a nice little room, with a bed and small table by it. There was an old lamp and a picture on the table. He switched the lamp on, picked up the picture frame. It was a picture of a family, a beautiful girl with her husband, holding a small baby. He switched to his jammies and tucked himself in the bed. It was thundering like the Gods were fighting with H-bombs and A-bombs in Heaven. Something caught his eye. He got up and walked to the shelf opposite the bed. It was empty but for a strange wooden cross. It was brutally carved from a piece of oak wood. It struck some strange awe, by the way it looked, by the way it was kept. Jim picked it up; he saw some markings on the shelf floor. As he looked closer, it came to appear as scribbling, so shaken and strange. It said, “Deliver us from Evil”. He moved in closer to take a better look. 

The windows came in crashing on the sill. Jim was frightened he lost his breath. He barely dragged himself to the windows; it was fluttering to the sudden rush of wind. It was still raining crazy. He locked up the windows and came back to the bed. He tried to sleep, in vain. He rolled in his bed, every time he rolled over, the sight of the wooden cross, sent a chill down his spine. He closed his eyes and prayed for he was really frightened. He fell asleep. All was calm for a while but for the raging thunders outside. There came a knocking on his door. He opened his eyes, still a bit dizzy; he got up from his bed. Someone was battering the door trying to break it open. He walked to the door, he could hear someone moaning as if they were tied and gagged. The moaning turned to screaming, it was a little girl’s voice. Jim was so confused, to realize what was happening around him. The girls voice turned demonic and it yelled out, “You gonna pay for what you’ve done. You filthy beast” The banging became so violent, Jim moved back to his bed. The screaming and banging continued for a while. Jim started praying, tears rolling down his eyed. He grabbed his rosary and held it so firmly with both his hands. 

The night ahead was long and dark….. 

To be continued....

PoPKoRn

The other day, my friend asked me go to a movie with him which I have seen already. It’s not the kind of movie you would watch again. Who am I kidding…? Not even once. So there he goes, dragging me all the way to the theatre. The theatre was flooded by movie goers, still in high hopes fooled by the trailer. I said, “There’s no way we could get tickets today” He said, “Don’t be so negative. We are so watching this movie today” “Saar buy some popcorn… Its only 10 rs a packet” “Here we stand with no tickets, you want us to buy popcorn” I said. My friend, “Don’t take it out on him. We will get the tickets somehow, so buy the popcorn” “Get the tickets first, I will buy popcorn later”

In another 10 minutes the counter was closed. I was so happy, I’m gonna go home and get some sleep. All the disappointed people cleared the counters. Ah, this is lot better than the frustrated faces I saw after the movie. These people dont realize how lucky they are than those who bought the tickets. I said, “Let’s go home man, the suns trying to suck out my brain… Poor thing, how would it know? My boss had that for lunch yesterday.” But he gave me 'that face', you know, somebody invites you a birthday party, everyone else gets a piece of the birthday cake and you dint. Yeah.. that face. Alright I’ll get two black tickets, I said to myself.

It’s easy to spot them. It really baffles me; you could easily pick them out in a bunch of hundred people. I was surprised at the price he demanded. Ticket costs only 90 and he wanted 150. I’m not paying that for much for this movie. My friend, “Come on yaar, don’t make a scene. Pay him already. Let’s go inside” I had no choice. I don’t know where the popcorn guy came from; he was back at it again. I was nettled. “How much is the popcorn really? 2 rs and your selling it for 10 rs eh?” My friend had to drag me to the queue where people were waiting to get inside. 

We were waiting in the queue, another five minutes had passed. Here comes the popcorn man again. This time with a low voice, “Saar… You said you would buy popcorn if you had the tickets…” I was kind of sorry for him now but that’s not gonna make me buy that popcorn. “Sorry yaar. I don’t have any change.” He left without saying a word. We were nearing the entrance. My friend got a call. His face changed. First time I saw him smile today. He said, “Dude Ashanka wants to see me. I have to go man…” “You can’t leave me like this dumbo.” “Please understand yaar, she’s my girl friend. I have to go… I'll make it up to you” What the heck?? Even getting me a date with Kaley Cuoco is not going to make it up for the excruciation I'm gonna suffer, watching this movie.  I was confused, what hell just happened. 

The guy standing behind me, pushed me in. I entered the theatre and started looking for my seat. I was cursing my self for spending 300 bucks for a worthless movie which I have watched already. I found my seat. Holy Bijeesus, a cute girl in a white whatever you call it and dark jeans was in the next seat. I took my seat. I was giving thumps up looking at the dark ceiling. Okay I was thanking God. I was like, talk to her, talk to her come on. I was nervous; this is the first time I’m in a situation like this. Then a crazy thought came over my mind. Is she with her boy friend? I leaned and looked at the person sitting next to her. Oh yeah, it was another girl. I think they were friends. 

I gave another thumps up and started preparing myself. “Hi… My name is anand” No… Its too obvious. It has to be something spontaneous. What am I suppose to talk about? About this movie? No, girls don’t like people who talk bad about things and there’s nothing good in this movie to talk about. Come on it’s a theatre, you are watching a movie… think ! think! Be spontaneous. Hey if you don’t talk to her in next five minutes, you won’t talk to her ever… My heart was beating fast. My forehead was drenched in sweat. I wiped my forehead. How hard could it be, come on. Be spontaneous. I mustered up some courage and said, “Would you like to have some popcorn…?”

Oh-My-God…Why on earth did I say that?  I don’t have any popcorn. Everything happened outside, ran across my mind in nano seconds. I turned face to the other side in a jiffy. I was looking at the dark ceiling, “Why?”

Part fact and part fiction... so dont go asking about the girl or what happened next  :)

Am I Unfaithful... ??

She danced with the breeze
Enchanting, enticing
She was irresistable
I wanted to reach out to her
Touch her, Caress her
Hold her close to me
Am I being unfaithful?
My Heart belongs to someone else
I was losing my grip
I gave in....

Then my girl friend said with a playful laugh, "Come on stop playing with my hair"

Just dont think I'm a weirdo when I say the girlfriend is imaginary or rather fictional... The Sociopath is still single and available...  : P

Back here again in Blogsville...

Its been almost two years, since I've blogged about something. Now, I'm back for good and I ain't going back.

Its only fair to say that, I've been  going through a life changing course for a while now. Now that am back, why not start new. This is the reason behind this new blog. 


I'll be posting couple of my old works here... there are too good [my prespective ;)] to be left alone.

Good to be back,
Nirmal.