Monday, March 10, 2014

Déjà vu!



         
A first draft of a story that was written quite some years ago, when I was still coming to terms with writing...

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     The movie was wonderful. I did not regret my decision to watch it alone. All my friends had been busy with something or the other and could not make it. I was desperate to watch it and as it was the last show for the week I went ahead with my decision.
 
It was late in the night. I came out into the parking lot, straddled my bike and started the long journey home. The theatre was quite a long distance from my place. I was riding along at a comfortable speed, humming a song from the movie. The street lights were out and the road was enveloped in darkness. The dark brooding night didn't help the atmosphere at all. In fact, I felt it was a bit too dark. But living in Mumbai made you numb to certain situations. You became used to the "in"efficiency of the civic bodies.

        I continued on my way ahead and then it struck me. The lights in all the homes in the buildings around were out. Also the large hoardings, that otherwise shone so brightly and cast a glow around them were unlit. They looked derelict and foreboding, sticking out into the night at awkward angles. It also struck me as odd, that even though it was late in the night, there wasn’t a soul on the streets! The way ahead was pitch black with only my bike's headlight throwing a swab of white light into the looming darkness. It gave me a nervous feeling. The fact that my vision was restricted to the boundaries of this small beam of light made me apprehensive.

        Suddenly, my bike's light picked up a prone form lying on the ground a small distance away from me. I stopped my bike, but kept the engine running. It looked human alright. With the increasing amount of road crimes, I wasn't sure if I should approach and see what the matter was!

        But I made up my mind and was about to get off my bike to pursue the matter, when I saw something that chilled my spine. A pair of shining eyes appeared, just outside the edge of the light globe that my bike was casting on the prostrate form. My limbs didn’t seem to respond but somehow I turned my bike's handlebars so that the light was cast in the direction of those ghastly eyes.

        What I saw was something that I cannot possibly describe in words. It was a creature so appalling that it looked a personification of the devil himself. It slowly lifted its round head and I got a glimpse of what a horrifying face actually looks like! It opened its jaw to reveal a pair of long canines which shone bright red as if they had been dipped in fresh blood. I sat on my bike rooted to the spot with none of my senses working! The only thought coursing through my mind was that this was bound to be the last day of my life!

The creature slowly sniffed the air, its wide nostrils flaring as it caught the scent of a human! ME! It slowly started moving towards me, its gait unlike any living being I had ever seen. As it neared me, my breath exceeded its normal limit and my heart thudded against my chest threatening to burst out! It was a few feet away from me when Adrenaline kicked in and my senses jarred back awake. I rammed my bike into gear and twisted the throttle all the way up causing the bike to spring forward. The creature lunged for me, its claws almost reaching my back. But the bike accelerated and I escaped by a hair's breadth. I didn't loosen my grip on the throttle until I was sure that I was a good distance away from the creature.

        Then in the distance I heard a guttural cry, so piercing and shrill that there was no doubt that it wasn't human. As if that cry wasn't scary enough I heard answering cries emanating from different directions. I sped up my bike and shot towards my home. I parked my bike and dashed up the stairs. As I lived alone I had the keys with me. My fingers trembled and the keys jangled in my hand as I struggled to find the keyhole in the darkness. Finally, after what seemed an eon I managed to thrust the key into the keyhole and almost broke through the door. I latched up the door and raced to my room. I drew close all the curtains and sat on the bed with fear.

        The silence was eerie. It almost threatened to engulf me. It then struck me that my apartment was unnaturally silent. The after effects of the adrenaline flow and the events that had transpired were catching up with me. I was shivering partly with fear and partly due to exhaustion. I fell asleep sitting there on the bed with my back to the wall.

        Sometime later in the night I woke up with a start because I thought heard something. I strained my eyes in the dark to try and identify the source of the sound but couldn't do it. Outside I could still hear the silence being broken only by the unearthly screams of those damned creatures. I swung around to get off the bed and then my eyes fell on the shape crouching at the foot of my bed. It was a sight that I had seen earlier in the night. The same horrifying creature was now crouched there in my room. The same pair of shining eyes looked at me. The jaw opened into what looked like a devilish grin which seemed to seal my fate. It started reaching out for me. I tried to cry for help but my voice failed me. The macabre, ghastly entity standing in front of me drained out my will to survive. I managed to scream as its claws reached my side. And then darkness engulfed me................



        I woke up to the sound of my cell phone alarm ringing incessantly pleading to be put on snooze! I sat up and checked myself. I could see bright sunlight streaming in through the windows. Outside I could hear the normal bustle as people went about their daily chores. I thanked God that it had only been a nightmare. But it had seemed so real, so vivid. I could still visualize the creature standing in front of me and its sharp claws inching towards me. I shook my head to try and clear my mind. Weeks passed after that incident and established routine continued.

        Then some time later, a long awaited movie released. Due to some extra responsibilities at my workplace I couldn't see it. But I couldn't resist the urge to catch the movie. I called up my friends for some company, but most of them had either already watched it or were busy.

        Desperate as I was, I decided that I would watch it alone. It was a late night show. The movie was wonderful. I did not regret my decision of going alone for it. I started my bike and sped towards my home. I was humming a song from the movie. It seemed odd to me that I seemed very comfortable with the lyrics even though I had heard it for the first time. And then a couple of blocks away I saw that the streets were engulfed in darkness, the streetlights obviously not working.

        And then realization dawned on me. It was happening for real. Or was this a dream too, a nightmare? Or was it Deja Vu...

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