It was raining that morning, as she walked to her office, a rain of soft mist that caressed her skin...She decided to ditch the umbrella and enjoy the fresh feel of wind and water. The walk was hardly five minutes from the bus stop, but it seemed longer and pleasant somehow. Cars whooshed passed her, spraying mud in a fine curtain. She regretted wearing a white cotton suit today, what made her choose such an outfit on such a day was a complete mystery. The thought passed gently away with the
wind, it was too beautiful a morning to fret about mud and stains, she reasoned with
herself...and also too beautiful to be spoiled by....
A car honked by, startling her from her reverie, she was grateful, she didn't need to complete that train of thought...that lead to very dark places...She focused instead on the day ahead, since her work place was near now, she had almost reached the gate. She had a dull day of work to look forward to, same billing and accounting, filling books and ledgers, of course everything was computerized these days....Yet it was better than dwelling in the dark corners of her mind...She seated herself at her cubicle
with a cup of coffee, and started working on the files she had left yesterday. Her husband had gone on a work trip, her family lived elsewhere, she would have to return to an empty flat...which was fine otherwise, she liked being by herself, but these days, she never felt alone...the coffee left a bitter taste in her mouth, she felt her throat drying up in a hurry, she struggled to her feet to get that glass of water.....She felt better after a glass or two, and made up her mind to concentrate only on the numbers on the desk, but wait a minute, does the corridor seem to grow and shrink at the same time? She shook her head in confusion...
“Hello there!! Early today?” It was Shekhar, her colleague, a leech in human form, always looking for ways to dump his work on her but always pretending to be her only friend. She smiled back gratefully, at least the momentary lapse to wonder land had passed because of him. Sometimes, the worst of people, unwittingly would do you such a favour!
“Well, had nothing much to do at home anyway, with Manoj away...”
“Oh right, right...I was wondering if you could help me with these files today....” His voice trailed off, she found her gratefulness turning into annoyance quickly. Oh the rat bastard!!! Before she could answer, the phone at her desk started to ring in a shrill mono-tone. She quickly held up a finger indicating him to wait for a bit, and ran to her desk.
“Hello?” She gasped into the phone. There was no answer, or was there? A faint, guttural breathing on the other end....She felt her body go cold, it was him or he was it!!! The scary phone calls she had been getting lately, ever time when she was alone....He didn't speak, no threats or anything, but just the sound of the rasping, raw breathing, would drive her insane....She was getting worse with each phone call, her mind slipping quietly inch by inch into the dark...
“Who was it?” Shekhar asked, looking at her curiously. It was HIM!!! She wanted to shout...but didn't risk that, instead just shrugged her shoulders in a non-committal way. “Didn't want us to know, it seems...” she put down the receiver gingerly, “You were saying?”
The morning passed sluggishly, the rain now falling relentless, leaving all pretense of gentleness...It was still dark out towards noon, and soon it was time for lunch. Usually she would get her lunch from home, but today she had forgotten to pack her food, since it was a late morning for her, staying awake till the wee hours of the day....imagining his face in every shadow...she shivered uncontrollably. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and given the amount of strain she was under, she couldn't help but scream and scream and scream....It was wasn't him, of course, it was the leech, visibly shaken and totally shocked. It was a small sense of satisfaction to scare the shit out of the leech, but yet she felt so cold, cold....
“What is the matter with you?!” He exclaimed, bewildered.
“Oh, nothing...just a little jumpy, I guess, haven't been sleeping well lately....”
“Oh okay....you are not being stalked by some psycho, are you?” The leech thought that was rather funny, and laughed in short husky barks. She looked at him, appraisingly, should she tell him, should she let him in her dark secret, that there was indeed a dark mind behind all this...
“What do you know about this?” she demanded roughly. He looked at her with genuine surprise, “What do you mean? You mean are you really being stalked or something?” She decided not to tell him after all, what good is a leech outside of primitive medical practices? She laughed then, at herself, at the bleak, bleak situation and the stupid “effing” leech!!! He seemed to have bought the lie, bitten the bait, the hook and all...well and good!! Her thoughts were losing some of their clarity, if the history of a day such as this was ever written, it would document her slow slow descent into madness and chaos...what a laugh! What a lark!! She had to stop her thoughts from running wildly, like a bunch of bad hyenas, laughing and running, laughing and running...It was his frank curiosity that awakened her, rather shook her, otherwise she was on the ride to the “la-la” land...
“What is it?” he gently shook her shoulders. She smiled then, sheepishly. “Nothing, nothing at all!!”
Time is so funny, sometimes years pass by and nothing of significance occurs, yet in few days time such sinister events develop....She remembered him from her childhood days, he would play hide and seek, but you couldn't catch him of course, he was long gone like the mysterious cat Macavity...
“You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air—
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!”
Frankly, she had about enough of this shit, if he decides to show his face, she would be ready for him. The day had turned to be the wettest day of the month, and the rain showed no signs of letting down. She would get stains on her pristine white outfit, oh what a day, a lovely, lovely day!!! It was him, she knew, in her mind, playing tricks, planting ideas, her thoughts had betrayed her....again. She reached home around eight, wet and grumpy, her white suit ruined, such a rain couldn't be withheld by a mere umbrella...Manoj had asked her again and again, to get a driver's license and to use the car....she couldn't trust herself behind wheels, her thoughts were never her own...Jangling of the keys, followed by creaking of the door, and she was home...alone and it was dark....She switched on the light.
Following morning, the sky had cleared, and the air was crisp and cool. Rays of sunshine warmed her face, tinting them with a soft rose glow. She awoke with a smile, stretched her limbs lazily...her hands...her hands were red? With blood? All traces of sweet slumber disappeared from her face, oh God, did he hurt her? She stood up shakily from her bed, the sheets were streaked with clotted blood, maroon and red....her knees felt so weak and wobbly, she couldn't stand on her feet anymore, and fell down in one quick motion...started crawling towards the bathroom...I need to get rid of the stains....OH the STAIN!!!!! The memory came tumbling back...it was him last night, he had come into the light, the ordinariness of him infuriated her, her ghost, was a thin man with balding head...and somehow she had lost it, hurt him and her...oh the PAIN!!! and the shame.....
“What's wrong, dear?” She looked up from the wash basin, startled by her reflection, she looked like an hunted animal with crazy eyes...Manoj stood at the bath room door, with his morning tea on one hand...Oh what a strange world, the crazy and the sane in juxtaposition...She looked at her hands, they were clean! She turned to face him, guiltily, “Oh nothing, nothing at all...”
“But I heard you scream?” He looked confused, her dear silly husband....She just smiled, hoping it was answer enough, “You must have been mistaken...” She remembered the sheet, and darted out into the bedroom, and they were clean, sparkly clean, she signed, relieved, she hated stains after all...but what happened to her ghost-man? Where did he disappear?
“At whatever time the deed took place—MACAVITY WASN'T THERE !”
wind, it was too beautiful a morning to fret about mud and stains, she reasoned with
herself...and also too beautiful to be spoiled by....
A car honked by, startling her from her reverie, she was grateful, she didn't need to complete that train of thought...that lead to very dark places...She focused instead on the day ahead, since her work place was near now, she had almost reached the gate. She had a dull day of work to look forward to, same billing and accounting, filling books and ledgers, of course everything was computerized these days....Yet it was better than dwelling in the dark corners of her mind...She seated herself at her cubicle
with a cup of coffee, and started working on the files she had left yesterday. Her husband had gone on a work trip, her family lived elsewhere, she would have to return to an empty flat...which was fine otherwise, she liked being by herself, but these days, she never felt alone...the coffee left a bitter taste in her mouth, she felt her throat drying up in a hurry, she struggled to her feet to get that glass of water.....She felt better after a glass or two, and made up her mind to concentrate only on the numbers on the desk, but wait a minute, does the corridor seem to grow and shrink at the same time? She shook her head in confusion...
“Hello there!! Early today?” It was Shekhar, her colleague, a leech in human form, always looking for ways to dump his work on her but always pretending to be her only friend. She smiled back gratefully, at least the momentary lapse to wonder land had passed because of him. Sometimes, the worst of people, unwittingly would do you such a favour!
“Well, had nothing much to do at home anyway, with Manoj away...”
“Oh right, right...I was wondering if you could help me with these files today....” His voice trailed off, she found her gratefulness turning into annoyance quickly. Oh the rat bastard!!! Before she could answer, the phone at her desk started to ring in a shrill mono-tone. She quickly held up a finger indicating him to wait for a bit, and ran to her desk.
“Hello?” She gasped into the phone. There was no answer, or was there? A faint, guttural breathing on the other end....She felt her body go cold, it was him or he was it!!! The scary phone calls she had been getting lately, ever time when she was alone....He didn't speak, no threats or anything, but just the sound of the rasping, raw breathing, would drive her insane....She was getting worse with each phone call, her mind slipping quietly inch by inch into the dark...
“Who was it?” Shekhar asked, looking at her curiously. It was HIM!!! She wanted to shout...but didn't risk that, instead just shrugged her shoulders in a non-committal way. “Didn't want us to know, it seems...” she put down the receiver gingerly, “You were saying?”
The morning passed sluggishly, the rain now falling relentless, leaving all pretense of gentleness...It was still dark out towards noon, and soon it was time for lunch. Usually she would get her lunch from home, but today she had forgotten to pack her food, since it was a late morning for her, staying awake till the wee hours of the day....imagining his face in every shadow...she shivered uncontrollably. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and given the amount of strain she was under, she couldn't help but scream and scream and scream....It was wasn't him, of course, it was the leech, visibly shaken and totally shocked. It was a small sense of satisfaction to scare the shit out of the leech, but yet she felt so cold, cold....
“What is the matter with you?!” He exclaimed, bewildered.
“Oh, nothing...just a little jumpy, I guess, haven't been sleeping well lately....”
“Oh okay....you are not being stalked by some psycho, are you?” The leech thought that was rather funny, and laughed in short husky barks. She looked at him, appraisingly, should she tell him, should she let him in her dark secret, that there was indeed a dark mind behind all this...
“What do you know about this?” she demanded roughly. He looked at her with genuine surprise, “What do you mean? You mean are you really being stalked or something?” She decided not to tell him after all, what good is a leech outside of primitive medical practices? She laughed then, at herself, at the bleak, bleak situation and the stupid “effing” leech!!! He seemed to have bought the lie, bitten the bait, the hook and all...well and good!! Her thoughts were losing some of their clarity, if the history of a day such as this was ever written, it would document her slow slow descent into madness and chaos...what a laugh! What a lark!! She had to stop her thoughts from running wildly, like a bunch of bad hyenas, laughing and running, laughing and running...It was his frank curiosity that awakened her, rather shook her, otherwise she was on the ride to the “la-la” land...
“What is it?” he gently shook her shoulders. She smiled then, sheepishly. “Nothing, nothing at all!!”
Time is so funny, sometimes years pass by and nothing of significance occurs, yet in few days time such sinister events develop....She remembered him from her childhood days, he would play hide and seek, but you couldn't catch him of course, he was long gone like the mysterious cat Macavity...
“You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air—
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!”
Frankly, she had about enough of this shit, if he decides to show his face, she would be ready for him. The day had turned to be the wettest day of the month, and the rain showed no signs of letting down. She would get stains on her pristine white outfit, oh what a day, a lovely, lovely day!!! It was him, she knew, in her mind, playing tricks, planting ideas, her thoughts had betrayed her....again. She reached home around eight, wet and grumpy, her white suit ruined, such a rain couldn't be withheld by a mere umbrella...Manoj had asked her again and again, to get a driver's license and to use the car....she couldn't trust herself behind wheels, her thoughts were never her own...Jangling of the keys, followed by creaking of the door, and she was home...alone and it was dark....She switched on the light.
Following morning, the sky had cleared, and the air was crisp and cool. Rays of sunshine warmed her face, tinting them with a soft rose glow. She awoke with a smile, stretched her limbs lazily...her hands...her hands were red? With blood? All traces of sweet slumber disappeared from her face, oh God, did he hurt her? She stood up shakily from her bed, the sheets were streaked with clotted blood, maroon and red....her knees felt so weak and wobbly, she couldn't stand on her feet anymore, and fell down in one quick motion...started crawling towards the bathroom...I need to get rid of the stains....OH the STAIN!!!!! The memory came tumbling back...it was him last night, he had come into the light, the ordinariness of him infuriated her, her ghost, was a thin man with balding head...and somehow she had lost it, hurt him and her...oh the PAIN!!! and the shame.....
“What's wrong, dear?” She looked up from the wash basin, startled by her reflection, she looked like an hunted animal with crazy eyes...Manoj stood at the bath room door, with his morning tea on one hand...Oh what a strange world, the crazy and the sane in juxtaposition...She looked at her hands, they were clean! She turned to face him, guiltily, “Oh nothing, nothing at all...”
“But I heard you scream?” He looked confused, her dear silly husband....She just smiled, hoping it was answer enough, “You must have been mistaken...” She remembered the sheet, and darted out into the bedroom, and they were clean, sparkly clean, she signed, relieved, she hated stains after all...but what happened to her ghost-man? Where did he disappear?
“At whatever time the deed took place—MACAVITY WASN'T THERE !”
