3-A Painful memory

Potti was running as memories flashed in front of him.....


4 months ago..

He was sitting in a chair, his legs crossed under the table and hands folded across his chest.He leaned forwards and began to speak.

"Her name is Isha.She used to live in the same street as we did,right beside my house.She was a very calm girl,used to talk less.Her dressing style was decent.Even used to come home for a cup of coffee.But she shied away when there were plenty of people around.More of an introvert."

The man in front of him took off his coat, helped himself with a cigarette as he gestured to continue.

"She has a younger sister,Sasha.She is the exact opposite in certain characteristics I mentioned earlier about Isha.Sasha goes to the parties and wears shorter clothes.She is trendy and more socialized.Isha was sober while her sister, hot headed.I never talked to her much.Many guys went after Sasha though"

Pottu saw the man puff out clouds of smoke as it covered his face momentarily before he coughed hard and spoke" Go on".

"All was well until one night, I suddenly woke up to find the neighbouring people gathered in front of Isha's house.It was dark and an ambulance was stopped in front of the gate.All I could infer within a few minutes was that a dead body of a girl was found hanging from a tree.The girl,as people said was Isha and the tree was hiding somewhere 2 miles down the deserted end of the road.Neither the cops nor the neighbours had any clue what actaully happened.The trauma her parents went through was unthinkable.I Never saw Sasha cry, she was pragmatic and accepted her sister's death.2 months later,her parents left for the USA without Sasha.It was her excessive pleading that led her parents take the painful step of leaving her alone at the house.She wanted to finish her degree whereas her dejected parents couldn't live in that house"

The detective offered Pottu a glass of water.Pottu gulped down, took a deep breath and continued.

" It was in this period that Sasha became close to me.She was not actually what I imagined.Perhaps she had changed after her sister's death or perhaps she was alone.We used to have long chats and also used to walk around in the evenings together.She had this weird habit of talking long walks in the midnight.I used to constantly oppose it but she said she actually enjoyed herself roaming around in the dark.During my occasional visits to her house, I often found her reading a book which she immediately closed on seeing me.She never let me take a good look at the books she read. "

"Now, Its interesting" the detective smiled.

"She never talked about Isha to me.But it was a few more weeks and I started hearing how much she loved her sister.She suddenly started talking about human emotions, feelings and love.I started to witness an emotional perspective of her thoughts.She once even broke down to tears while talking about her sister".

The detective nodded.

"One morning,I stepped into her house while she was taking shower.Out of my anxiety to discover what books she read, I walked straight into her room and started pulling out the drawers until I found a revolver in one of them.What frightened me most was the thing I read in her diary which caught my attention as it was thrown open by the strong wind blowing through her bedroom window."

It read " Kill him, Kill the friend.The sooner, the better."

The detective scratched his nose and ran a hand through his thick black hair.He said" You could have flipped back a few pages in the diary"

" It was too late, I already heard a crack at the bathroom door.I quickly went back to the drawing room without leaving a trace" Pottu exclaimed.

" So what brings you here?" the detective asked.

" Are you nuts? I want you to find out what she is up to" Pottu demanded.

"Yeah.You know how much I demand? I am actually lazy but when I'm in, I work my ass off.So better get some cash ready" the detective said as he crushed the burning tip of the cigarette into the ashtray.

2-A watchful stranger??

0The path was rather narrow and Prashi actually paid attention while walking.Songs were still playing in his ipod.The genre shifted from folk to rock.The plethora of trees were lined all along the path which was momentarily visible in the small beam of light thrown out of Prashi's mobile .It was more like a natural tunnel made of trees.Somewhere down deep inside the tunnel, a figure paced hastily between bushes.Prashi was slowly being swallowed by the mysterious passage...


A few miles away, a cell phone vibrated on the cold floor of a terrace.It was grabbed by a hand which apparated out of a blanket.It was a message.Pottu slowly read as his eyes widened.

YOUR FRIEND IS IN DANGER.....HURRY

He gasped and immediately looked around.An empty mattress lay beside him.He checked his watch,It was nearing 1:00 AM.He knew he shouldn't have let him go.He slipped into his chappals,put on his glasses and dashed towards the stairs.He sensed something terribly wrong.He was near the gate when he felt the disturbance in his pocket.The phone popped quite a few times in his trembling hands.He finally managed to hold it firmly as he sprinted down the dark end of the road.Yet a message again...

CAREFUL..

He looked around,there was no time.He tightened his grip around the phone and paced hard.

Prashi saw a red light beeping out of his ipod.He kicked himself and stuffed the device back into his pocket.He wanted to throw away the discharged ipod.He never lost his temper as long as music was around.And now he actually felt alone and angry.He looked around.There was not a soul visible.He turned back and tried to scan the traced path as far as he could.

"damn! It'll be a boring journey back home" he cursed under his breath.

" Not really" a feminish voice spoke behind him.He turned around.There was no one in the range Prashi's eyes could reach.Yet he knew, it came from the moonlit shade of congested trees that were in front of him.

"I'll come with you" a figure slowly appeared from the dark.....