The Chase
Disclaimer: The incident written about is fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
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He lay on the bed staring at the swirling ceiling fan. Luck had almost always betrayed him until now. There were days when he had rambled. Now when he had found something to keep him occupied, this happened!
The entire scene came in front of his weak eyes.
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It was a dispiriting night. The roads were deserted.
He was walking, vague thoughts flashing in his minds. Tomorrow he would receive his first pay…how much he had longed for it! Finally he had managed to stand up on his two able feet. Success never teaches any one anything, but then too much of anything is bad … failure being no exception!
It had rained all evening. The potholes were filled up to the brim. As he plodded lifting his gumboots, he felt too tired. An entire day’s labor, followed by one time meal and the dim hope of being able to have a bite of something to nibble at night, wasn’t a very lucrative life one would look forward to. Still…with the hope things would change for better, this optimist carried himself home.
All of a sudden something had made him cautious. He turned backwards.
Was someone following him?
Why would someone do that?
He was a bit perplexed.
What was there that was following him?
He walked faster…continuing to look backwards. He was a bit scared…the darkness was taking on him. With no clue what was coming behind him, he hurried.
It started drizzling now. The sky was brightened now-and-then by the atmospheric electricity. And there he saw this creature…the thing that was following him. He got panicky…he had no eatables with him; maybe he was the bait.
With such hostile environment, probably every creature had lost his mind. All that the wild eyes could look for was some food…anything that would let the creature outlive at least this night. Some live figure had finally caught his eyes and the creature ran towards him with all the energy that was left in the exhausted body. The cold wave had stiffened the bones.
The man was too surprised to react. All he could think was to run. Bad luck struck again and he fell down. His gumboot had stuck in some pothole. Before he could gasp, the creature was all over him. What happened next was a struggle for survival…and it ended up quite badly.
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“You can leave now” … he heard the doctor say. A bit startled by the voice, he got up from the bed. He thanked the doctor, paid the bill and started walking towards home. He had no clue as to who had brought him to the hospital. He thanked the Almighty and the savior, wherever he would be.
He recollected the last sound he had heard before fainting…bow-wow.
PS: Beware of those stray canines…they can get you anywhere :(