When The Lights Go Out
"Saab, you want tea?" the liitle chap was looking at me with big hopeful eyes. I was surprised to find him here today.
It's a Saturday night, that too after the Good Friday holiday. That means I'm all alone in the office. The normal people with normal lives have either taken a much deserved short vacation with their families or have found the extended weekend an excuse to booze more & party wilder. The only company I've is a snoring guard at the main gate & a red-eyed maintenance personnel who's probably curisng my presence that forbids him to leave before I do.
"What are you doing here this late? Go on, go home now. Here take this" I handed him 10 bucks & shooed him away.
I finally log off & switch off the monitor. The admin guy looks up hopefully. I nod at him as I pass by him towards the door. As I reach for the lift button, there's a fluttering of lights in the corridor before all goes dark...For a second I can't even see an inch ahead of me. A dim glow appears benath the door of my office. "Saab, you need torch?", the admin guy walks up to me. "Lights usually go out at this time since offices are closed. You will have to take the stairs," he stated the obvious. I sighed aloud. Walking down 5 floors on an already rumbling stomach wasn't something to look forward to.
I declined his offer of the flashlight & used my phone to walk down the stairs. After a while my eyes were used to the darkness & the moonlight filtering in through the glass windows helped too.
As I reached the landing of the 3rd floor, an eerie sound filled the air. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn't believe in ghosts & all that but try walking down a lonely staircase in moonlight & you'll know. I looked down, half expecting a lady with hair billowing in the wind..but the sight that met my eyes was much much worse.
"Hey.." Anger filled my insides. I ran as fast as I could. I could hear the hurried footsteps running in the opposite direction. I wanted to catch him first. Disgusting monster! As i landed on the ground floor however my only concern was to rush that poor child to the nearest hospital. The little kid who had just minutes ago offered me tea, was lying crumpled in a mess, shivering & silent.
How could I not notice before? The way he would shy away from everyone, the way he was unsually silent compared to kids his age. The times when he would just run away when I'd just pat his back. That scared look on his face when the secuirty guard was around.
I'd read about it..heard of it. I now realised how we assume that such things don't happen around us. How we ignore obvious signs. How blind we are as a society.
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
It's a Saturday night, that too after the Good Friday holiday. That means I'm all alone in the office. The normal people with normal lives have either taken a much deserved short vacation with their families or have found the extended weekend an excuse to booze more & party wilder. The only company I've is a snoring guard at the main gate & a red-eyed maintenance personnel who's probably curisng my presence that forbids him to leave before I do.
"What are you doing here this late? Go on, go home now. Here take this" I handed him 10 bucks & shooed him away.
I finally log off & switch off the monitor. The admin guy looks up hopefully. I nod at him as I pass by him towards the door. As I reach for the lift button, there's a fluttering of lights in the corridor before all goes dark...For a second I can't even see an inch ahead of me. A dim glow appears benath the door of my office. "Saab, you need torch?", the admin guy walks up to me. "Lights usually go out at this time since offices are closed. You will have to take the stairs," he stated the obvious. I sighed aloud. Walking down 5 floors on an already rumbling stomach wasn't something to look forward to.
I declined his offer of the flashlight & used my phone to walk down the stairs. After a while my eyes were used to the darkness & the moonlight filtering in through the glass windows helped too.
As I reached the landing of the 3rd floor, an eerie sound filled the air. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I didn't believe in ghosts & all that but try walking down a lonely staircase in moonlight & you'll know. I looked down, half expecting a lady with hair billowing in the wind..but the sight that met my eyes was much much worse.
"Hey.." Anger filled my insides. I ran as fast as I could. I could hear the hurried footsteps running in the opposite direction. I wanted to catch him first. Disgusting monster! As i landed on the ground floor however my only concern was to rush that poor child to the nearest hospital. The little kid who had just minutes ago offered me tea, was lying crumpled in a mess, shivering & silent.
How could I not notice before? The way he would shy away from everyone, the way he was unsually silent compared to kids his age. The times when he would just run away when I'd just pat his back. That scared look on his face when the secuirty guard was around.
I'd read about it..heard of it. I now realised how we assume that such things don't happen around us. How we ignore obvious signs. How blind we are as a society.
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.
Write Over the Weekend theme for this week
You finish filing your work and are ready to leave for home. As soon as you reach the lift, the lights in the building go off. What happens next?
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