Page 147 - Musings 2022
P. 147
A Quick Surprise
Siddharth Kumar
2019ABPS0539P
Raj had always loved urban Mumbai with its old-fashioned, ordinary ocean. It was a place
where he felt anxious. He was an intuitive, casual drinker with wide eyes and brunette hair. His
friends saw him as a kindhearted, keen gentleman. Once, he had even revived a dying, old man
risking his own life. That’s the sort of man he was. Always been lucky in life.
Raj walked over to the window and reflected on his pretty surroundings. The sun shone like
magic. Then he saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the figure of Sneha.
Sneha was a charming girl of 22, at least to a lot of people.
Raj gulped. He was not prepared for Sneha.
As Raj stepped outside and Sneha came closer, he could see the frail glint in her eye.
Sneha glared with all the wrath of a hundred snatching rabbits. She said, in hushed tones, “You
know why I’m here.” “No, I don’t!”, he replied.
She looked sternly. Raj looked back, even more worried. “Sneha, I don’t have the money,” he
replied. They looked at each other as self-centred twins do on their birthday.
Sneha spoke quietly to him, “Listen, I’ll hunt you down, and you know it. That is unless you
want to help me.” Sneha gyrated her hips and glowered at him. “I don’t have any money,” he
replied. Two big thugs ran around the corner. They yelled as they saw her. Sneha and Raj’s
eyes met. Suddenly, she made a run for it.
He wanted to catch up with her. As he was closing in on her, he saw her now slinking from
one car to another. Nobody saw her, including her. “Where is she?”, he murmured to himself.
She was actually his last hope, a fact he didn’t want to face.
He saw her hiding underneath a seat. “The money must be there, right. Please tell me where it
is. You’re always around.” She has picked up a metal basket. He had the gun in his pocket.
Sneha’s answer was a slap on his cheek.
Flashbacks ran before her eyes. A girl on her deathbed, Raj was sagging next to him, but he
wasn’t crying. He held her hand and said “I’ll make sure.”
Raj shook Sneha, which brought her back to the present. He turned around and fired one shot
in the air. The bullet ripped out the window and disappeared into the glistening sea below. He
took out the cash which he was wearing, hid it in a seat, and walked back. The car they were
hiding in had caught the crowd’s attention. Somebody called for an ambulance to take her to
the hospital. She had been shot.
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