Be Connected....

Chapter 1

 

Arun stretched himself and looked around. Except for the sound of the revolving fan, everything looked silent. For more than ten days he had a vague feeling of someone following him wherever he went. This made him nervous.

The words he saw in his dream trailed long before his mind’s eye.

“It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind.”

His mobile phone beeped this SMS message not in real, but in his dreams. He could remember those words pretty well even then and they fluttered through his thoughts again and again.

After that day’s trip, when his friends asked him a treat for his marriage engagement, he had to take them for dinner to the best restaurant in the town. When he reached his home it was past midnight and there were no one on the empty streets.

While he removed the latch of the compound gate, a whiff of cold air passed through his face. The sweet smell of jasmine flowers in the midnight breeze brought a smile on his face. Arun pressed the calling bell and waited for his mother to come and open the door.

When Arun’s mother opened the door, Arun felt someone moving behind him noiselessly but he ignored and stepped inside.

While Arun slowly moved into a deep sleep, powerful whiff of perfumed air once again moved past the walls of the house. The strong wind moved the leaves and let them rustle together.

A powerful whiff of perfumed air swept past him with an admiration. His sharp facial features always demanded attention from girls who swarmed around during peak hours. His cheeks, jaw line which are perfectly masculine never failed to stir the emotion of a girl with a glance from his brilliant eyes. Irrespective of ages his presence always invited scores of glance to justify how strikingly he lit the place with warmth and love. His gaze simply locked the other person and literally sent a warning that he is not an easy person to meddle with.

Though Arun slowly dripped into deep sleep, his sub-conscious mind could alertly feel whatever that happened around him. His wrinkle free bed slowly crumpled and an invisible hand slowly drifted toward his forehead. His body lay there still, except for the rhythmic movement of his chest with the air he inhaled and exhaled every time.

Arun never had the habit of covering his head with the blanket while sleeping. His facial features made him look handsome even in the sleep. Arun never rolled on his bed to get the sleep. The moment his head touched the pillow, he will immediately go to sleep. As his job mostly involved physical work, when he went to bed he always felt tired and needed complete rest.

“It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind.”

Somewhere deep in his subconscious mind, these words got repeated again and again. Unlike the messages he received from his fiancée, these words floated in the air and someone kept on repeating those words again and again into his ears.

A screaming sound from the garden shook him up. His face smeared with perspiration made his heart palpitate faster. He heard the sound of someone jumping down from the roof, and felt relieved when he found out that it may be a cat. His eyelids heavy with sleep forced him to stay on bed and he once again drifted into deep sleep.

The same thing continued next also. From 2 am in the morning till the early dawn he could hear the wailing sound of the cat. He peeped out of the window and saw a female cat roaming here and there. For more than a week, he constantly heard the wailing sound of their neighbor’s cat.

Somewhere at the corner of the garden, he saw two or three Tom cats. Arun stood there silently watching them. The female cat continued to walk with her wailing sound and all the Tom cats followed her.

Arun remembered reading that this will continue until a male cat succeeds in attracting the female cat. Arun was so surprised at the behavior of the female cat. The male cat never showed his desire to mate, but the female cat kept on reminding by her wailing that she was ready to mate with him.

Arun remembered how his father did not prefer to have a female cat at home. Though the Tom cat would not stay most of the time at home, still he preferred to have a male cat as a pet at home.

It was once again a late night return home. Arun opened the front gate and pressed the calling bell. Something at the garden caught his attention. He could see two cats in courtship. Arun remembered it may take a few minutes to some hours for the courtship to complete. The female cat was kneeling down and standing still. The male cat grabbed the female by the scruff neck and mounted her.

When the mating action finished, the female cat cried aloud and tried to slap the male. Arun stood there watching the cats till they ran away from the place. Arun could not hide his rising feelings within him.

“It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind.”

Once again he remembered the message that flashed in his dream. He could not tell who was trying to contact him through dreams.

Though he never believed in such happenings, he had an intuition that told him it was a message from a true heart that desperately needed him and wanted to get connected with him.

Chapter 2

It was a dark and stormy night. Neena woke up suddenly hearing a noise in the kitchen. A male feral cat had come inside the kitchen and with threatening growls it was trying to harm the three kittens that were there with the female cat.

Neena’s father kicked the kitchen door open and chased the male cat. Frightened, the male cat ran jumping toward her father. He gave a fierce kick that sent the male cat flying across the kitchen. It hit on a container in the shelf and fell down. The feral cat got up on its four legs and ran toward the front door.

When Neena opened the front door, the male cat escaped through the open door. The female cat inside the kitchen was trembling with fear. The three little kittens were found shivering and hiding behind the buckets of water in the bathroom. It was raining so heavily, and Neena felt so shaken that she could not sleep. The sudden chaos created by the cats made her heart beat faster.

For days long, whenever she got nervous she started to murmur these words to calm her down.

“It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind.”

Repeating the words again and again she slowly went to sleep. Deep in her heart she yearned for a warm hug that would make her feel comfortable and happy. Though asleep, some of her thoughts wavered in the air and disturbed her dreams. She felt how her father tried to protect her and keep her happy.

Whenever her marriage alliances failed to click through, Neena could feel the pain in his heart. In India, if a girl failed to get married by 25, it made her parents more worried and unhappy. The feeling is same across the country from poor parents to rich parents.

With Neena, it was more. With sharp facial features she looked good to look at. But people did not stop judging only by looking at her face. In spite of having 28 inch waist that could be hold with a single hand, she lacked some more flesh to fill in her skeletal structure. Lack of muscles made her look skinny and unattractive.

From her teens she had seen men who raised their brows and chuckled at her. But her urge for writing raised her confidence level higher and she thought she would be the best match to eligible bachelors in the whole world. But the world thought differently. Even her relatives who had an eligible bachelor in their family looked away from her.

After college, she started to realize how the world looked at her. For a girl, the society expected her to be fair-skinned with curves sufficiently filled in which fulfilled the norms of the society to meet the sexual needs of a man. Intelligence, smartness, creativity comes only after that.

Some of her friends in the class planned to go and spend their time at the sea shore. As it was the last day of their semester exams, they wanted to relax and cheer them up at the Elliot’s beach, which was quite near to their college.

As the last exam happened in the forenoon, they decided to spend the entire afternoon in the beach.
When they reached the sea shore it was around 2:30 pm. Though the sun would be hot at that time, the sea breeze took away the heat. They all threw their bags and slippers and walked into the water.

When Neena hesitated to get into the water, her friends dragged her along with her. As most of them were wearing chudhidar, it was fun to stand in the waves. The cold waves rolled smoothly and touched their feet. Some of her friends waded through the waves till they got damped from head to toes. The chudhidar tops clung to their ribs and showed their youthful bounties.

Some of her friends sat on the water and let the waves roll them. The entire place was filled with their cheerful laughter. Unmindful of other people around them, they screamed and jumped inside the water.

One of her friends started to catch their pictures on her mobile camera.

‘Hi, Look at Neena.’ Their laughter mocked at Neena. Neena understood what they were commenting at and felt embarrassed for a moment. The dampened clothes clung to her and showed her not as a young girl with perfect curved features but a girl with a flat chest, skinny and not impressive.

Without answering them back, Neena walked away from the shore and picked her bag and her slippers. With staggering steps she started to walk on the sand. The sea breeze and the hot afternoon sun dried her dress within minutes.

‘Neena,’ everyone started to call her. Not answering them back, Neena hurried toward the bus stop. She just wanted to get away from there and hide herself from the prying eyes of the world that always judged people by their appearance and looks and not by real virtue.

Chapter 3

National Highway 45 is one of the busiest highways in South India. It extends to a distance of 472 km. The two important cities connected by this highway are Chennai and Trichy. During night, this highway experiences huge volume of traffic. The highway has several motels and restaurants along the entire stretch.

For Arun it was always a wonderful experience to drive on the National Highway 45 after sunset.
It happened during one of his trips to Chennai. On the glass panes before him, he could see words appearing one by one and blinking at him.

“It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind.”

As there was a heavy drizzle, he switched on the wiper to clear the water drops on the window panes. After every wipe, the water drops formed into words. Arun never had such an experience. He looked at his colleague who was sitting near him.

‘Ram, look at the wiper.’

‘Yes, nothing unusual.’ His colleague replied to him casually.

‘I can read words on the window pane. Every time the wiper erases them, but they appear again and again.’
‘Something strange’, his colleague glanced at him with a surprise.

Arun murmured to himself. When the drizzle stopped, the words stopped appearing on the window pane.

Usually Arun’s seat behind the wheels would be warm always. During rainy seasons that warmth would be comfortable for him. It saved him from a cold shiver while driving outside the city.

That day it was different. Arun could feel a blanket of cold air around him. His nerves from his head to toes suddenly went rigid and he could feel a numbness surrounding him. Arun could not tell what was happening to him.

Something kept his mind blocked with flooded thoughts. This made him miss a speed breaker on the way. Just few meters away from the speed breaker, he applied the brakes. This sent a jerk till the end of the bus, and even the people who were seated at the backseat felt the shock.

A shudder went down the spine and jerked Arun. A lunch box flew from the hands of a girl and fell on the engine cover. The lid of the lunch box opened and splashed the gravy on his uniform. Pods of garlic from the gravy fell all around his seat.

‘Arun, stop the bus.’ His colleague shouted at him. Arun stopped the vehicle at the road side. He gripped the steering wheel with his shivering hands. For a few seconds he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

‘What happened?’ Arun gave a blank look at his colleague.

‘First, drink this water.’ He waited for Arun to drink the water.

‘Are you alright now?’

‘Yes.’ Wiping away the streaming sweat on his face with the towel, Arun started the bus. Whatever that happened a few minutes ago shocked him. And he felt it might take another one or two hours to come out of the shock.

Chapter 4

Arun looked at his watch. It showed ten past thirty minutes. Except for five to six passengers, the bus was empty. The night breeze blew through the opened windows smoothly and made him shiver. Desperately he wished to reach home soon and cuddle on the soft bed completely covered with thick bed sheets.

Moments driven in silence made him feel low. For no reason, he felt restless and unhappy at heart. When Arun drove the bus into the shed, the shed looked full with parked vehicles and so he went to the rear end of the shed. Unusually on that day, the rear end of the shed looked dark and gloomy.

The lights at the corner on that part of the shed were not glowing, but mild rays of full moon peeped into the shed through the slits on the tin roof. Arun could sense the scrambling foot steps of rats and bandicoots through the space under the parked vehicles.

Arun had gone for long night trips. He never felt scary and nothing had ever happened to take his wits out. But on that day, he felt uneasy and restless. The previous night’s scary experience lingered still deep inside him. Suddenly it brimmed to the surface and made his heart palpitate faster.

Arun started to sweat profusely and with struggling hands he wiped his face. Instead of feeling warmer he felt colder. Arun felt the invisible presence of someone over there and as a natural instinct he walked away taking big strides and came out of the shed.

The watchman who sat near the gate greeted him with a big smile.

‘Hello, Arun, what’s happening? You look pale and white.’

‘Don’t know. I am ok.’

‘I feel something wrong with you. Come and meet me tomorrow evening. I will pray for you.’

‘Thanks. But I am alright. No need to worry. Good night.’ Arun walked inside the cloak room to get his lunch box and joined his colleague who was waiting for him at the office.

After yesterday’s experience, Arun’s colleague did not want to leave him alone. He accompanied Arun till he reached his home safely.

‘Never leave things untold.’ With a chuckle his friend read the words on the ad board.

‘I don’t have anything to tell you now.’ Arun replied him back with an irritated tone.

‘Oh, but in my heart I feel something is there for you to tell.’

‘If I have anything I will tell you tomorrow. Now leave me to sleep in peace.’

‘Sure, unless you get messages popping in even in your dreams.’

Without replying back, Arun jumped down from his friend’s bike and banged the door loudly for his mother to open.

‘See you tomorrow. Leave others to sleep in peace.’

Without giving Arun time to reply back, he left the place immediately.

As his colleague told Arun, Arun could not sleep in peace on that night. He kept tossing on his bed till 3 am and slept soundly till 9 am in the morning.

When he woke up from his bed, he could see his mother restlessly walking here and there.

‘Arun, brush your teeth and come fast.’

‘Ma, what is happening here?’

‘You get up first. If you can take your bath, it will be fine.’

When Arun came back after ten minutes his mother called him from the front room.

‘Arun, come here.’

Arun saw an old lady sitting in the front room. Arun recognised her. She was the same old lady who would always come to their home to pray when Arun or anyone in the house was sick. In addition to visiting the doctor, his mother would call the old lady and pray for quick recovery.

The old lady was an ardent worshiper of the local deity. If she prayed and offer the holy ash to the person who was sick, it chased the illness away within a short time. She would pray for all types of problems and his mother believed her strongly.

The old lady asked Arun to sit before him. When he sat before her, she took the plate filled with holy ash and started to recite some slogans in Tamil that invoked the blessings of the local deity. She asked his mother to light the camphor in the middle of the plate.

For sometime her right hand fingers went in circles on the holy ash. She started slowly but after a few rounds her fingers went faster. She continued to do the same till the camphor burned away. Then, she took some holy ash from the plate and applied it on his forehead.

‘You can go.’ After Arun left the front room, the old lady looked Arun’s mother.

‘Nothing to worry, some evil spirit was following him for the past two days. Ask him to apply this holy ash when he goes for work. He will be normal in another two days.’

‘Ma, do you believe all these things?’

‘I don’t mind even if you don’t believe. But I want you to apply this holy ash before you go for work.’

‘Whatever it may be, for your sake, I will do so.’ Arun replied his mother with his usual smile.

Chapter 5

Neena’s face reflected on the right-hand side-view mirror. It looked as if a beam of light rays just came and struck on the base of the mirror. The evening breeze softly rustled on the neatly pinned folds of her saree and gave him a glimpse of the narrow strip unhidden between her fitting blouse and her thin waist.

Her thin waist reminded him of the hour-glass shaped drum called Damaru or Udukkai or Uddukku. Udukkai is a small drum which is about one foot long. The middle part of the drum, which is called waist, is narrow.

The folk singers in Tamil Nadu used Udukkai during their oral narrative. It is even used by the fortune tellers and priests in the village temples when they invoke their favorite deities or spirits to drive away the evil spirits. The Udukkai acts as a talking drum which can communicate messages to the spirits to drive away the evil.

The Udukkai is also believed to have magical powers which can give spiritual power to the performer when he foretells the future. Only men play this instrument, as the instrument is believed to possess mystic powers. The instrument has two small strings with knotted ends. The drum is held between the thumb and the forefinger. It is rolled from side to side as the knotted ends of the strings strike the centre of both the sides alternatively and produces rhythmical notes.

Neena’s narrow hour-glass shaped waist invitingly attracted Arun’s attention on that day. His mind silently compared it to the details he knew about Udukkai and this made him smile to himself.
Though Arun thought no one noticed his secret glances toward Neena, one day she caught him looking at her.

Like soft tendrils struggling in the air to get a hold and attach itself, Arun’s secret glances pitched Neena to an invisible hold that made her feel relieved at times.

‘Some one is still there in this world to appreciate me and my features.’ With a sigh, Neena breathed heavily. The days whenever she traveled along with him made her day and unknowingly developed affection toward his presence.

Days rolled on without any thing specific. Both of them were hesitant to speak their minds out and it went on like a silent mime. Every gesture they understood and their minds started to incline toward each other.

Sometimes, Neena would wonder how he could make her experience heated flushes and cold chills simultaneously and let her sweat in the evening breeze.

The impact of seeing him once again hit her like a lightening bolt. She felt damp in her hands and her legs felt weak. She struggled to balance and felt dizzy all at once.

Neena could feel his secret glance while she climbed down the bus and stepped onto the road. She reached home as if in a trance.

After washing her face, she lighted the Kuthuvillaku in the pooja shelf and then prepared some tea for her. Sipping her tea, she looked around the room. Unusually the house looked silent. The television was not switched on and her mother sat busy in the corner of the room cleaning the leaves of the greens she got for cooking. Neena immediately understood why it was so. The group of people who came there last week must have sent a negative reply. For her it did not look something unusual.

‘Ma always expected the unexpected,’ with a chuckle she spoke to her mother.

Brimming with tears her mother looked at her.

‘I will have my prince to take me away.’ When Neena visualized her happy ride on a majestic looking white colored horse on the Chennai roads, she could not avoid smiling.

‘Don’t you feel for this’? Neena’s mother asked her curtly.

‘Why should I? He doesn’t deserve me.’ When Neena replied back, her mother shocked her with an out burst of tears and sharp words.

Neena’s mother did not realize at that time that her words would drive Neena to take the extreme step.
The next day dawned as usual. But not for Neena. She gave the ultimate shock to her mother by ending her life with a painful note.

‘Anyone can blame but not a mother.’ Neena’s note faded away with her mother’s tears.

Chapter 6

"It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind."

When Arun heard the song played from a mobile, he could recognize the words that he saw in the SMS message.

It was pouring heavily when they entered the bypass road that connected Chennai. As usual, he halted the bus in front of the highway restaurant.

Most of the passengers stayed inside the bus as it was raining very heavily. Only a few people got down the bus to sip their cup of coffee or tea.

The whole place looked dark and hid behind the thick screen of continuous down pour. Streaks of lightening flashed across the sky.

The loud sound of the thunder shook every one in the bus and it unheartedly woke them from their deep sleep.

With long strides, Arun ran inside the restaurant. The room was warm and comfortable.

'Hi Arun,' the man sitting at the counter wished him with a broad smile.

'Give me some coffee.' Arun sat at the corner seat and looked out.

Flash of lightening once again lit the whole sky and the current at the restaurant went out for a while. The bearer who brought his coffee lit a candle on the table.

'Hmm, I don't know how I am going to ride safely in this rain.' Slowly sipping the coffee, Arun starred at the darkness of the night. It was not something unusual for him to ride the bus during the late hours in heavy rains. But, on that day, he felt things looked unnatural and he need to be double cautious while riding the bus on the high way. It might take another one or two hours to reach Chennai. Heavy rains might not allow him to go fast and safety was more important than reaching home early.

After five minutes of heavy down pour, the rain stopped suddenly. It was drizzling and cold air swept through the empty space around the restaurant that made him shiver.

Arun could see some streaks of light floating near the lone palmyra tree that stood at the road side. Slowly the light dissolved and after a while it took the shape of a woman. The distinct outline features were visible to his naked eye. It floated slowly and moved near the place where he halted the bus.

'Come, let us go.' His colleague playfully pushed him forward and ran toward the bus. Arun could not believe his eyes for he had never come across such things during his earlier trips.

It took sometime for him to realize that it may be some spirit wandering around the numerous casuarina trees that surrounded the restaurant. The air that swished past the casuarina trees made a sound that could send a shiver down the spine.

Arun took the sacred ash that his mother gave him and smeared it across his forehead. He did not want to encounter any strange happenings on his return trip and wanted to reach home safely without any strange incidents. He would be getting married in another five days and did not want to upset his parents.

Chapter 7

Neena felt light. Yet, some heaviness bogged her soul down. For more than three months, she was away from the earthly life and most of the time was spent in prayers. After she ceased to live the earthly life she realized that only one heavenly force existed that ruled the world.

When she decided to end her life, she could not resist the force that came down to take her away. In a moment, before she could change her mind, her soul departed her body following the streaks of light that led her away from the earthly life. Neena could get a glimpse of the souls of her ancestors that guided her toward an invisible way.

Apart from prayer hours, all the departed souls had the liberty to move around their place of choice. Neena always wished to linger around Arun's house.

There was a huge banyan tree that stood at the east end corner of the street where Arun lived. Every night when the entire locality settled down in deep sleep, Neena slowly moved around the Banyan tree.

Every day Arun returned home only after 11 p.m. On that day, he came walking down the street alone. With the rustle of leaves, Neena's soul fluttered with unknown excitement. Neena's soul lingered among the thick branches of the tree.

For a while, she could not resist the deep desire to have Arun in her hold. Without flesh and bones, the fragile outlined figure like shape slowly fluttered along with the leaves on the tree. With the every swish of the late night breeze, Neena swayed from side to side.

Unlike his usual self, Arun entered the street walking slowly. The moon light brightened the place and he took small steps to enjoy the cool breeze on his face.

After a day's long work he felt smelly and wanted to take a good bath. Wiping once again his face with the hand towel, he looked at the bright moon. The shadows on the moon looked different on that day. He could not see the image of a old lady who always sat making delicious vadas. The shadow looked thick and spread across the moon.

Arun usually left his shirt unbuttoned half way through. That gave him an impressive look. The chillness of the breeze played on the folds of his shirt and sent down a shiver of pleasure.

That night looked as if embedded with some magical moments and they wished Arun to be open and wished to see them.

There were no cats seen around. Arun could hear only the sound of the leaves on the trees. Beady eyed rats and bandicoots crossed the road but they did not scare Arun.

When Arun removed the latch on the gate, Neena moved toward Arun from the tree. Her invisible hands slowly touched Arun's shoulders. The chillness of her touch did not scare him. The touch brought some soothing effect on his inner soul and it moved deep inside his sub-conscious mind.

Chapter 8

'Get away,' Arun's mother pushed open the door with a broom in her hand. Unknowingly it hit hard on Arun's shoulder.

'Ma,' Arun shouted loudly. 'What are you doing?'

'These rats are always a trouble'. His mother replied him without any reaction.

The moment the broom touched Arun's shoulder, Neena moved away from Arun. She dissolved quickly in the air and reached the huge tree at the corner of the street. She never expected such a thing to happen.

Arun came out of the shock with a jerk.

**********

The shrill kik-kik-kik call of the female koel was heard from the tree that stood at the corner of the garden. The repeated koo-Ooo song of the male koel came back as a reply from the tree in the next street. These range of calls reminded the beginning of the breeding season and these distinct calls woke up everyone in the early morning. The Asian koel birds become very vocal during their breeding season. The two syllables are repeated in rapid series, increasing in pitch.

The love song of the koel birds woke up Arun. Once he even recorded the song in his mobile and it was a perfect recital of a love song without any flaw. Sometimes, when they sing for hours together, Arun always wondered if the continuous singing would parch their throats and left them dry.

Indian koel bird is also called as the nightingale of India. The Asian koel has a long tail that measures 45 cm in length. The male koel is bluish black in color and the female koel has a brown colored upper body and white colored lower body. Even though the love song of the koel birds are loud and distinct reaching longer distances, Arun never had the chance to see a male or a female koel bird. These birds always sang beautifully hidden behind the thick leaves and branches of big trees. The loud duet would shift from one place to another and no one could easily get a glimpse of the bird.

During the courtship, the koel birds would look very vocal and excited. If an excited male would spot a female, both would start quick chases among the long branches of trees. For more than nine months, the Asian koel would rarely been seen or heard singing. Only during the breeding season these birds would sing their hearts out and search their soul mates.

The love duet of the koel birds set the mood for the day. With a brimming smile, Arun woke up from the bed and went to brush his teeth.

With the wedding date nearing, as a young bridegroom he must feel excited. Till then he did not show any excitement, but the love duet of the koel birds reminded him that he would get married soon and would enjoy the company of his young bride.

Chapter 10

Three months went away as three seconds. As it was the Tamil month, Aadi, Arun's wife Poorani went to stay with her parents.

According to traditional belief, the newly married couple were not allowed to live together during the month of Aadi (the month of July). It was considered not good to conceive the first child during this month. People believed it may bring misfortune to the family.

Apart from this belief, elderly people wanted to avoid birth of the first child during the month of April, as it is one of the hottest months in India. The suffocating heat waves may affect the health of the mother and the child.

Arun started to feel lonely and wished Poorni was there with him. So, when his colleague asked him to go for the special trip, he accepted willingly. It happened while he was returning back to Chennai.

Arun always enjoyed his drive on the long stretch of NH45. Except for the stars on the sky, darkness spread thickly across the horizon. Every one in the bus was asleep.

"It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind."

Arun slowed the bus near the car which was blasting the song in that late hour.

'Do you need any help,' Arun asked the person who was standing near the car.

'Yes. I don't know what the problem was. The car got stuck in the middle of the road.'

'Lock the car and come. We will drop you at the next stop.'

'Thanks.' The person got inside the bus. As there was no place to sit, he stood at the steps of the bus.

Suddenly, Arun felt a pull at the wheels. The bus stopped with a jerk. Arun got down from his seat and went around the bus checking the wheels. One of the back wheel was flat.

Arun blamed his stars for whatever that happened and helped the passengers to get into some other bus that passed the high way.

'Arun it is so scary to stand here. I was never stranded like this.'

"It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind."

The song once again reached his ears like a whisper.

Arun felt a sudden coldness around him. A sudden jolt punched his subconscious mind. In a fraction of second, some thing over powered him and made him feel weak at the knees. His legs and hands twisted and he wanted to scream aloud. But his vocal chords went dumb and he could not make any sound.

With a chuckle, Neena took hold of Arun and occupied him as hers.

'Arun,what happened?' Arun's colleague shook him hard. Arun fell down unconscious on the side of the road.

Chapter 11

It took two more days for Arun to wake up from the sleep. Without getting up to eat or drink, he slept through two days.

The doctor who came home to check him found nothing abnormal and asked Arun's mother to take him for counseling once he woke up from his long sleep.

When Arun found out from his mother that he was sleeping for two days, he was first shocked. He could hardly recollect what happened to him except the dark road where he stood waiting for a lift.

The next two days went on without any issues. As the doctor advised him to avoid late night travels, Arun changed his shift timings to morning hours. He reached home before six in the evening.

One day after his shift hours, Arun sat watching TV.

"It wont b long, b4 i get u by ma side & jst hold u, tease u, squeeze u. Tel u whtz been on my mind."

The song that kept on haunting him for months came flashing on the television. A sense of excitement swept across his nerves.

Suddenly he felt obsessed by a peculiar instinct. He got up from the chair and entered the bed room. The curtain at the doors waved smoothly in the evening breeze.

As if instructed by someone, Arun laid down on the bed. Some unknown hands slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

A wavy touch started from his shoulder slowly moved down. Unlike from the familiar touch of his wife, Poorani, Arun felt this touch so inviting and it forcefully dragged him into an invisible tight hug. Though he could not see anyone around him, Arun's nostrils strongly experienced the captivating fragrance of a healthy female who desperately needed him.

As a coincidence, Arun could hear the wailing sound of a female cat from the dark bushes that covered the empty space behind the compound wall.

Slowly and slowly Neena moved further. At last she had found the right time to let her passion capture Arun and enjoy the pleasure that she missed in her human life. She wanted to win over every cell of Arun and have him forever.

She felt lucky now as no one was there to interrupt and disturb her.

Arun rolled down the bed perspiring profusely. Still lying down on the bed, he wiped the streaming sweat from his face.

Leaving with him a sense of unknown satisfaction, Neena slowly dissolved into the air.

Arun started to wait for the moments when he will be once again Neena's.

Impressum

Texte: Kalai Selvi Arivalagan
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 19.12.2010

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
Love that continues forever