The second

The preface. Till late evening, he worked with his typewriter, cigarette burning between his lips, slowly inducing metaplastic changes in his lung cells with each drag.  I don’t have a single memory of his when he didn’t have a cigarette in his mouth. It was as important a part of him as his hands and legs but, he couldn’t live without it but also it didn’t let him live long enough. Yes, it was tough for him to take care of him as a single parent. I was approaching my teenage years and the financial situation was tight. My father worked as human resources department for the state government and the salary was not enough for the both of us. So he spent it all on me. I did my schooling and also managed to get into a degree college. I never wanted to study but I did it for him. I knew he would be at least satisfied that he could provide me with education if not anything else. My mother passed away in my high school days and it was the toughest part for both of us, more for h...

The illness. They would come any moment now. They had locked me in a room. The silence in the room made me restless, a humming kind of noise was ringing in my ears. I felt as if my brain was going to explode. I sat with my legs folded to my chest on the bed, alone waiting for them to come and torture me, pierce me with the needles, experiment on my body. I kept looking at the door and then I heard the keys unlocking the door. They were here. I had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He came in with his assistant. I jumped out of the bed and ran to the corner of the room. I tried pushing myself against the wall, but that was the end. There was no escape. I crouched myself against the wall. They both approached me. He wore a long white full coat reaching down to his knees, his face was pale white and the wrinkled severely, especially around the corner of his eyes and his mouth. The few strands of white hair were tightly tied back to a small bun; his scalp was shining...

Under Attack “We have a situation at the government district hospital. There seems to be an unidentified individual who has taken over wards on the right wing of the building. The doctors say he headed towards the paediatrics ward, and that he had a handgun with him, You need to report there immediately. We will send backup as soon as possible. We have to sort it out before the situation escalates to national news.” The chief commissioner gave the order. This was my first year as an inspector of this small town and this was a very delicate case to handle, in fact it required planning and a trained squad. I wasn’t ready for this but there was no other way. All the other officers were posted for security for the Minter of Energy who was visiting a Dam site for hydroelectricity opportunities.  This Dam was the only thing which made this small town famous. There was nothing much here. Population was below ten thousand, all low socio economic status and only huts everywhere....