A STRANGE INCIDENT

A Strange Incident.

Raghavan Pillai Jayaprakash

A drop of sweat rolled over my blouse. I was overcome with a sense of shock as I received the anonymous call. It was a strange call. “Hello! I’m on my way to finish you off. You have made me what I am.

“Who are you and what do you mean”, I burst out. “You’ll know in five minutes. I’ll be there at any moment.”

Then I realized the truth. I knew the sound of the voice. It was Harish. He was my past classmate. He had approached me at the college several times with love letters. I simply had rejected his stupid attempts at love and made it clear that he should not come forward again.

But he spread the word that I was his lover and this enraged me. I complained to the Principal and Harish was warned of dire consequences if he kept on with his attempts to degrade meat the college. For a time everything was quiet as he kept himself aloof.

But after a long time, the news that I was going to be engaged to a prosperous gentleman working in America was received by Harish as a severe bolt.

His face expression became quite alarming and his friends realized that something was wrong. The next moment he was on his way headed for the mischief he had devised on his mind.

I knew that at any moment Harish would be here. There was no time to call my parents who were out. I had to act at the instant. If I panicked, Harish would make short work of me. I waited patiently thinking I should not panic but face the situation bravely.

Then I heard the knock on the door. I had not bolted it. So I gathered up necessary courage and opened the door. Imagine my shock as Harish stood there with a razor sharp blade in his hand. He looked like the devil in disguise.

I simply smiled at him and asked him to enter. He could not believe his eyes. He had expected to see a cringing frightened girl pleading for her life. Moreover there was no one else in the house.

He entered slowly suspicious about my behavior. But I implored on him to enter my bedroom. He looked at me strangely and entered the room. No sooner had he entered inside the room than I quickly closed the bedroom and pressed the lock in thus locking him securely inside. It was an automatic lock and it was easy to operate. Once Harish was locked, not all his yelling and stamping could make him come out of the room.

I called my parents who rushed over bringing the Police. The Police arrested him on the charge of trying to murder an innocent girl.