Skip to main content

The moment of realisation

 “koooooo... kooooo…..koooooo….”

“Clap!”

A mosquito was hovering around him for a while now, refusing to let go nor succumbing to his attempts to trash it with his hands. It was early evening and the night had just begun to fall. Normally, the smell of the agarbatti lit by his mom would suffice to get rid of these mosquitoes, especially the big fat ones which are already laden with the blood sucked from god knows how many individuals. However, this one seemed to be stubbornly attracted to him. 

It had been a while since she felt good about herself. The routine was turning out to be a burden now as the days passed - the usual sleep during the day and scout for food in the evening rut. She had even got used to the taste of blood which every individual in her locality had to offer and could clearly demarcate the differences between each blood group. Life had nothing different to offer and she grew weary of that thought. 

As she was casually whiling away her time on one of her mundane morning strolls, she sensed an unusual feeling of warmth emanating around her – the kind she usually experiences when there is a human being in her vicinity. She looked around but saw nobody. The feeling was so comforting that she insisted on exploring the area further in order to zero in on its source.

She kept hovering in circles and started to get confused. The overpowering sense of warmth now also started to feel like a strong scent. She saw a Shuili tree at a distance and wondered if the fragrance of its white-orange flowers were messing with her head. She gave up and decided to return to her den.

Days turned into weeks & months, she longed to feel the way she felt on that cozy winter morning. No other human being had ever made her feel this way. A chill ran down her spine as she recollected the experience. Determined to still look out, she continued with her morning strolls in the park.

One day, the inevitable finally happened. As she was rummaging through the discarded leftovers in the dustbin, she felt the familiar sense of warmth once again. She turned to look and there he was – tall, frail and bespectacled with thick oiled hair set in a middle parting and a look of oblivion plastered across his face. She hurriedly flew towards him wanting to take a deep whiff of his scent and bite into the most fleshiest tender spot on his tricep in order to taste one of the juiciest blood she thought he had to offer. As she hovered around him while he made his way back home she basked in his scent slowly letting the feeling of ecstasy take over.

He had not realised her presence until he made himself comfortable on a rocking chair in his balcony. The irritating humming sound got to him. “Clap, Clap!” he furiously tried to get rid of her. The recently purchased electric racket was useless as he tried to furiously sway it in the air to nab her.

He got up abruptly and started walking towards his room. She managed to overtake him and swiftly bite into the flesh just above his collar bone. The first drop of sucked blood! The feeling cannot be described into words. She was dumbstruck, a feel of euphoria had taken over. It transported her to her younger days, the days when she had tasted blood for the first time. The exciting feeling of getting up every evening in order to scout for the choicest blood along with her family. The satisfaction of returning home on a full stomach. The memories of incessant laughter, exchange of views and advice. How she missed all of that!

And suddenly it was a realisation that dawned upon her. It wasn’t the quality of blood that she missed, it was the feeling of being in the warmth of her family members. This boy had something different to offer, maybe a different perspective on what should matter to her. Why did his blood taste so different? A question which she did not seek an answer to though.

As she took a moment to ruminate over this thought, he entered his room and slammed the door. A flush of air emanated which swooned her away and slammed her against the adjoining wall. Her beak broke and she fell to the floor. As she looked outside the window in those final moments, the only thought that raged through her mind – At least I tasted the best before it all had to be over.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The lessons that Last

She was walking mindlessly on the beach this evening. The soft wind felt comforting against her skin. The irritating migraine she had all day seemed to wane making her head feel lighter and her mane now wavering carelessly like a flag on a windy day. The beach was isolated to its core, Goans are not early risers she wondered. She could see the vast shoreline until the end where there was a fort stationed – the Sinquerim fort. She remembered having visited it a couple of years ago with her gang of college friends. The photos taken then, the memories, all of it flashed in her mind. There was a smile on her face. “ Help ” “ Help me ” a cry was heard. It was very faint and she could not trace the source of it. Infact she wondered if she was hallucinating and quickly scanned the expanse of sand to her left assuming the sea has nothing to do with it. “ H-H-H-E-L-P-P !”   she heard amongst gulps of water. The cries were too evident and she couldn’t ignore them anymore. Suddenly it...
Post a Comment
Read more

From the archives: Let’s be friends?

She was haphazardly running towards the bus stop after swiping her card at the office exit gate. She noticed her bus from a distance as she limped while balancing her dupatta with one hand and her laptop bag with the other. This was the last bus for the day & hence she had to board it at any cost. Luckily, the driver noticed her and decided to wait until she had hopped on safely - a very rare perk of being a woman in a country like India sometimes. The bus was crowded beyond an imaginable point. People struggled to chat/converse or play candy crush on their phones while attempting to balance themselves by dangling from the handles. The bus was supposed to be equipped with air conditioning - which was only in theory and certainly not in practice. The only respite - it was filled with the educated IT lot.  As the bus progressed its journey one bus stop at a time, the seats too started getting vacant one at a time as people started to alight. I looked at my watch & realised I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

House of Commons

She pushed away the branch of a shrub which came in her way as she struggled to follow the muddy path in front of her. It left a scratch on her elbow.  “Ouch!” she screamed. Somehow, the pain she experienced was inversely proportional to the depth of the wound on her skin. When she once rammed into the  edge of a wall as a kid, her mother’s alarmed reaction made her realise she was bleeding from her forehead. Until then, she was oblivious of the damage and was happily frolicking around butterflies in the garden. Her brother tapped on her shoulder to gain her attention. She shrugged with irritation and moved her head to see a palatial bungalow in front of her. Close to 10 feet in height and orange in colour, it flaunted the Portuguese style of architecture replete with circular windows which were lined with oyster shells, an art which is already declining in the state. The roof was lined with Mangalorean tiles, half of which were in a dilapidated state. The porch had a tiny wel...
Post a Comment
Read more