The Nightmare

It is a cold, dreary evening. I had tried to get a flight ticket to Denver but all the airlines were booked out. After all it was Christmas season. 

I had been on the road for over 40 hours now.

No, I did not pull over at any motel for a  short nap.

The only break that I remember was the one when I was asked to pull over by a  country Sherriff. I was charged with over-speeding. I tried to reason with him and explain him of my plight. I had to be in Denver by the evening. The girl whom I had loved for the past 15 years was getting married on the 25th of December. 

I had to tell her. I had to let her know, just in case…

He smiled and issued me a ticket! That loathsome, f***ing bas*rd!

"Come on! Come on!" I urge myself. I had to be there before dawn break. Although I  encountered heavy traffic in a few places, I didn’t slow down. Instead I chose to break all the possible rules that I could. It had to be done. I had to reach Denver soon or it would  be all over.

I drift off to sleep for a brief while and jolt back into consciousness; narrowly missing the freeway divider. The darkening sky is calm and grandiose. It soothes my senses. The last glimpses of the crimson sun sinking below the horizon, beyond the Rocky mountains, quickly reminds me that my life will be no more if I do not confess my love to Shelly. I speed on.

Ah! There’s the St. Paul’s Cathedral. I recognize it even though my GPRS has it on the other side of the road. Couple of miles north lies my destination. Will she come out if I call her? How will she reach when I confess my love to her? All this, and many more questions play peek-a-boo in my mind.

I can see her house now. I think it has been freshly painted for the wedding. I speed on crazily. I want to reach there as soon as I can.

The car comes to a screeching halt! Had I hit her? Shelly’s best friend! I think I have coz the thud that it produced when I hit her still reverberates in my ears. I am shaking and sweating. My shirt clings to my chest like anaconda to its prey making it difficult for me to breathe.

I get out of the car. I see her motionless body - white as snow, with a few streaks of red. Her skull is fractured and body badly mangled. I kneel over her hoping against hope to breathe life back into her.

All of a sudden she jumps at me biting my hand and bludgeoning my face from all sides.

I awaken, shaking, sweating and screaming in the wee hours of the morning. To be precise it is 02:10 am again. My breath comes in short, sharp, frightened inhalations of terror.

"That darn cat!" I shout as I throw my pillow towards her.

Cheers,
Rosh