One fine morning
The early morning dew was still hanging in the air as Vishal turned towards the jogging path. Soon winter will set in, he thought. He liked winters. The heat of the plains gave way to bright sunny days, with comfortable cool temperature, well, at least for a couple of months. The outdoors could be embraced with a smile again, barring a couple of weeks in January when it became very cold. Still some time to go before he could change his running gear, he thought. The short but intense shower at dawn had left the path wet. He ran carefully on to the joggers' path.
From the corner of his eyes he could see two young men running and talking intensely between themselves, racing towards the exit. Both were around 20 and slightly built and wore regular shorts and T-shirt. In their excitement they did not notice him. Vishal thought it must be the youth. Being so absorbed in themselves. As he approached the first turn he noticed a dog barking loudly and it was moving quickly towards him. Somehow, the barking of the dog in the morning light was unnatural in the setting. Usually at this hour he noticed them lazing about under cool trees, catching a peaceful sleep. For the first time he thought something was amiss. He ran faster now and the dog galloped ahead of him as if showing him the path.
Just then he could spot the little girl. Lying face down on the joggers' path. For a moment Vishal froze, but then the dog too turned and barked yet again at him as if asking him to go forward and set her right. He was jolted out of the momentary stupor, he was breaking in cold sweat and was dreading to take a step forward. From the distance he could make out it was a motionless body. He dreaded the worst. He was certain those two guys had harmed her and laid her here to be found. As a rule he never carried his cell phone on a run and now he was regretting it like never before. He said "Hush, hush", to the dog as if to pacify himself. The dog made a pleading sound and sat down out of exhaustion and shock.
Vishal ran back towards the exit and tried to look for the young men he had spotted earlier but he could not see anyone. The road was completely empty on a public holiday. Nobody was up yet. Everyone was sleeping in. Even the newspaper man will be late today he knew. He ran towards the newspaper stand at the end of the road to make the phone call.
Next morning Vishal woke up late. He had been up almost the whole night. Just dozed off in the early hours. The police had questioned him and taken down the details of the young men and Vishal had done a pretty good job of describing them. He opened the newspaper with much anticipation but there was only a small report on finding the body. Nothing about the leads what so ever. It only mentioned how the police was searching for these two men. He also got to know the child was 10 and lived in the adjoining slum with her old grand mother. The grandmother had raised an alarm about the same time as the body was found. Couple of days passed and still there was no news. Vishal felt restless. he could not sleep, could not focus on work, he barely ate. All he could think of was the still body of child lying face down.
On the third day while returning from his office just by bad luck his car broke down. He called the nearby garage and asked them to send a mechanic. The mechanic turned up in half an hour and to Vishal's shock and amazement it was one of the young men he had seen on that unfortunate morning and this time he had his cell phone with him. He made an excuse and sauntered passed the mechanic while he was still looking under the hood and dialed 100 for police. Next day he woke up early. He had slept peacefully after four nights of staying up. Poured himself some water and pulled out his jogging gear.
From the corner of his eyes he could see two young men running and talking intensely between themselves, racing towards the exit. Both were around 20 and slightly built and wore regular shorts and T-shirt. In their excitement they did not notice him. Vishal thought it must be the youth. Being so absorbed in themselves. As he approached the first turn he noticed a dog barking loudly and it was moving quickly towards him. Somehow, the barking of the dog in the morning light was unnatural in the setting. Usually at this hour he noticed them lazing about under cool trees, catching a peaceful sleep. For the first time he thought something was amiss. He ran faster now and the dog galloped ahead of him as if showing him the path.
Just then he could spot the little girl. Lying face down on the joggers' path. For a moment Vishal froze, but then the dog too turned and barked yet again at him as if asking him to go forward and set her right. He was jolted out of the momentary stupor, he was breaking in cold sweat and was dreading to take a step forward. From the distance he could make out it was a motionless body. He dreaded the worst. He was certain those two guys had harmed her and laid her here to be found. As a rule he never carried his cell phone on a run and now he was regretting it like never before. He said "Hush, hush", to the dog as if to pacify himself. The dog made a pleading sound and sat down out of exhaustion and shock.
Vishal ran back towards the exit and tried to look for the young men he had spotted earlier but he could not see anyone. The road was completely empty on a public holiday. Nobody was up yet. Everyone was sleeping in. Even the newspaper man will be late today he knew. He ran towards the newspaper stand at the end of the road to make the phone call.
Next morning Vishal woke up late. He had been up almost the whole night. Just dozed off in the early hours. The police had questioned him and taken down the details of the young men and Vishal had done a pretty good job of describing them. He opened the newspaper with much anticipation but there was only a small report on finding the body. Nothing about the leads what so ever. It only mentioned how the police was searching for these two men. He also got to know the child was 10 and lived in the adjoining slum with her old grand mother. The grandmother had raised an alarm about the same time as the body was found. Couple of days passed and still there was no news. Vishal felt restless. he could not sleep, could not focus on work, he barely ate. All he could think of was the still body of child lying face down.
On the third day while returning from his office just by bad luck his car broke down. He called the nearby garage and asked them to send a mechanic. The mechanic turned up in half an hour and to Vishal's shock and amazement it was one of the young men he had seen on that unfortunate morning and this time he had his cell phone with him. He made an excuse and sauntered passed the mechanic while he was still looking under the hood and dialed 100 for police. Next day he woke up early. He had slept peacefully after four nights of staying up. Poured himself some water and pulled out his jogging gear.
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