"Begone rascals", screamed the old man. He was always there, seated at one end of the park bench, his hands on top of his walking stick, his eyes downcast. There was a little boy there too, seated at the other end. I was a regular at that park and everyday before dusk I would go for a refreshing jog around the park and everyday I would see the old man and the little boy and everyday they would be seated on the same bench. They seemed to be in a world of their own.
While children his age spent their time playing games, running around or just rolling on the grass, the little boy would just sit there, his hands coupled between his legs, a cap on his tiny head, shielding his eyes. A collapsible wheelchair rested against his side of the bench. The old man would often mutter something to himself, shove his hands into his pocket, take out some bird seeds and scatter them among the pigeons.
On this particular day, I went jogging again and as I passed the park bench, I saw the old man brandishing his cane at some children who seemed to be teasing him. "Begone rascals", he screamed again.
I could not bear the sight of the old man being harassed. I ran towards the park bench and drove the children away. The old man was quivering and gulping down mouthfuls of air. Placing a comforting hand on his shoulders, I steadied him. "Take it easy" I said, "you will be fine". He looked up at me full of gratitude. "Thank you sir." A wheeze burst forth from his cracked lips. The wrinkles on his old face seemed to deepen as he gave me a warm smile. He must have been in his seventies. "When I was young, I never did things like these....the world's gone to the dogs!"
He suddenly offered me his hand. "How stupid of me. Let me introduce myself. I'm Alexander Malkovich." I introduced myself and within a few minutes I was sitting beside him and we were chatting like we had known each other for ages. "I had a daughter, Jane", he said, trying hard to remember. "She was a good child. Extremely beautiful. But she fell in love with this army fellow. He said he was going to marry her. I warned her against it, but she wouldn't listen. She was too much in love with him. So I consented and my worst fears came true."
Malkovich looked like he was going to break down any minute. Gathering himself, he continued. "He left her with a child and ran away a week before marriage." "Jane refused to get an abortion done. Now no one would even look at her, let alone marry her. She died during labor, giving birth to Peter. Maybe it was better for her, she didn't have to suffer anymore. Strange are the ways of our Lord."
I wanted to console him, but he continued. "Peter was the apple of my eye. But he too was cursed. He began to develop fits...I took him to many a doctor, but no one could cure him completely."
"Peter loved to come here....he would sit for hours on this park bench feeding the pigeons. I knew he didn't have long to live, so I stopped his schooling and brought him here everyday. I wanted him to enjoy what little time he had, to the fullest".
It was getting dark and the air was much cooler now. Malkovich suddenly went over to the boy and adjusted the woollen shawl around the boy's neck. "You'll catch a cold if you're not careful", he said to the boy and came back. The little boy must have been asleep for he never moved an inch.
"Where was I...yes, Peter was doomed to die". Twilight was giving way to night. People were leaving the park and it was almost empty of people. Hardly anyone stayed this late because of the muggings. the night wind was building up. The place had an eerie resemblance to a horror movie I has watched the previous night.
"And one day, Peter and I went swimming; he developed convulsions and drowned. I tried to save him, I tried so hard, but I couldn't, I couldn't. I just couldn't".
Malkovich was sobbing now. I gave him my handkerchief. "don't be so hard on yourself", I said. "It wasn't your fault".
Malkovich looked at me, his blue eyes seemed to stare straight into my soul. "I loved Peter very much. I could not bear to be separated from him. I could not." The sky now had an indigo tint. The park lamps had a heavenly halo around their heads. I sat there perplexed and dumbfounded. Malkovich's eyes were red and he was trying hard not to cry again. He got up. "Well, it was nice to have made your acquaintance, but I must be on my way". He took a card from his pocket. "Here's my card. If you need my services, I would be glad to help. Goodnight sir".
I tried to speak, but my voice had betrayed me. The cool night wind blew the cap off the boy's head. His eyes appeared glassy in the ghostly lights of the lamps. Malkovich picked up the cap and placed it on the boy's head. He then unfolded the wheel chair and lifted the boy onto it.
"Come on Peter. It's time to go home". As they slowly disappeared down the path, I looked at the card. It read:
ALEXANDER MALKOVICH
TAXIDERMIST
"WE STUFF ANYTHING"
The wind blew the card from my paralysed fingers. I never went to that park again
42 comments :
ooooh.. i loved every bit of it.. a masterpiece and a dramatic finale.. the narration was very simple but held me firmly onto the screen.. all i can say is.. bravo..
If I am writing about strangers, you are also making a point to write something so real in a significant manner.
As i always say, you got a good command over explaining the situations so accurately that the reader falls into the protagonist's chair right there.
It was really a very sweet, touchy and wonderful post from you isha :)
I hope i can write like this sometime..I just saw this movie " In the line" in which a guy kevin meets a girl abbey at the train station and they fall in love at that very first meet... i mean that stranger thing vanishes away when they get connected in that very 5 min...i simply loved that..and reading this post after that is like an add on to what i was going through..
Keep writing gal...i am sure its worth it :)
Spooky!!!
oh my!!!*shudders**
awesuuuuuuuuumnesss personified thy name is isha..
tooo gud my gurl!!:)
the narration..the chronology of events...the climax...amazin!
u taught me a new word today: taxidermist:)[ jus looked it up:D]
cheerz!!
@ Vishnu - Thank you so much for all the praise. :)
Cheers
@ Mahesh - Thanks a tonne Mahesh!! Glad you liked it. :)
And dude!! You write wayyyy better than I do, why would you wanna give that away??? :O
Hopefully I will. :)
Cheers
@ Arslan - Yay!! Mission accomplished. :)
Cheers
@ Divsi - Awwwwwwwwwww!!!!! Thank you soooooo much!!! Mwah mwah :D
Lol....my blog turns teacher. :D
Cheers
I know people who preserve bodies, but taking them out for walks...thank God I don't visit parks often
well kept horror...its hard to maintain da spookiness till da end but u kept it just fine...i cud feel da park!!
luvd da ending...Satyajit Ray-ish...lovely!!
Isha... This is wonderful and am ..... em ... no words only to describe of my feel.. loved every bit of your narration dear :) :)Your blog posts are always worth waiting :) I can wait for any number of days to read a quality post like this..
Love ya :)
isshaaaaa...same ques...
how cm u write lyk this??:O:O..
seriously..yar..
awesum..
i loved..it..
@ Pesto - You never know, they might be around you somewhere else. ;)
@ Buckingfastard - Satyajit Ray-ish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*faints* *WITH a proud smile on her face*
*comes back to consciousness to thank Buckingfastard*
Thank you so so sooooo much!!!!
*faints again*
:D :D :D
Cheers
@ Sowmi - Awwww....and I can just wait till eternity for comments like your's. :)
Glad that you liked it. :)
Love you too
Mwah :)
@ Ams - *blushes* Mwah mwah mwah!!
Love ya!!
That was one piece..by God!!You are a fantastic writer...flawless piece,trust me!!:)
Hey.. you know I am sorry to say this.. But ye funny tha.. I mean, the narration, the build up, characteriztion and all were perfect.. Wo anyway they always are.But whatever, this was funny indeed(to me, i.e)
@ Jaunty - Awww!! Thank you soo much for the kind words. :)
And yeah I would LOVE to trust you on that. ;) :D
Cheers
@ Netika - Hmmmm....what do I even say to something like that??? Misplaced sense of humor perhaps??? :P lol
Chal no harm done with a few extra smiles right? :)
Cheers
Whoa..that was awesome. Sahi twist in the tale :)
great story and the climax was just too good...unexpected and unimaginable too...very spooky indeed...looking forward to more such stories :)
and do visit my blog as well-
http://thesilentprince.blogspot.com/
That was clever to say the least :). The Taxidermist :).
@ Shanu - Hiii!!
Thanks sweets. :)
Cheers
@ Umesh - Thanks a tonne man!!
I too hope I'm able to write more. :) Till then check out the ones that I have written already. ;) :P
You'll soon be having a new stalker, dontcha worry about that. :)
Cheers
@ BP - Yay!! Celebrity blogger on my blog. :) :)
Thanks!!
Cheers
damn!!!! the ways in which you spook people!!! :P
Awesome!!
for some reason this reminds me of some movie... i dont remember which.. something just like this one..
Aree haan now i remember what this reminds me of..
There is a 1960 suspense/horror Alfred Hitchcock movie called Psycho. This was somewhat like that.
Totally spooky!!! Wow! :)
@ Annie - OMG!!! That was like an iconic movie ya!!
He he...I love spooking others. Yeah, in ways more than one. You know what I'm talking bout. :P :D Lol
Cheers back.
This has roald dahl written all over it ! You followed his style didnja !
is it me or is it that too many people are following his way these days ?
Ah well.. nice one anyways ! cheers !
@ Weirdo Guy - Now that you have mentioned it, I think it's a tad bit similar. Perhaps reading him during my formative years has had its impact on my writing style.
But my inspiration for this one came from Saki's "Dusk". :)
Thanks!
Cheers
no new posts.. waitin...
@ Vishnu - Awww!! Was crazy busy with exams...hopefully will be inspired soon to write!
What an amazing story! reminded me of Roald Dahl and O.Henry both.
You too?? Does no one realise it's got Saki written all over it??
Glad that you like it. :)
Welcome to C'est La Vie. Hope to see you around. :)
Cheers
I don't know whether its Saki or not, but is definitely not sucky.
Creepy guy.
Boy's mummy dead.
Dead boy' mummy.
@Stupidosaur - Ha ha....THAT'S a relief!! :D
Lol @ "Boy's mummy dead.
Dead boy' mummy." :D :D
Cheers
Ishaaa!!! Ab main kaise soun?? You know, mum never ever let us watch horror movies..Aahat, even! And so, I don't watch horror movies even now..they scare me out of my wits. The only one I've probably ever watched was Kaal. LOL
Excellent narration yaar...do I even need to say that, now? Whenever I'm reading your blog..all I'm doing is trying to guess the end of the story.. But OMG OMG :O :O I SO CANNOT! Never can!! Tu kahaan le jaati hai story ko...I can't help but be surprised each and every time!!
The end, to me, was so repulsive..I was on the verge of throwing up..but, that, in itself is a compliment to you, don't you think? Seriously, you've scared the shit out of me.
Your writings always evoke such strong emotions in me..you are a great writer, Isha! I mean it, really.
@ Dr. Acula - OMG!!! Tell me you are kidding me!!! LOL!!! But Aahat is like the funniest thing on T.V. man!!! ha ha ha ha
Awwwww!!!! poor lil girl was scared??? :P
Thank you (a zilion times) for that WONDERFUL compliment. Means a lot to me. :)
Love
axed :(
u r awesome. :P
damn. work well done. real freaking well. and infact its work mixed with pleasure.
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