Suspense Short Story – Seeing but not believing
Photo credit: rachjose from morguefile.com
It was a dewy morning. 6.30 am seemed more like the break of dawn outside Krishnakunj, where Ayan lived. The temperature was 8 degrees celsius. Little Ayan woke up to go to school. He could see his Dad seated on the chair at the dining table. Groggily he went to the kitchen where his Mom was up and already making his breakfast. He noticed only one egg on the frying pan. “Seems like Dad is not going to have breakfast today too”, he thought. He often wondered why Dad did not eat anything in the mornings. Even more strange was the fact that Mom always ignored Dad, no matter what time in the day.
An hour later Ayan left for school. He hugged his Mom goodbye while his Dad just smiled and waved goodbye.
School time was pure bliss for Ayan. His school focussed a lot on sports in general and football in particular. Being a goalkeeper in the school football team at the age of 10, meant the world to him.
Years went by and the morning routine remained unchanged, his mom making breakfast for him, and his dad sitting there in his favourite chair. Ayan was now 15 years old and in the 10th standard.
He often wondered why his Dad didn’t go to work. Mom did all the house work and then went to work as a receptionist in a multinational company. Making ends meet was not easy, yet Dad never really did anything. Maybe that is why she ignored him. He too never really said anything to her, just looked on with a tinge of sadness in his eyes. Ayan had never seen them acknowledge each other.
Dad only spoke to Ayan in the afternoons when Ayan returned home from school. He told Ayan that he was lucky to go to school as he himself had to leave school in the 3rd standard itself. Ayan told himself maybe that is why Dad didn’t get a job. He had heard that one needed to be a graduate to get any job. Ayan himself was looking forward to college life and then working to help his mom.
One morning when Ayan was cycling to school he saw a crowd gathered just outside his school gate. He went to see what had happened. There was a little girl crying loudly. Ayan looked further to see a man lying in a pool of blood. “He is dead”, said a man standing nearby. The girl was crying out “DADDY, DADDY!”. She must have been around 12 years old. Ayan felt really sad for her. He saw that a passerby had asked the girl for her mother’s phone number to inform her. As it was time for school, Ayan hurried on.
The day went by but Ayan could not get the face of that crying little girl out of his mind. When he reached home that afternoon, he told Dad about the incident. Dad looked sad and told him that he knew of the accident. The man was named Shridhar, and he was known to Dad. Ayan was even more saddened. Dad had asked him not to tell Mom about the incident as it would upset her. Ayan did not think Mom was faint hearted but decided to obey Dad. After all it was one of rare things that Dad really asked him to do.
Few days passed by. It was the last paper of Ayan’s exams. As the final bell rang, Ayan felt a could not wait to get home and tell Dad about how well he answered the paper.
As he neared home, he saw dad walking away from home along with someone. It was a man who seemed familiar. “Wait”, thought Ayan, “this is the same man who met with the accident few days ago. Was he not dead?” Ayan called out to Dad but he had already turned down the road. Never mind, thought Ayan, I will speak to Dad when he is back.
Days went by but Dad didn’t return. One day he tried asking Mom about Dad but she just brushed aside the topic. Ayan kept worrying about Dad.
After a week had passed he decided to do something on his own. “I need not pester mom”, he thought. He knew havaldar Singh, the new constable on the beat. He was a young man, full of energy. Ayan knew he would help to trace dad.
The next morning he would went to the police station and met havaldar Singh. The kind havaldar promised him he would help. He asked Ayan to get a photo of Dad so that they could file a missing persons report and search for him.
Ayan ran home and got back with a photograph. It was in a drawer at home. It seemed old but Dad still looked the same. The young havaldar froze when he saw the photo and noted down the name Ayan told him. He asked Ayan, “Are you sure this is the man you want me to trace?” “Yes”, said Ayan. “Wait here.” said the constable and went inside the police station.
He returned with a book which was known as the station diary. He asked Ayan to have a look. Ayan looked at it, perplexed as to why was a government book being shown to him. It read… Modus operandi of the Anna gang… On 21st May, 1996, around 3pm, the victim Arjun More was hit with a blunt object. Preliminary investigations pointed to the involvement of Shridhar Anna, the dreaded gangster. However as always, no proof has been found against him.The victim was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead before admission, so no statement against Shridhar Anna was recorded. .
A shiver ran down Ayan’s spine as he saw the last 6 years unfold before him.
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