Suspense Short Story – THE HEARING AID
Photo credit: biberta from morguefile.com
An article in the newspaper caught the gentleman’s attention . He thought for a while and checked the time of occurrence and place of the incident. He was surprised to find that his vague memory still had the trace of it. His conscience disturbed him and sudden flood of thoughts, irked his senses to the extent that he forgot to add sugar to his tea. All his acquaintances were aware of his habit to hate anything bitter-be it tea or otherwise but such was the news.
A group of students, all young, were returning to the college hostel. It was the annual day of the college and the programme they had participated in was a huge success. In the midst of the adulation, they decided to give a small party at the shop next to the venue of the function. By the time they returned back and collected their kits, they were too late and were informed that the college bus that was to take them back to their hostel had already left. The leader of the group was a small face with an intelligent brain. He knew it would take quite a while for the hostel warden to reach the hostel and if they could reach faster than the college bus, nobody would ever mind their intentions. Being in the good books of the warden, though, he did not want to spoil his name. So, after a discussion, the boys decided to take the local train from the terminus. Even a casual walk would have enabled them to reach the terminus in fifteen minutes but one mistake led to another and they decided to take the longest route, having an ill aired intention to enjoy the evening air. They were constantly pulling each others leg. Why not!, after all,they were supposed to get hero’s welcome the following day.
The whistle of the approaching train deafened them for a second. The enthusiasm of the commuters was evident, even at this time and this had kept the city alive and jubilant. People were busy returning for their cozy homes after a day of hardened labor. The mechanical voice at the announcers desk, was constantly announcing the time of arrival of the last local. The advertisement board was sporting the familiar faces of the next big commercial movie. Thereafter it happened. The group got bisected, while few made their way for the ticket counter, the others rushed to occupy the vacant seats in the local. The leader wanted to question the idea of getting the tickets, after all who would have checked their tickets at this time but decided otherwise.
As if time itself tried to remember the scene for an instant-Announcers cabin-crowded platform-ticket booth-electronic display-coffee counter-porters lounge-at the count of eternity started the indiscriminate firing. Souls fell like dolls, on the ground and on the top of one another. Men, women and children..Even babies, no discrimination. The script went on without any melodramatic turn. In the mayhem, nobody knew exactly when, a number was dialed and as it was picked from other side of the connection, emerged a loud scream “See, they are three of them firing at us!”. After few loud bullet shots that were heard, the connection went dead.
The next day, the front page of the popular newspaper read:
“2 terrorists stormed the city terminus and killed 169.many injured. The force reached on time and all the terrorists killed.”
A lot has changed since then. The gentleman no longer lives in the city and is not the warden anymore. The city has gone back to its daily routine. That day a call of few seconds, has changed his life. Though now, he keeps the hearing aid at his disposal, he is more than sure that he has heard correctly that day. His heart beats in affirmation to the existence of the killer in the guise of the victim. The article, in remembrance to the incident of that day, confirmed his fears.
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