Suspense Short Story – LOST
Photo Credit: www.cepolina.com
I was sleeping fitfully as my mind was filled with images of the woman whom I saw last night on the street. Then, I woke up in a strange comfortable bed which I was not used to. I couldn’t remember what had happened and what had brought me into this bed. I looked around the room, it was messy and gloomy like that of a horrible murder scene. Then I noticed a muffled sound which seemed more like murmuring.
I looked behind me and a woman lying by me who was taking beauty sleep was there. She seemed way too familiar for me. I knew her from somewhere, therefore, I racked my brain to remember what had happened last night but I couldn’t. Anyway, I tried to wake her up but I didn’t know what to say afterwards. So I thought it’s best to have a glass of milk and to go for a walk which could help me remember. I opened the refrigerator and had a glass of milk and then made a bee line toward the exit door.
I opened it and the moment I stepped out, a rather hot dusty wind hit my face. I cleaned my eyes and found myself in the middle of nowhere. It was more like a desert, with a cottage in the middle of course. I couldn’t believe it. For one second, I thought I was dead but I could touch things which refuted the idea.
“I am sleeping….wake up john…wake up please…please”, I was saying repeatedly. Well it didn’t happen. There was a bicycle leaned slanted against the wall. I took it and went for a ride. The desert was bone dry, no sound of even a mosquito around. The scene looked terrifying at first but then as I rode the monotonous path, I got used to the feeling.
“I must find a way out of here…” I was saying things like this so that I wouldn’t feel alone in this God-forsaken place. After an interminable ride, I reached a small wire which resembled a sort of pipe line to somewhere. Jubilation got me within its happy arms, kind of feeling that assured me I wouldn’t die in here. Such a long wire it was that I had never seen in my life before. I decided to follow the wire to see where it ends. At first, I was riding after it with such unimaginably high spirit that I continued cycling unimpeded. The more I went on, the longer the path seemed to get.
After about 3 hours of constant riding, I decided to take a break. I sat to think things over for a while. Hopes began to dash away. The hours were late and soon darkness was upon me and my only friend, the bicycle. So I hopped the bicycle and started to ride faster as I was scared to death of the pitch darkness. It was nearly sunset when I faced the end of the wire going into the ground while surprisingly, three different wires, each with their different colors were coming from where the former wire ended up going inside the ground.
Each wire had its own path. One of the wires in gloomy black led straight to the front while the other wire in total bloody red led another different way and the last wire was in orange and like the rest, had its own way.
“I’ll be God Damned” I said. I was too stupid to figure out all this especially when it got to the three wires. Each wire was as long as Pacific Ocean I supposed. There I realized that may be all this was a test, a test whether I believed in fate or not.
I touched the orange wire and told it to lead the way. I got back on my bicycle and rode as long as I could. The more I went, the more I came to realize that maybe fate’s handling human business is not a wise choice after all. The thought of making a bad choice in the first place was killing me and as a result I headed back toward where I was. The moment I reached there, I couldn’t see too well because the merciful God of the desert had taken away the light and put darkness upon all. I was feeling numb a little and too tired of thinking let alone riding. So I sat in the darkness thinking about my past, about the woman I spent the night with, about how the heck I ended up in here and more importantly why I am being tested. While thinking, I stretched my legs and lay there. The moon was so hauntingly shining. The beautiful moonlight got me thinking what a bad person I had been. I had cheated on my beloved wife and led a miserable life ever since.
Then I thought I was lost and that I had time to think about the mistakes I had made till the sun polishes the earth with its warm and magnanimous light. I thought I served me right for suffering even in this place. Thirst weakened my body and I wasn’t thinking straight. Darkness was nearly gone and I made a dash toward my bicycle and then I followed the black wire while hopping that it would lead somewhere but I never did. Therefore, I returned all the way again to where I was. Bereft of hope, I was about to burst into tears.
“It’s not fair, I don’t deserve to die like this, this is not fate”, I was shouting.
At last, I had to try my good luck and to follow the last wire in red. I decided to follow it till my last breath. I began riding slow but as my emotions were getting over me and I couldn’t help crying, so I speeded up. My eyes were beginning to go blind and my feet were of no strength and time also was of no essence for me anymore. My heartbeat was slow and it seemed my last minutes was upon me. I fell down the bicycle and suddenly when I was ready to have Lord seize my life, I saw a big cross on grave. I crept toward it slowly and started digging till I heard a sharp cry. It was a lady-like whispering sound which was damn familiar for me. This made me dig faster. I couldn’t find anything as far my eyes let me see. I dug a little more and there I found a piece of paper. I took it and started reading.
“You killed me and your unborn child, now rest in peace in here as you had suffered enough my darling” the letter said.
It was too late for john to startle because he was already out of breath.
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