Suspense Short Story – The Sumptuous Dinner
Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com
The civet had eyed for the mighty dinner since 12 years, 4 months and 23 days. And now the golden moment has arrived at last. It was the night of the new moon, the leaves denied to rustle as the air was heavy. In the locality there was a very unusual silence. One could only come across an exhilarating odor that was emanating from the body of the civet. Greed, lust, a sense of happiness and satisfaction radiated from the civet’s eyes. The stares of the civet had an expression –that of a final abetment of desire-for which he waited for exactly 12 years, 4 months and 23 days.
1
When Diana first arrived home exactly 12 years, 4 months and 23 days ago, she was a pup of 3 months while the civet had just stepped into his youth. He lived far away from the locality in the burial ground and frequented the sleeping houses at nightfall. He feasted on birds, pups, and kittens and sometimes even tried various kinds of fruits- for change.
However he did not get the same superb taste from the fruits as compared to the flesh and blood of the birds and other little animals that he generally enjoyed. Feeding on animals not only provided him a calm sleep during the daytime but also was a recreation in life for him. While hunting his preys, the civet would get a chance to exhibit his valor; he would get an opportunity to examine his suppleness of muscles and the sharpness of his claws.
On seeing Diana for the first time in the house, the civet felt quite jubilant. He dreamt of having a gala feast at midnight. The little bitch was buried in a deep slumber on the sofa in the first floor of the house. The civet’s mouth started watering profusely as he climbed up the guava tree and peeked through the window to have a better view of his piece of meal. All of a sudden, the bitch woke up from her sleep and started barking at the top of her voice.
The civet was absolutely dismayed, taken aback and somewhat felt edgy. He slipped away from the branch of the tree as silently and as quickly as possible and vanished into the dark trees. While he was jumping off the boundary wall of the house he could still hear the bitch barking and roaring in rage simultaneously. He was fearful, perhaps the inmates of the house have become aware of his intrusion and they would be careful from then onwards. He felt frustrated and that night he had to eat the same old human carcass in the graveyard.
While supping on his regular menu he searched for some fresh taste and his jaws became stiff as he remembered about the cherubic pup lying on the sofa. After his dinner was over he climbed a branch of a tree, looked vacantly at the dark sky and the one single thought that pervaded his mind was-the day when he would tear off the jugular vein of the pup- a jet of fresh blood would spring off and he would relish the taste of fresh warm blood after a long long time. The tender flesh would melt in his mouth- the very thought made him salivate and with the rapid movement of his tongue he wiped away the juices from his mouth. Then he decided not to think about the wannabe dinner anymore and tried to have a sleep.
2
Diana had a lush canine dinner at night and fell asleep on the couch. That was her first day in her new home. Away from her mother and five other siblings Diana was a bit glum but the tasty food and warm cuddles of new people made her forget everything. Besides she was a little tired after the frantic travel-coming to a new place in a speeding vehicle. So when her stomach was full she could not help but snooze on the couch.
She was having a catnap when out of the blue she sniffed in the air a strange wild scent. Her ears became stiff and she jumped off from the couch, starting to sniff hard. At first she was confused but then she was sure- it was the scent of another unknown animal. She ran towards the window as the odor was stronger there and she started barking violently. As she came near the window not only the wild intoxicating scent became more distinguishable but she could see a pair of fiery, glowing eyes-she was sure the intruder was a ferocious beast but she has not encountered this kind of an animal ever before.
She started to shout more aggressively as she wanted to wake up the other members of the family. Until Pola woke up she became more restless and more ferocious. One moment, she was barking loudly beside Pola’s bed and the next moment she ran towards the window to have a glimpse of those two glowing eyes. Diana could feel the ravenous hunger shimmering on the eye balls of the black nameless beast. If her mother was there, she would have readily attacked the beast and killed him, a little helplessness pervaded Diana’s mind….she was yet to make bonds with these new human beings.
Pola was surprised at Diana’s sudden restlessness, she left her bed sensing some trouble and flashed a torch through the window and focused its light on the guava tree. She saw nothing. But she could smell an intoxicating odor- it was the musk of the civet. She closed the window and patted Diana’s head telling her to relax. By that time the civet had already fled away.
The rest of the night, though Diana felt awfully sleepy but she could not do so because every moment her heart pounded fast at the thought of the strange animal. She was sure that the beast was preying on her and that she had just managed to cross a thin boundary line between life and death, moments earlier. If Pola hadn’t woke up and flashed the torch light the animal would have entered the house and within some seconds would have ripped off Dina’s heart. Dina was so shaky that she could no more sit on the couch. She jumped on Pola’s bed and sat near her feet and tried to get back her confidence little by little from the warmth of Pola’s body.
When at last sleep kissed her eyes at the wee hours, she had a nightmare of a furry animal that was chasing her. The queer animal had ghastly eyes and the musk of his body made the air suffocating. Diana tried to run as fast as she could. But something prevented her from running. Her paws got clawed to the ground and she realized that within a few seconds the animal was going to kill her.
She started to roar in rage but her voice got choked in fear. Instead of barking with all her might she found herself whimpering and her body became petrified with an unknown fear. Her four little paws trembled and she wanted to go to her mother. But she was unable to reach her. The next moment, the fierce animal disappeared and she started dreaming of a fat piece of meat. This dream of the big fat piece of meat continued until daybreak. Diana forgot about the beast that night.
Pola discussed the matter with her mother who told, “It’s true that the civet lived in the graveyard. It fed on the cadavers of human beings”. She also added that “The civet frequently haunts the locality for live preys.”
Pola decided that they ought to take extra care to save Diana from the civet’s desire of preying on little Diana. They protected Diana away from the civet for 12 years, 4 months and 23 days, until one day Diana’s heart refused to beat as it grew too fatigued to work anymore. Pola and her mother buried her in the backyard of the garden. Their trauma was as fathomless as of the deepest ocean of the earth. In the long run, Diana with all her faithfulness had become a close member of their family.
3
That night Pola forgot to close the window which she had been closing regularly for 12 years, 4 months and 23 days. It was the first time after Diana’s final departure that the window was open beside the guava tree. Pola took a sleeping pill that night because she had a terrible bout of depression at the loss of Diana and went to bed quite early. Although she took the pill, still she was tossing in her bed, as the loss of Diana meant a major impediment to Pola’s life. With her docile nature and truthful manners, Diana was much closer to Pola than other members of their family. Pola had gone so much astray with her thoughts that she missed the sound of the slight thud that was produced as the civet jumped from the branch of the guava tree to the window.
The civet kept a keen watch on the specific window all these years but never ever he found it open other than the first day of Diana’s arrival. So when he found the window open, he was extremely joyful. The greed in his heart was leaping all in flames. He sneaked into the room and silently ran towards the couch- while performing this action, he made absolutely no noise. This was the day he was waiting for all these years. But to his disappointment, as he barged into the couch he could not find Diana. He was surprised at the dismissal of his expectations but without giving up hope he crept silently from one room to the other in search of his prey. However Diana could be found nowhere, though the civet felt her smell everywhere in the house.
The civet jumped into the sofa, to have a closer look, and then he slipped through the railings of the stairs, went downstairs and got enraged as he searched for Diana everywhere. Where’s she? Where’s the little bitch? The question reverberated in his mind again and again as was the frantic search continued till midnight.
After a thorough and final search, he was still without his prey, his fascination of 12 years 4 months and 23 days. He was so furious that he could not think of anything else. He dreamt of supping on the tiny creature for such a long time…now that he has become old, his teeth have become loose, his skin has sagged and he is no more supple than what he was in his youth, yet the desire was still there in his psyche…to drink the fresh warm blood of the bitch and eat her tender flesh.
The cherubic bitch was not there, he searched all the crannies of the house. Then he went towards the dinner table, sat on the top of it and rummaged whatever food items he got near him. This he did in sheer disappointment. He nibbled the breads, threw those away from the table to the floor. He pierced some oranges and licked the pie, munched the banana and displaced all other fruits from the fruit basket. These unusual acts of the civet created weird sounds that woke Pola and her mother.
They were sure that some thieves have sneaked into the house because they knew Diana was not anymore. Pola took a gun and accompanied by her mother, went downstairs from where those creepy sounds were coming. The sound of their footsteps made the civet aware and he ran towards another open window, climbed out of the window and ran towards the backyard. The house was lit with lights, while the civet hid among the bushes at the backyard. He could hear the heated conversations between Pola and her mother. The musk of the civet spread in the air, but Diana slept in her bed quietly, she was sleeping there without any fear…..she was actually sleeping in the house of death, she was beyond any fears. They buried her under the jasmine tree.
As dawn approached the civet felt hungry, he came out of his hide out and walked away from the garden towards his dwelling place- the grave yard. Pola and her mother were back to the house again switching off the lights. As the quadruped walked slowly, he held his head high and sniffed something in the air. It was Diana. He was certain about that. He started to encircle a certain portion of the garden and after awhile he laughed heartily. Yes, he was absolutely correct- it was Diana lying there. He was glad to know that now he could feed upon the carcass of Diana. It was his prized possession on which he eyed since his youth, he lost his youth waiting for that precious little thing and now he has become a hag.
4
………….That very night was the night of the new moon. Darkness seeped into the earth with the exception of the stars that gleamed in the sky very unwillingly, the leaves forgot to rustle as the breeze did not touch their bodies, the black furry old civet with all his might started digging up the ground. He dug up the soil relentlessly, sometimes he rested a while staring at the stars to calculate how long the night will be green and the very next moment he started digging up the soil faster. At long last, he would have a long waited sumptuous dinner- at the cost of his burly youth.
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