Sourabh decided to walk home. It was not the brightest of ideas to do so while being drunk in the middle of an isolated road at 11 at night, but it was the one he had so far. Step-by-step, he found himself moving away from the bar. Step-by-step, moving away from human presence and into the dark night. But as the walking went on, it no longer felt as simple as it had seemed before. He struggled, limped, and continued. His senses had dulled, a price for the pleasures of the bottle. The bliss it provides is perhaps delightful but can sometimes leave you to the side of the filthy road. However, that is not where he wanted to sleep tonight. So he carried on, full of strength and willpower, on the way home again. He took five more glorious steps before his face met the floor. Strength and willpower had lost themselves, apparently. He fell asleep, the last thing he heard being the honk of a car coming his way.
Morning came as he found himself waking up on his bed, inside his house. There was coffee ready. He liked it with sugar cubes. Three of them in one cup. He drinks it up and steps outside to take a walk on the road. Walking out, he saw his neighbors talking about something in a grave manner. He inquired of them about whatever was happening that caused such a commotion. They replied that a young boy named Sourabh was found dead, crushed by a car. The investigation proved that he was drunk. A tragedy indeed. A young bright man, becoming a victim of the bottle and then of the end. It was awful, that’s what Manish thought as he finished his coffee and decided to leave for work. Already on a deadline, he then drove off to the office at full speed. He had been lethargic, and now, his job was on the line as his sloppy behavior was being addressed too much by the boss. Intent on saving his skin, he drove fast, and it seemed that he was flying an airplane at this point. However, the sky is not devoid of birds. The same way, the roads are not devoid of dogs. What seemed to be a small puppy got in his way, and he turned the wheel hastily to the right. Right into the lake.
The car overturned, and he lay there. Still a corpse, basically, is what he was now. Soon, the first couple who discovered him came, as he had fallen near Lover’s Point. Seems like he was right on time for his date with death. Other couples came and reported the incident. Soon, crowds were formed to gaze at the brilliant scene of the crashed car on the small lake. Nothing is as intriguing as death and destruction for the newspeople. It seems it was just the right news to start the day with.
BREAKING NEWS! A car crash in a small town claims the life of one Viren Sharma, a young man working in an advertising company. He leaves behind two ailing parents and a newly wedded wife.
“Oh, poor dear, left all alone. Not to mention that poor old couple.
Lost their only son,” said Reena, Manish’s wife, watching the news on TV.
“It is a tragedy indeed. But what to do? People don’t respect road safety rules. This is a tragic consequence of their failure to do so. Now, get ready,” said Manish.
I am ready now. “I’ll be leaving,” she said, taking the bags of clothes and food with her.
“Say hi to your folks for me.”
“Will do.” Saying so, she left in her car. Manish decided to take a ride too. He got in his car and drove away, reaching the spot of the car accident. He reached the site, where Viren’s body was recovered.
“On god, Viren, why did you have to do it?”
“Do what?” asked Inspector Yash. “You know him?”
“Yes, sir. I’m his boss. He was my protégé once. But then, he got sloppy. I gave him important work to do, and he always rushed to do so because of this laziness. It cost us a big deal. I told him that if he failed the company again, I would fire him. And now he’s dead, because of me.” Manish starts sobbing.
“I don’t mean to upset you further. But he’s not the only victim. There’s another. A boy named Sourabh was run over by Viren, who then drove himself off the road.” He sighed.
“What? Please don’t tell me it was Sourabh Verma.”
“What? Don’t tell me you know him too.” The officer was shocked.
“He was my neighbor. Used to come to my house.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing. He was unemployed. Did odd jobs to make a living. What makes you think he got in the way of the car”
“He had been drinking in the middle of the night. I’m guessing he got in Viren’s way.”
“God, well, what to do now? What’s done is done. It’s just so horrible.”
“I didn’t catch your name, sir.”
“Oh! Manish Raj…
They shake hands.
“Well, Mr. Raj, you’ve certainly made this case more interesting now. If you don’t mind, I have some more questions for you.”
“Ask away, please.”
It was nothing serious. Just questions about his life, family, etc. There was no evidence of foul play. It was just a bad omen. Two youths caught together by death at the same time”
Inspector Yash closed the car, and Manish left, coming back home.
His wife called to tell him that she has arrived safely. He had no doubt that she would, for she always followed road safety rules.
Unlike two morons called Viren and Sourabh. The first being a lazy fool who always rushed, the second a worthless parasitic drunkard. Manish reflected on how easy it was to give Sourabh money for extra wine and then send Viren to finish his work in the middle of the night, anything to keep his job. The weak-minded fool. He actually thought of a man lying asleep as a small puppy and got himself killed while trying not to hit him and still failing in that too.
All it took was the right incentive and some work pulling the unconscious Sourabh from the middle of the street. Viren took care of pretty much everything.
Manish took a sigh of relief. The weight of those two useless burdens has been lifted off of his shoulders and off the poor, suffering Earth.
He had remembered an ad for road safety; the main message was given with a clever phrase.
“Don’t drive to your own funeral,” which is ironically what he had made Viren do, taking Sourabh to him as well.
Now, with those fools dead, he had rid himself of a useless man, who wasted his life away, and a lazy man, who would never appreciate any work that he did. Brilliant!
