Sitara got inside the bus and looked around. Something was strange. It wasn’t her usual crowd. No one greeted her. She looked at the driver. A new face.
“Maybe I am on the edge because of last night’s dream.” She sat down beside an old woman who was busy knitting. Sitara gave her a courtesy smile but the old woman didn’t even lookup.
Her apprehension came back.
Where is my regular bus? Is my dream real? No, it can’t be. I am fine. I am going to the office. I must have missed my regular bus.
The bus stopped. She walked down to her office building. The watchman wasn’t there. She entered the elevator. Strangely, not a soul. Usually, during peak hours it was crowded. As she tried opening her cabin door, her hands slipped. She realized she was nervous.
Inside her cabin, there was a strange air. She couldn’t define it but she felt as if someone was standing close, glaring at her. Instinctively, she looked behind and gasped, for she smelled it.
The same perfume! Someone was there in her cabin wearing her perfume. She peeped under the table. No one. Drops of sweat were trickling down her forehead. She came out. As she was walking through the long corridor to reach the elevator, she caught the glimpse of a silhouette ahead of her.
She quickened her pace but the distance was ever-increasing between them. She began to run but strangely, her steps were not moving. She was stuck. Just when her helplessness and desperation were on the edge, the figure ahead decided to stop.
It was a tall, slender woman with very short hair….just like Sitaara’s. She turned but the light from somewhere blinded Sitaara’s vision. She fainted.
Sitaara woke up. She had a splitting headache. She opened her eyes to find herself in a strange room. Only a small bed and a side table. The bare walls were plastered in white. The blaring light would not let her keep her eyes open.
She heard the clank of metal and the door opened. Shelly whispered in Sitaara’s ears, “I warned you to let me have my way but you didn’t listen.’
Sitaara’s laughter rang in the alley as she was being dragged out. Shelly finally rose to the surface. Time for another shock therapy, for the doctors at the asylum just discovered Shelly.
