The night!

It was a cold dark December night..The kind of ones that you normally witness in North India...There were no street lights, and there was no trace of human life on the street... Most sane people would be cosy in their quilts at this time of the day...Incidentally, there were no street lights as well.... It was pitch dark... And all I could see were the distant lights in a room some distance away... It was not a lot of distance to travel... Hardly half a kilometre...And the street wasn't new to me either.... I'd been travelling on this street for a year now, albeit always on a vehicle... It was probably the first time I'd be walking on this street at night...

At some distance, I could see several pairs of eyes staring at me... Their was this viciousness in the look and I shivered momentarily... They seemed to be discussing something in hushed voices.. I could barely hear anything, but it didn't seem right...Anyways, there was no other way to reach my place and I decided to march forth...A couple of steps later, I could still see nothing more than the blazing eyes, but I could tell that the 'eyes' were still ferociously debating something... I could feel them huffing and puffing...At times, a faint wisp of winter mist would escape from their lips...

I journeyed forth, more scared now... the momentary shivering had now become persistent trembling... I tried to rationalize with myself..It was only the cold...It must be getting colder with the night... By now, I had reached the 'eyes'. I stared at them and they stared back at me... A long piercing glance... Some of them now bared their teeth, de-formed, pointed at the ends...The kinds that would haunt you in your nightmares... One of them now came close to me... It seemed to be smelling something... And it was making these faint noises...The kind that are made by mad men... It was whispering something under its breath... I couldn't tell what it was... I was reminded of school lessons, Ignore and Walk ahead.... And thats what I did....

A couple of steps later, I looked back... And all of them were tailing me... The one that had been trying to smell something was leading them all... My heartbeat quickened.. My steps gained pace involuntarily... It was as if I was breaking into an involuntary sprint... The 'eyes' gained speed too.. The one at the end was now practically running... I could see the guard of my building compund now.... I could even see my home... Only a couple of more steps now...

No sooner had this thought flashed into my mind, that I started running...The 'eyes' behind me now raised their war cry... The whimper now broke into a howl.... A long screeching howl... Boooo-Wow-wow--Booo.... I turned back to see that the one closest to me was now baring its fangs... And there was drool dripping from its tongue... I yelled, and leapt into the compound... And fell...Rolled into a mound of dust...And survived!

The dogs, though, mercifully stayed at the gate... Staring hungrily, their howls having once again been reduced to a faint whimper... The guard was waving his lathi at those wretched creatures...And they seemed to have fallen in line... Off they went waving their tails... Perhaps in search of another victim.. Perhaps to kill another....