A Long Drive

The wind along with the heavy rains have made visibility levels dim, making it furthermore difficult to drive. A drive through the Interiors of Belgaum - Goa stretch known for its bad roads, coupled with Heavy Rain and Darkness of the Night is what Joy and his Wife, Sam have decided to undertake. Joy, an IT engineer from Pune, and his wife were planning a short weekend trip for a Long time. They had shortlisted many a venues and hotels but their plans just could not take off for varied reasons. With the onset of Monsoon, Joy, who just loves driving and thinks of himself as a bag packer, had decided to go to Belgaum Via Goa and spend a few hours on Road whilst exploring the uncharted rural roads. His plan was well endorsed by his wife Sam, who is an Interior designer by profession and hails from Mumbai. She comes from a very elite background and a Uber Upbringing. Joy and Sam met on Facebook and eventually got Married, albeit much against, WELL everybody's wish. So they decide on an impromptu road trip and left Pune at about 5 in the evening hoping to reach Goa by late night. Little did they knew what was in store for them!! Joy is an avid Driving Fan but even he is facing difficulties in maneuvering his Car through the Bad roads amidst heavy rains and no lights at all. " यार येह बारिश को भी आज ही बरसना था।।। इससे अच्छा तोह हम कल सुबह निकलते।" comes a loud and frustrating mumble from Joy, who is finding it extremely difficult to drive even a centimeter ahead and he perhaps now looks worried. "Chill Joy, this is the fun that we wanted and were missing in our lives. Relax and enjoy!!!" Comes a reply from Sam, who has now had more than what she can of the alcohol, a habit of hers that Joy has always hated. Joy is in two minds. He thinks of just stopping his Car and wait for the rains to subdue, at the same time he does not want to stop in a dark, unknown, and aloof place. He decides to continue driving till he sees some lights or a village where he finds something for them to spend this painful night that it has turned to be. Whilst in the search of a possible human civilization, Joy realizes that the Car is now less on Fuel and might need a Refueling in about 30 odd kilometers. This further adds to his agony. He does not want to make his wife be worried and tries to slowly drive ahead, mostly and probably only on his gut feeling. The rain now seems to get harder but the roads better and Joy has just started to accelerate a bit more. And then suddenly out of nowhere, he is Happy!!!! And out of nowhere, Joy suddenly sees a glimpse of some lights, which give him a bit of relief. He hurriedly drives towards those red lights which seem to get clearer and closer and that brings Joy to Joy, who has had a pretty torrid time since last hour or so. As he reaches closer, he realizes that the lights are of the Tail Lights of a Car that is parked in the middle of the road and out of nowhere. Joy stops his Car exactly behind it and tries to look for someone within it.

Sam has almost passed out now and is unaware of the recent happenings. Joy, whose inner optimism to find someone in the car is excited. He still cannot see someone in it. He decides to throw some blinkers and honk the horns. But does not get any response. Joy, now A bit curious as well as hopeful decides to get out of his Car and enquire. He looks at Sam and with her in the state that she is, decides to get in the car.The rains seem to be growing with every passing minute and Joy shuffles through the back of his car to get a hand on the umbrella. It is almost 1 in the night, and Joy, gathering a bit of courage opens the door of his Car. The rain slashes through his face and the wind just brings along a lot of water with it, enough to wholly drench him. Joy, with utmost struggle, opens his umbrella and advances towards the car.Whilst advancing towards it, he has a glance at the number plate suggesting the Car belongs to someone from Mumbai. As Joy reaches the front window of the car and looks inside, he tries to sneak into the windows but nothing is visible though. Joy knock on the front window and shouts, " Hey, कोई है, Need help ". There was no response. Joy knocks again this time a bit louder, but the result is the same. Sam, now losing hopes, tries to sneak into the interior through the windows. Only to have a look at the darkness and no human to have a sight of.Being drenched, disappointed, and frustrated, Joy turns back towards his Car. He could still see Sam sleeping on the front seat and completely unaware of the situation in which they are into. Joy opens the door and hops back into his Car. He is now fully wet and doesn't want to drive any further. Also, he is skeptical and enthused with whatever has happened to the owner of the car that is parked just ahead of them. With him being extremely tired, he decides not to drive any further for the night and be in the company of another car, though there ain't anyone in it. Joy switches on the parking lights of his Car and dozes of in the matter of few minutes."भाईसाहब, दरवाजा खोलो, please help. Please. Thud and suddenly Joy's sleep is disturbed. He tries to open his eyes and in shock, sees a man banging aloud on his window and screaming for help!!! Joy is Petrified by this sudden event and taken aback. He looks at the Man who looks like a Middle-aged Chap and in a big soup. He then looks at Sam and to HIS HORROR!!!!! SAM WAS NOT AROUND!!!!!He is Baffled with no sight of Sam and tries to look around the car and at the backside. Sam was nowhere to be found. He tries calling Sam on her mobile number and her phone went ringing right in front of him on his next seat. Amidst all this chaos, Joy suddenly remembers the Man who had just knocked at his window and looks around. The Man had Gone!!! He had disappeared all of a sudden and that made Joy Shiver. He, though not a believer in Ghosts has suddenly now started to get a spooky feeling about the place, people, and events that he has just encountered.The rains continue to be torrent and the only respite that Joy has in the dark night is the Car which is stationed in front of his. Joy decides to go and check into it again. Hoping that the man who had just asked him for help might be the owner of that car. He takes a deep breath and gets out of his Car. He heads straight towards the front window and knocks it hard. There is still no response and he tries to sneak into the car through the window again. The seen inside the car is nothing short of a shock to Joy!! What he sees inside the car takes him aback with fear, confusion, and a huge jolt.The man who had come knocking at his window for help a few minutes back in sitting inside the car, holding the steering wheel and looking straight at the road. And on his next seat, is none other but Sam who is awake and looking straight at Joy!!! The sight of Sam brings a huge relief to Joy who heads straight towards the other side and bangs on the door. He shouts out to Sam to open the door but only to find Sam staring at her through the window with a blank face and a bleak expression. Joy tries to use all his force to open the door while continuing to shout asking Sam to come out. Alas!! There is nothing much that can do.From being worried about the dangerous journey, Joy's only focus was to get Sam out of that car. Sam's straight stares at him without any reaction is also scaring her. Suddenly Joy remembers the baseball bat that he normally carries in his car, to wend of any threats on a road trip. Joy hurriedly moves towards the rear end of his car to fetch it. Amidst the debris of their luggage, Joy gets his hand on the bat and he starts charging towards the car with an intention to break the windows. And Suddenly, the car which has Sam in it Starts!!!!Joy cannot believe what he has just seen and gets back into his car with an intention to pursue.

The car in front races ahead amidst the thick, dark stretch of the Night leaving Joy with no other option to drive recklessly himself. Joy, whose heartbeat has suddenly shot up with the chase that he is into is in for another shock. The car in front of him suddenly shuts down its lights!!! At almost 3.30 in the night on a dark, rainy road, Joy who as such had a problem driving coupled with his worries has nothing that he can have a trail off. Using the support of his own car's headlights, which of course are of no much help, he tries to speed along on uncharted territory. With Sam on his mind, he drives recklessly and all of a sudden he hears a voice, "भाईसाहब, ध्यान से।।। आगे जानलेवा खाई है।"A sudden brake and a long screeching noise of his tire, Joy turns to his left and to His horror finds a woman, middle-aged and giving him the same stare that Sam gave her. Joy is now petrified. Unable to gauge the things that have just happened, he just gets out of his car and starts running back. He is extremely horrified at the sight of that unknown lady in his car who appeared all of a sudden. Joy continues to run out of fear and just does not care to look back. He is exhausted, tired, and confused. And Suddenly, hears a loud crash!!! Joy stops running and looks back. To his horror, he sees a lot of smoke and fire coming out of a ditch some distance ahead. Worried about what has happened, Joy runs back to see what has just happened. He is worried about both cars now. Is it his own car or the car that had Sam in it that has crashed!!! As Joy continues to run(perhaps jog now due to his stamina after whatever has happened), he sees his Car stationed at the same place where he had just abandoned it. Joy, now extremely worried about Sam, with it being obvious that it is the other car that has crashed, run towards the crash site. Surprisingly, as he approaches the site of smoke, the smoke and the fire seem to disappear. Joy, stands in utter dismay and tries to look and glare at the accident spot but could see nothing. The only thing that he can sense is a smell of smoke but has nothing to display. Joy, still standing there and now on a verge of a breakdown, starts crying aloud. He knows he has lost his Sam. He just falls down on his knees in the middle of the road and starts crying. A Road trip that was supposed to be fun has turned out to be devastating for him and his wife. He curls up himself and let's put a loud shout to Sam, one last time. And suddenly, he hears a horn!!! A horn that has been honked from his own car. Joy gathers some strength and stands up. The horn keeps on continuing and Joy keeps on wondering. He walks towards his car, albeit with a fear of the unknown lady that he had last seen in his car. As he is about to approach his car, Joy hears a voice that makes him anxious. "What the hell are you up to Joy!!! This is no time to play Pranks", comes a shout from someone that Joy Knows about!!!! Joy hurries towards his Car and opens the door and to His surprise, he sees Sam sitting in the front seat and staring at Joy, but this time with a lot of anger!!! " where the hell solid you think you were going? Don't scare me, Joy. Just be inside the car and let's park here; we move ahead when the sun risesJoy just cannot believe his eyes and all the events of the Night take a flashback in his mind. He smiles at Sam and Passes out!!! The rest of the night was spent in Sam trying to get Joy back in his senses. The couple left early in the morning when the rains halted and the light was good. Sam kept on asking Joy as to what he was doing on the road and Joy just smiled. There are certain things in life that remain a mystery. The Goa-Belgaum road will be one for Joy as well.