An Enigma

                   It was a disastrous occurrence when our car broke down in the middle of a vast expanse of stark fields with not any mark of habitation for miles at an end. Not a tree was in view. It seemed that the land had got blisters from the scorching sun overhead. It was a moonless night. Neither the chirping of the cricket nor the hooting of the owl was heard. An eerie atmosphere pervaded.

 Suddenly there was a rattling sound from the wheels and then to my horror, I discovered that the tyre was absolutely flat and as I had not taken immediate action, I found that the puncture had caused abrasions on the tyre and they were damaged beyond repair. Frantically searching for the jack to change the tyre, I discovered to my dismay that in my hurry I had left it in the garage. So I felt that I should try and get some help, for otherwise I was doomed in the God-forsaken place. After I had gone about half a mile, constantly stumbling in the darkness, a man materialzed seemingly from nowhere. He inquired politely whether I needed help. I simply cannot express how relieved I felt, it was as if I had got a morsel of bread after days of starvation. In my agitation I stammered unintelligibly “pl----ple-please, I will be only too grateful”.

                I  looked at the stranger closely. He seemed to be a young man of about thirty-five, with sharp features, a generous crop of unruly hair and a pair of deep penetrating eyes. He spoke comfortingly and assured me that there was no reason to worry as he would send his own mechanics. They were very efficient and would do the needful. The car would be ready for the rest of the journey in no time. I cannot express the depth of gratitude that welled up in my heart, for I was like a helpless blind person floundering in the darkness without tools or knowledge of how to get out of the situation. I quickened my footsteps, for I was in a frantic hurry to escape from the all-engulfing pitch darkness which had spread its tentacles and was almost suffocating me. But though I hurried, it seemed that the chains of panic were pulling me back and I was hardly making any progress. With determination and a strong will power I carried on, with my heart pounding, but hoping that the stranger had not duped me. How he had appeared so unexpectedly at that unseemly hour had me puzzled and infused apprehensions in my mind.

My imaginations ran wild and made my limbs weak and they involuntarily shook like trees when a tornado is passing through. I asked myself over and over again, what that well- dressed man could be doing in the middle of a barren deserted land at that time of the night all by himself. Nothing seemed normal or natural. I had seen magicians producing beautiful ladies from empty cabinets, but this was no magic! Everything seemed so weird. As I approached my car, I could not see anybody repairing the flat tyre. My heart sank as the thought of spending the night in the wilderness, and it drained off the little vestige of life left in me. When I came closer I could not believe my eyes. The tyres were no longer deflated. How could they have been repaired so fast and where were the men who were described as “efficient”? Besides surely they would not depart without taking their labor charges! Everything seemed terribly confusing.

        At that moment only one thought was uppermost in my mind -- how I could get away. I turned on the ignition and the engine spluttered into life and without a word of protest the car started speeding through the desolate expanse. It was devouring mile after mile in its voracious appetite, for I was pressing on the accelerator in unabated urgency. My pulse was racing and I could feel my temples throb. .But something strange took place. The car started to shudder and then hiccupped once or twice and finally it screeched into a total stop. Not only did I feel exasperated but I could bear the stress no longer. Even so, one cannot just give up when one is on one’s own. Somehow or the other I got her started and moving, after a lot of coaxing, though she resolutely expressed her disapproval and refused to oblige. I had bought the car recently and it was in an excellent condition, so I was taken by surprise. I could not figure out what was happening---the whole situation seemed odd and bizarre --- moreover so because not only once but twice, and then thrice the same thing occurred. The uncanny happenings had got me worried as I definitely could not find an explanation. As I spotted the electric lights of the township in the distance, I felt blood seeping back into my veins. There would be people, life and normalcy, the thought was like an elixir. I passed town after town and finally I saw the familiar landmarks.

First there was Ruby Hospital, then Metro Cash and Carry, Peerless Hospital and finally the Metropolis Mall. Two more minutes and I would be in my home sweet home. But as luck would have it, as I came to the gate of Hiland Park, the car stopped abruptly and refused to move. As I knew, the residents were not supposed to park their cars at the gate and there would be a lot of complaints, I tried to move the car but it was impossible. At the end of being bone-tired, I left the car and requested the Security Personnel to inform me if there were any angry exchanges so that I could explain. I also told him if he could garage the car, he should do so because I did not want to inconvenience the residents. In my heart of hearts, I knew no earthly power could remove the car as somehow or the other my sixth sense was telling me that there was an unseen power behind these happenings.

                                                     

    I went up to my flat on the third floor. Drowsily I opened the door and unsuccessfully tried to get some sense out of the entire episode. As I yawned and stretched due to fatigue, and flung my shoes on one side of the room, I decided I would not bother about the car, but retire to bed and take my much –needed rest. Hardly had I indulged in a few winks of sleep when there was the doorbell. Somebody had come. It was the Security fellow with my car keys. He informed me that as there was a lot of honking due to my car obstructing the passageway, he himself had got behind the steering wheel but to his astonishment had found maneuvring the car very easy. He had garaged the car and handed over the keys to me. I thanked him for his services but sleep deserted me. After that the whole night I kept tossing and turning but it was not possible to get any rest. As I closed my eyes, I could hear the sound of footsteps moving about in the room. I even felt as if someone was gently stroking me, or else I saw the well-dressed man again, asking me if he could be of any help. Sleep eluded me for it is still not clear to me whether all that had transpired was just imagination or stark reality! I lay on my bed with the sheets becoming gradually damp with the perspiration which bathed my body.

      Though It was a bright sunny morning, I had to drag myself out of bed despite the fact that the sun was already way up in the sky. I took a quick bath and shaved, put on a starched white shirt, ready for my breakfast. I preferred to have my meals on the balcony as then I felt less lonely as I could see people coming and going through the passageway downstairs, My breakfast was very simple, just a bowl of cornflakes, two crisp toasts with a generous helping of butter and strawberry jam, and a cup of hot chocolate. As I was trying to recollect whether I had put sugar in my cornflakes, I saw my driver coming down the passageway.

                He had been absent for the last two days, He seemed to have lost weight. He looked disturbed and withdrawn. His chin was lined with the growth of coarse hair which he had left unshaven. His eyes were red and swollen perhaps because of insufficient sleep, his shoulders slumped forward as if he was going through some mental depression. With slow unsteady gait he managed to come up. When I opened the door, he broke down. Between his sobs, he rushed through his words which were impossible for me to make out Somehow or the other I gathered that the last day he had reported for duty, when he was driving back late in the night at twelve o’clock, a motorcyclist had come speeding and crashed into his car. The man was flung like a stone from a catapult and he went wheezing through the air. He did not wait to see the rider’s mangled remains but drove as fast as he could and garaged the car. The next two days were like living hell for him and as his mental agony had become unbearable he had come to confess his misdeed. He sank down on the ground in a heap and pleaded with me to report the accident to the police as he himself was now incapable of any action.

              Everything became crystal clear to me. The mysterious appearance of the stranger in the God forsaken place, the abrupt stopping of the car for no apparent reason and the other happenings which did not have any explanation, now all fitted together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The stranger was no other than the spirit of the motorcycle rider who was trying to tell me about his fatal end at the hands of my driver, who had gone unpunished.  But I was in the horns of a dilemma------what was I to do? If I reported the accident then my poor driver who was not to blame would be in dire trouble. On the other hand, I had the moral obligation to report the death. The latter reasoning seemed more compelling. So my driver and I marched to the police station.

             The officer- in-Charge heard the whole narrative patiently. Then he went through his file. He shook his head and told us there must have been some mistake because there were no reports of any casualty or motorcycle accident in the past two-three days. I looked at my driver and he looked at me. There was nothing more to do at the police station so we left.

              The driver could have hit the motorcyclist but he had evidently escaped grave injury. Likewise, his motor cycle presumably remained intact. As for the stranger, he could not have been a figment of one’s imagination but a man of flesh and blood. The weird happenings in the car seemed to have been just coincidence. Now I leave it to the reader to decide whether it was another of the day to day incidents or an act of intrusion from the supernatural world.