Who let the dogs out?
“The cup of life…………” screamed my mobile. I picked it up lying on the bed.
“Good Morning”, she said.
“Good Morning”, I replied slowly opening my eyes.
“I am not feeling well. I won’t be coming to college today”, she said.
“Why? What happened?” I asked her.
“Fever!” she replied faintly.
“Ok. Take care. I miss you sweetheart”
“I miss you too dear”.
I covered myself with a blanket and went back to sleep. I don’t know for how long I slept until somebody shook me vigorously holding my shoulders. I opened my eyes. It was Deepak.
“Get up! Aren’t you coming to college today?” he asked me.
“Neha said she won’t come today. So college would be very boring”, I said sleepily. “I won’t come. You carry on!”
But Deep was very obstinate. He compelled me to accompany him and I finally ended up going to college after a lot of huffs and puffs.
“What periods do we have today?” I asked Deep.
“Operating Systems, Communication Theory and DBMS in the morning and C++ lab session in the afternoon”, he replied.
“Shall we go for a movie?” Dileep asked me.
“At what time is the show?”
“11 A.M”
“Done! Inform our group”, I said elatedly.
Our group consisted of three girls and four boys. We watched the movie, had lunch at a nearby restaurant and reached home by 4 P.M. I had a short nap and woke up around 6 P.M in the evening.
I felt a strong urge to see her. I changed my dress and drove my bike to her apartment. The sky was overcast with dark clouds. I prayed that it should not rain for the next one or two hours.
Deep and Neha resided in the same apartment. His flat was in the second floor and she was in the fourth floor. I parked my bike outside his apartment and called her on mobile.
“I am inside your apartment. I want to see you now”, I said.
“Hey!” she was surprised.
“I will meet Deep first and then come to the terrace. Be there!”, I said.
“Hey! Listen!” she muttered. “My mom will kill me if she…”
“Then shall I go back?” I asked her.
She was silent.
“Ok! My mom asked me to get dried clothes from the terrace”, she paused for a few seconds. “But only 5 minutes! Ok” she said.
“Sure!”
I rang the doorbell of Deep’s flat. He opened the door.
“Come! Let’s go to the terrace”, I said.
“Why?” he asked me curiously.
“I’ll tell you a secret about your girl friend”, I said. He was puzzled.
Little Pinky was weeping at the entrance of her flat.
“Why is Pinky crying?” I asked him.
“Her pet dog was missing since morning. It has run away”, said Deep.
“Nowadays, dogs cost a lot and thieves aren’t sparing them either”, I said. “Just recently, my neighbour took his dog for a stroll in the morning. Two young men followed him on a bike, manhandled him and carried the dog away”
“Who let the dogs out”, Deep hummed the famous song shaking his head back and forth as we climbed the stairs leading to the balcony.
She was waiting for me in the terrace carrying a heap of dried clothes. Deep turned and looked at me. “You idiot!” he said biting his teeth angrily. “Her mother had already warned her against talking to you. Come! Let’s go back”
“Please! Please! Just give me five minutes. I will just see her and come back. You keep guard here”, I pleaded him.
“What are you going to see for five minutes?” he asked me irately. “This is not your apartment. If somebody notices you both romancing here, I will be one accused for bringing you here. My mother will batter me to death. Please!”
“Deep! Just remember, how much I helped you in the past. Have you forgotten all that? Am I not your best friend?” I said emotionally adding a chunk of sentiment. He took a huge gasp of breath and looked at me.
“OK! Only five minutes. See her and come back as fast as possible. I will stand here and make sure nobody is coming”
I felt very happy and walked towards her swiftly. She smiled on seeing me. It was very dark. Cold breeze blew past us making the conditions perfect for romance. We held your hands together and my fingers moved into hers. We talked about how we missed each other. I moved closer to her looking into her eyes. Suddenly Deep called out my name. I turned back to see my friend running towards me.
“Neha’s mother and my mom are coming here. Come fast, let’s go”, he said anxiously.
“Oh No! If my mother sees you, she will kill me. Go and hide somewhere”, she grew tensed. “Hide somewhere, fast”, she pushed my shoulder.
“Where can we hide here?” I asked her. “It looks like you want me to jump from this terrace”
“Hide below that water tank”, she said. I saw the huge cemented water tank. There was a gap of almost three feet between the floor and the bottom of the tank. I ran with towards the tank with Deep and crawled under it.
“What are you doing here?” I heard her mother scream.
“My dress is missing. I was searching for it”, Neha replied.
We heard their conversation silently sneaking into the place below the tank.
“People might mistake us if they find us both in this position here. It altogether conveys a different meaning that we are…” Deep whispered
“You idiot!” I was enraged. I felt a strong urge to slap him hard on his face but controlled myself.
“There would be some valves hanging here. Make sure you don’t bang your head against them”, he said.
“Ouch!” I heard him scream with pain. He banged his head against one of them.
The place was stinking with a foul odour. I held my breath feeling a vomiting sensation.
“Is this a water tank or a se…..” I stopped my words on noticing something.
There a heavy object lying before us. It was hindering the passage of air but we could not see it clearly in the darkness. He switched on the light of his mobile we had a look at the strange object. For a moment, my heart missed a beat. A strange chill ran down my spine. A huge dog was lying there. It was of the size of a Doberman. He instantly switched off the light and stared me in fear. I could feel his hands and legs trembling like a patient affected with fits. I was not sure whether the dog was dead or sleeping. I wanted to put my fingers near its nose and check whether it was inhaling oxygen, but I had no guts to do so. Then there was a sound of a low moan. Deep crawled closer to me.
“What’s that sound?” he whispered.
“The dog is snoring”, I said maintaining my voice as low as possible. “It’s in a good sleep. Unless we wake it up, there will not be any problem”, I solaced him. There was a sound of thunder followed by lightning.
Neha’s mother and Deep’s mother were conversing something loudly a few meters away from us. I was afraid whether the dog would wake up on hearing their voices, but it did not.
I was damn angry on Neha. She could have taken her mother downstairs. It looked that she was intentionally making me suffer and enjoying very moment of it.
Suddenly it started raining heavily. The conversations diminished. It appeared that they were moving away from us. We knew that the rain water would flow into the area where we were hiding.
“I will go out and see whether they have gone”, I said.
“You idiot! You wanted to leave me alone with the dog here”, Deep grumbled angrily.
“Then! Do you want us to permanently stay here” I asked him furiously.
“I will go and check. You wait here”, he said.
“Ok!” I nodded my head.
He found it difficult to crawl backwards. So he crawled forward tardily making sure not to touch the sleeping creature. First, his head came out from the hiding area. Then his hands followed and he crawled further. He did not notice that the dog’s tail was spread before him and dragged his knees onto it.
“Bow-wow”, there was deafening sound. I was not sure whether it was the sound of pain or anger, but I knew that my days were over. I closed my eyes and bent my face on the ground in fright. But Deep ran away from the tank on hearing the barks. On seeing him running, the dog chased him instead of attacking me. There were sounds of loud thuds, yells, barks and screams as the dog pursued him all over the balcony in darkness. I was afraid whether he would trip over something and fall from the terrace. Suddenly, everything was silent. I laid there still for another half-an-hour wondering what to do. The rain showed no signs of abating. Water flowed under me wetting the front portion of my shirt and pant. I quietly crawled out of the hiding place and dusted my clothes. I got down the stairs as passed through Deep’s house. Little Pinky was smiling. She had found her dog.
I made sure nobody noticed me and walked out of the apartment. I started my bike and zipped across the road in the gushing rain. I reached home and called Neha.
“I am really sorry for what has happened. Actually…..”
“Did he mention our names?” I interrupted her.
“No! But the dog bit him hard. They carried him to the hospital”
The next morning, I met Deep at his home. He lay on the sofa watching television wearing a sleeveless vest and shorts. There were some bandages on his hands and left thigh.
“What happened aunty?” I asked his mother.
“Somebody called him over phone yesterday. Fearing that I would overhear his conversation, he went to the terrace and continued his call”, explained his mother. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing when is over the phone. He stamped the neighbour’s dog that was sleeping there and it bit him all over his body”.
Deep glared at me with anger largely writ on his face. I narrowed my eyes pleading him mercy. After spending some time with him, I walked out of the apartment and started my bike. I felt that somebody was watching me. I looked up. Neha was staring at me from her bedroom balcony. She made sure nobody was watching her and gave me a flying kiss. I looked all around the deserted road. There was nobody at sight. I raised my hand in the air, accepted it and kissed my palm.
“The cup of life…………” screamed my mobile. I picked it up lying on the bed.
“Good Morning”, she said.
“Good Morning”, I replied slowly opening my eyes.
“I am not feeling well. I won’t be coming to college today”, she said.
“Why? What happened?” I asked her.
“Fever!” she replied faintly.
“Ok. Take care. I miss you sweetheart”
“I miss you too dear”.
I covered myself with a blanket and went back to sleep. I don’t know for how long I slept until somebody shook me vigorously holding my shoulders. I opened my eyes. It was Deepak.
“Get up! Aren’t you coming to college today?” he asked me.
“Neha said she won’t come today. So college would be very boring”, I said sleepily. “I won’t come. You carry on!”
But Deep was very obstinate. He compelled me to accompany him and I finally ended up going to college after a lot of huffs and puffs.
“What periods do we have today?” I asked Deep.
“Operating Systems, Communication Theory and DBMS in the morning and C++ lab session in the afternoon”, he replied.
“Shall we go for a movie?” Dileep asked me.
“At what time is the show?”
“11 A.M”
“Done! Inform our group”, I said elatedly.
Our group consisted of three girls and four boys. We watched the movie, had lunch at a nearby restaurant and reached home by 4 P.M. I had a short nap and woke up around 6 P.M in the evening.
I felt a strong urge to see her. I changed my dress and drove my bike to her apartment. The sky was overcast with dark clouds. I prayed that it should not rain for the next one or two hours.
Deep and Neha resided in the same apartment. His flat was in the second floor and she was in the fourth floor. I parked my bike outside his apartment and called her on mobile.
“I am inside your apartment. I want to see you now”, I said.
“Hey!” she was surprised.
“I will meet Deep first and then come to the terrace. Be there!”, I said.
“Hey! Listen!” she muttered. “My mom will kill me if she…”
“Then shall I go back?” I asked her.
She was silent.
“Ok! My mom asked me to get dried clothes from the terrace”, she paused for a few seconds. “But only 5 minutes! Ok” she said.
“Sure!”
I rang the doorbell of Deep’s flat. He opened the door.
“Come! Let’s go to the terrace”, I said.
“Why?” he asked me curiously.
“I’ll tell you a secret about your girl friend”, I said. He was puzzled.
Little Pinky was weeping at the entrance of her flat.
“Why is Pinky crying?” I asked him.
“Her pet dog was missing since morning. It has run away”, said Deep.
“Nowadays, dogs cost a lot and thieves aren’t sparing them either”, I said. “Just recently, my neighbour took his dog for a stroll in the morning. Two young men followed him on a bike, manhandled him and carried the dog away”
“Who let the dogs out”, Deep hummed the famous song shaking his head back and forth as we climbed the stairs leading to the balcony.
She was waiting for me in the terrace carrying a heap of dried clothes. Deep turned and looked at me. “You idiot!” he said biting his teeth angrily. “Her mother had already warned her against talking to you. Come! Let’s go back”
“Please! Please! Just give me five minutes. I will just see her and come back. You keep guard here”, I pleaded him.
“What are you going to see for five minutes?” he asked me irately. “This is not your apartment. If somebody notices you both romancing here, I will be one accused for bringing you here. My mother will batter me to death. Please!”
“Deep! Just remember, how much I helped you in the past. Have you forgotten all that? Am I not your best friend?” I said emotionally adding a chunk of sentiment. He took a huge gasp of breath and looked at me.
“OK! Only five minutes. See her and come back as fast as possible. I will stand here and make sure nobody is coming”
I felt very happy and walked towards her swiftly. She smiled on seeing me. It was very dark. Cold breeze blew past us making the conditions perfect for romance. We held your hands together and my fingers moved into hers. We talked about how we missed each other. I moved closer to her looking into her eyes. Suddenly Deep called out my name. I turned back to see my friend running towards me.
“Neha’s mother and my mom are coming here. Come fast, let’s go”, he said anxiously.
“Oh No! If my mother sees you, she will kill me. Go and hide somewhere”, she grew tensed. “Hide somewhere, fast”, she pushed my shoulder.
“Where can we hide here?” I asked her. “It looks like you want me to jump from this terrace”
“Hide below that water tank”, she said. I saw the huge cemented water tank. There was a gap of almost three feet between the floor and the bottom of the tank. I ran with towards the tank with Deep and crawled under it.
“What are you doing here?” I heard her mother scream.
“My dress is missing. I was searching for it”, Neha replied.
We heard their conversation silently sneaking into the place below the tank.
“People might mistake us if they find us both in this position here. It altogether conveys a different meaning that we are…” Deep whispered
“You idiot!” I was enraged. I felt a strong urge to slap him hard on his face but controlled myself.
“There would be some valves hanging here. Make sure you don’t bang your head against them”, he said.
“Ouch!” I heard him scream with pain. He banged his head against one of them.
The place was stinking with a foul odour. I held my breath feeling a vomiting sensation.
“Is this a water tank or a se…..” I stopped my words on noticing something.
There a heavy object lying before us. It was hindering the passage of air but we could not see it clearly in the darkness. He switched on the light of his mobile we had a look at the strange object. For a moment, my heart missed a beat. A strange chill ran down my spine. A huge dog was lying there. It was of the size of a Doberman. He instantly switched off the light and stared me in fear. I could feel his hands and legs trembling like a patient affected with fits. I was not sure whether the dog was dead or sleeping. I wanted to put my fingers near its nose and check whether it was inhaling oxygen, but I had no guts to do so. Then there was a sound of a low moan. Deep crawled closer to me.
“What’s that sound?” he whispered.
“The dog is snoring”, I said maintaining my voice as low as possible. “It’s in a good sleep. Unless we wake it up, there will not be any problem”, I solaced him. There was a sound of thunder followed by lightning.
Neha’s mother and Deep’s mother were conversing something loudly a few meters away from us. I was afraid whether the dog would wake up on hearing their voices, but it did not.
I was damn angry on Neha. She could have taken her mother downstairs. It looked that she was intentionally making me suffer and enjoying very moment of it.
Suddenly it started raining heavily. The conversations diminished. It appeared that they were moving away from us. We knew that the rain water would flow into the area where we were hiding.
“I will go out and see whether they have gone”, I said.
“You idiot! You wanted to leave me alone with the dog here”, Deep grumbled angrily.
“Then! Do you want us to permanently stay here” I asked him furiously.
“I will go and check. You wait here”, he said.
“Ok!” I nodded my head.
He found it difficult to crawl backwards. So he crawled forward tardily making sure not to touch the sleeping creature. First, his head came out from the hiding area. Then his hands followed and he crawled further. He did not notice that the dog’s tail was spread before him and dragged his knees onto it.
“Bow-wow”, there was deafening sound. I was not sure whether it was the sound of pain or anger, but I knew that my days were over. I closed my eyes and bent my face on the ground in fright. But Deep ran away from the tank on hearing the barks. On seeing him running, the dog chased him instead of attacking me. There were sounds of loud thuds, yells, barks and screams as the dog pursued him all over the balcony in darkness. I was afraid whether he would trip over something and fall from the terrace. Suddenly, everything was silent. I laid there still for another half-an-hour wondering what to do. The rain showed no signs of abating. Water flowed under me wetting the front portion of my shirt and pant. I quietly crawled out of the hiding place and dusted my clothes. I got down the stairs as passed through Deep’s house. Little Pinky was smiling. She had found her dog.
I made sure nobody noticed me and walked out of the apartment. I started my bike and zipped across the road in the gushing rain. I reached home and called Neha.
“I am really sorry for what has happened. Actually…..”
“Did he mention our names?” I interrupted her.
“No! But the dog bit him hard. They carried him to the hospital”
The next morning, I met Deep at his home. He lay on the sofa watching television wearing a sleeveless vest and shorts. There were some bandages on his hands and left thigh.
“What happened aunty?” I asked his mother.
“Somebody called him over phone yesterday. Fearing that I would overhear his conversation, he went to the terrace and continued his call”, explained his mother. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing when is over the phone. He stamped the neighbour’s dog that was sleeping there and it bit him all over his body”.
Deep glared at me with anger largely writ on his face. I narrowed my eyes pleading him mercy. After spending some time with him, I walked out of the apartment and started my bike. I felt that somebody was watching me. I looked up. Neha was staring at me from her bedroom balcony. She made sure nobody was watching her and gave me a flying kiss. I looked all around the deserted road. There was nobody at sight. I raised my hand in the air, accepted it and kissed my palm.
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