Stifling Retreat

The day was beautiful, the flowers were in bloom, the trees were in greens. Children had gone to school, some adults were hurrying for work, while some had stepped out to buy the daily essentials and so had Dipesh.



Dipesh had left his work, he had found something to keep him going for good many days.



Dipesh parked his scooter, locked his helmet to the given holder at the back of the scooter and then he pulled out his grocery bag from the space provided under the seat of the scooter. Then Dipesh walked to the front of the supermarket and stood out for a while looking at all the offers displayed outside.



Supermarkets are one of the most convenient means of living out there in the world. They provide a large variety of food and household products available at one place. Although their popularity has dwindled in recent times with the arrival of companies which deliver groceries to the doorstep within minutes, yet somehow, they carry on with their unique sense of importance.



I personally believe in a day and age where people are increasingly opting to work from home, supermarkets might just become a beacon of hope in the near future for humanity to step outside the boundaries of their household.



Dipesh walked into the store to look for the things he needed. He found his favourite brand of digestive biscuit, but something was out of place about it.



‘The quantity is less but the price is more and the company has also cut down on the packaging it seems,’ Dipesh thought a little disappointed upon this step down by his preferred brand.



Dipesh walked around going from aisle to aisle. Not that he had any choice, the supermarkets intentionally change the position of the items in the aisles so that consumers walk around more, coming across different items which they might not need yet but may still end up buying anyways. It will not be false to say that many are living an influenced life.



Dipesh was back on his scooter returning home with the essentials. He loved these scooter rides, ever since he had shifted to this town a few months back. The air here was cleaner and more enjoyable than his previous neighbourhood.



Dipesh parked his scooter outside the two-floor house and holding the grocery bag in one hand and the helmet in the other, he walked towards the door.



He kept the grocery bag down near the door and took out the door key from his pocket. As he inserted the key into the keyhole, he realised the key wouldn’t turn to unlock the door. He tried turning the key in the other direction and it turned, locking the door.



‘Did I forget to lock the door on my way out?’ Dipesh thought as he entered the house.



He removed his shoes and slid his feet into his slippers. Then he entered the kitchen with his grocery bag and arranged all the things he had brought in their proper place. Finally, he hung the grocery bag behind the kitchen door.



Dipesh entered his drawing room and switched on the light. As he moved to sit on the sofa, he stopped. Someone had already made himself comfortable on the sofa and he was looking directly at Dipesh as if waiting for him.



Dipesh recalled the unlocked door in his memory. He knew this was trouble, he could see it, he could smell it, he could feel it. He would have dashed to run away from this stranger if it was not for the gun he was holding.



The stranger looked like a man in his late forties. He had a lean face and lean body, clean shaved, a wisp moustache and hair side parted. He was wearing a polyester blend two-piece black suit with thin white vertical lines pattern. On his middle finger of right hand was a gold signet ring and on his leg were black lace up formal shoes. The photochromatic glasses of the spectacles did not allow the expression of his eyes to be revealed completely.



“Please sit down, don’t just stand there. All that standing with that scared expression is starting to make me feel uncomfortable,” spoke the stranger



Dipesh slowly stepped forward and sat on a sofa facing the stranger. The stranger picked up a half-filled cup of coffee which was kept on the dining table in between.



“I hope you don’t mind me preparing a cup of coffee for myself,” the stranger spoke and then he gave a light smile, “it wouldn’t help me to be off my focus due to a tired mind.”



Sweat trickled down Dipesh’s head, his mind was running at a capacity much higher than what he has been capable of till the date.



‘Who is this person? What does he want? Should I be worried for my life?’ were some thoughts that passed through Dipesh’s mind.



The stranger pushed forward a bottle of water towards Dipesh, “some water down the throat might bring some colour back to your face.”



Dipesh picked up the bottle and opened the cap to have a sip of water.



The stranger smiled, “Very good, now I suppose you have some questions for me, so go ahead.”



Dipesh cleared his throat, “If it is money, I can give it to you.”



“Do I look like a person in need of money?” the stranger said keeping the cup down



“Did someone send you to… I mean do you want to kill me?” asked Dipesh looking at the gun



“You did have a sip of the water in the bottle. Do you feel anything.. what should I say.. uneasy?” asked the stranger



Dipesh did not feel any uneasiness but when the stranger put that thought in his head, now he was beginning to feel something.



“Relax.. I can see there is a shortage of brightness up there in your head. What I meant to say is, if I wanted to kill you then you would be dead after drinking that water,” said the stranger



Dipesh felt a fraction of relief. He wasn’t going to die just yet.



“Then why are you here?” asked Dipesh



“Giving up so soon? Try to guess one more time. How about you give me the right answer and this will all be over. I will not hit you or anything like that,” said the stranger



Dipesh was starting to feel his head aching from all the thinking. Then he closed his eyes and then opened them again.



“Are you here to arrest me?” asked Dipesh



The stranger smiled, “Now, why would I want to do that Mr Dipesh Bakshi? Tell me what is out of place in this picture?”. The stranger raised his gun.



“I… I am”



“You are what?”



“I am.. out of place.. in this picture”



The stranger leaned forward, “You are absolutely correct Mr Bakshi. Your neighbours were worried about someone living in this house, when the owner is not supposed to be back before next year. I suppose you got this information somehow and decided to have your own little vacation here.”



Dipesh didn’t have much to say, “What will happen now?”



“Well, you are certainly not becoming a chief guest of a school annual meet for sure,” the stranger looked at the bottle of water, “why don’t you have another sip of it before we leave for your next staycation.”



The policemen standing outside walked in the house, arrested Dipesh and took him away as the stranger followed.

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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