Nori’s Fear





Nori pulled away the curtain to peep outside. What started off as a dry and humid day was transformed into God’s grand evening laser show. The streaks of electricity tore the sky apart, like razor cuts on skin. It wasn’t raining yet, but the claps of thunder were getting frequent.

The wind coolly blew the curtain towards her face. What could it take to battle this abnormal fear of lightning? Ever since she could remember, Nori was scared of it. As a child, she hid under the bed on nights such as these, praying for it to subside. As an adult, she preferred to stay indoors, never taking out her car when there was friction in the sky. Today, luckily for her, she had finished work and was back at home.

Some fears are unknown. Lightning never did anything to hurt anyone she knew. But yet she feared it was after her life, for some sort of karmic revenge, that it would catch up with her and burn her to the ground.

Nori wasn’t really a fearful person. She was brave and independent. She had battled enough personal tragedies, right from the death of her parents, to a divorce to an aborted kidney. She wasn’t afraid of darkness, or ghosts, or death, or reptiles, or heights, or people or God. But she was scared of lightning.

She put a saucepan of water to boil and opened a packet of tomato soup. As if lightning and tomato soup were soul mates, promising never to hurt one another, always walking hand in hand for solace. There was no explanation. Tomato soup comforted her.

Going outside was out of the question. So Nori decided to watch a movie. Once again it was ‘Singing in the Rain’. As soon as the movie started, there was a knock on the door.

She peeped through the keyhole. It was a young man with dried leaves in his hair. That was all she could see. She opened the door and a strong, gusty wind pushed the door hitting her in the shin. ‘Aow’ she yelped.

He was tall and young, maybe 20, with a box of pizza in his hands. She hadn’t ordered pizza. Maybe he lost his way.

“Yes, may I help you?” she asked.

He ruffled his hair and she noticed he had a scar on his hand, as if someone had decided to dismember his hand but then changed their mind.

“Ma’am, may I use your phone please? My bike broke down and I can’t make my delivery.”

She looked at him suspiciously.

“Don’t you have a cell phone as an employee?”

“I do, but I left it back at the centre.”

She let him in. “I guess you can use my cell phone.”

As he walked in, the smell of pepperoni pizza filled up the room.

“Wow, that pizza smells great!”

He handed the box to her. “You can have it, now that I can’t deliver it.”

She smiled at him. It was a thoughtful gesture.

“Thanks. I think I will.” She handed him the phone. After that she went to the stove and turned it off. No tomato soup today. In a way, she was glad he was around. She felt less scared.

He stepped outside to make the call. He spoke in hushed tones. She couldn’t make out what he said but she did catch the words, ‘waiting here for you’.

She dug into a slice of the pizza. It was heavenly. He was still outside. There was something odd about his blue uniform. She knew the employees of this pizza company wore blue, but somehow this blue seemed different.

He came back. “My boss is sending someone to pick me up. Thanks so much for your help.”

“That’s okay. How much for the pizza?”

“Nothing. After all you helped me. Luckily, I found your house. Say you really are cut off from the rest of the neighborhood, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I know. I love the peace and quiet.”

“Aren’t you afraid of the desolation?”

“Nah. I’m not afraid usually. Just nights like these.”

“It’s going to rain I believe, Miss…?”

“…Nori”

“Nori? Is that a Japanese name?”

“Yeah. My dad was stationed in Japan. He liked the name. It’s a type of seaweed. Edible.”

He laughed.

The wind roared, this time bringing with it rain. She shut the door.
As soon as she turned back, she realized he had grabbed her by the waist.

“You’re very beautiful Nori,” he whispered.

She felt her knees caving in. She tried to break free, but he was very strong. She screamed as loudly as she could. He still had her cell phone. There was nothing she could do.

“Let me go! What the hell do you want?”

He covered her mouth with his hand. She could smell the cardboard mixed with cheese.
She bit his hand and he cried in pain. As soon as her mouth was free, she screamed again this time, as loud as she could for help.

From the window she saw the lights of a police van approaching. He saw it too. He panicked and pushed her down to the floor. Before she could realize what was happening, he had opened the door and fled.

She ran to the door to signal to the police van. A loud noise and a light blinded her. A few meters from her house, something was burning. The smell of human flesh filled the air. He fell to the ground, as if someone had smashed him with a hot iron. His hair stood up like toothbrush bristles, his face dark and charred.

In his burnt hand was her cell phone, someone still on the line. The police van stopped at the gate.

She looked up at the sky, this time without fear.

Comments

Brown Weed said…
totally riveting! mindblowing stuff!! am amazed at what goes on inside your head.
AT said…
waah waah :) tussi kya likhte ho
A Arora said…
mr bo: thank u as always..u know where this stems from!

AT: thank u boss..par book to khareedo meri! kaise dost ho yaar
:(
AT said…
Abbe doston ke saath bijness.. tsk tsk :P am chindi chor u know that ! :)
Madhuri Shinde said…
What an interesting story!...and written so nicely...Best wishes alps :)

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