Finally. He heard the familiar rustle at his doorstep. It must be her. He could see her shadow moving under the door. He waited for the keys to jangle. The door knob to turn. What's taking her so long? She must be carrying something. Sometimes she picks up stuff on her way back. There will be something for me, as always. Or has she forgotten the keys in the car? She is quite capable of that. He was getting a bit impatient now. What's stopping her from opening that door? The door seemed like a bottomless chasm between him and her. Will she cross it? Or shall I just cross it and meet her? What if it's not her? What's taking her so long to open that door? Why can't she make some familiar sound that will tell me for sure that it's her? Why is she silent? Why isn't the doorbell ringing if it's not her? Why? His impatience was delivering knockout punches to reasoning in rapid succession. What if... that was the last thing that passed through his mind before he heard the key turn in the lock.
Last night they discovered a human in the sewers, screamed the headline on Daily Vermin Times. Ed Rat paused to scan the headline and sipped his morning tea. He was in charge of the highly successful Human Extermination Programme. He came from the highly acclaimed family of rats that had unleashed Plague on the frail human race centuries ago. At that time rats used to be in the sewers and the humans used to be outside. Maybe they too had a Vermin Extermination Program. How ironic, thought Ed. We were destined to rule the world. We withstood their poison and laboratory tests. In fact, the tests made us stronger and resistant to the diseases. Now look at them hiding in sewers away from us, fearing us. The telephone rang. Ed woke with a start from his reverie. There must be something wrong, he thought. My room has shrunk, there are metal bars everywhere. It looks like a cell. I can see my cousins in another cell. They are all playing with something. What's this lump on my hand? What...
Comments
Post a Comment