CHAPTER 5>BEANS SPILLED

I was still too numb from the incident to witness pieces of her head forming themselves. “What do you mean by ‘they don’t die like this’?” I spat at Roran. “There’s something you should know”, Roran spoke, eyes fixed at me. “You are like a little sister to me Koy. I found you after so long and I don’t want to lose you again.” Then he opened his laptop and double clicked on a huge password protected pdf file. “Read section 23” he said, more like ordered. When he said section, I assumed it would be a paragraph or a page. But the ‘section’ turned out to be a story. A big story. I silently wondered if there was a shorter version available. Since there wasn’t, I read, giving extra emphasis to each word.

Subject 3:: Name of subjects: Swann Galvamore and Swann 2

Swann is a modern saint. He strives for humanity and unity. He has won several peace awards and a nobel prize. His twinticle Swann 2 is the complete opposite. He slits people’s throats for money, enjoys every fight and is a murderer of seventy three innocents. He is due to be examined for a psychopath, but turns out he outsmarts everyone.

The rest of the few pages described the difference between the ‘subjects’ and how Swann 2 killed people for fun. It was the second last paragraph which caught my attention.

Swann 2 was on the run. He terrorized every single town in the city. When no one else could get anywhere near him, Swann used his intelligence to draw him out of hiding and the police shot him straight in the heart. Doctors examined him and reported him dead. Swann was devastated after that, believe it or not, because he was too attached to Swann 2. He cried and wept for twenty five minutes, continuing in the ambulance besides the body.

Within an hour, the heart of Swann 2 started to heal on its own. Swann 2 was back on his feet, a smug smile wide on his face. All the researchers were stiff from the shock. Swann’s last words were “I cannot live to see ‘myself’ destroying my fellow beings for one more second” before he used his protection gun on his own brain. The second that Swann’s heart stopped beating, Swann 2 collapsed too, his skin texture like cement, dead for good.

I looked up at Roran, eyes unknowingly filled with terror and panic. “Koy, you’re a nice person, one of the sweetest ones I have ever seen. Which means that this thing, he pointed to the toddler-me, is going to be bad. Very bad. And if it comes to as much as killing her…” he couldn’t complete the sentence, but I knew what he wanted to say, that killing her was only possible if I died.

It took me a moment to process everything. Once I was sure my voice wouldn’t break, I looked at him and said “Roran, it wouldn’t come to that. We’ll think of something if the time comes.” A long pause. “Plus, I’m not a saint. Although I root for world peace, I haven’t really done anything to make it work. We’ll just, we will think of something Roran. We’ll try to control the situations.” Finally the hard look from his face vanished and I got my old Roran back. We half smiled at each other through the sobs which made me feel like I was home.

Within a few minutes, we heard some moans from Koyna 2. I rushed to her side to see her gently opening her eyes. She still lay in a pool of blood, but she was back, alive and healthy. I was so relieved and happy, I picked her up and swayed her from side to side. I think I saw a small smile on Roran’s face too, but it vanished quickly. Atleast, he was somewhat back to normal. We fed her some baby food and she took a nap. The research and long databases of information suddenly became very interesting to me. I wished I could read every word on every file. Unfortunately, after five hours of continuous reading my eyes became weary and I fell asleep right there on the sofa.

When I opened my eyes, sunlight was pouring in. Since I didn’t have my bag of toiletries, I brushed my teeth with my finger and went looking for Koyna 2. I heard mr. H laughing, uhm I think it was H2 because H was rude, arrogant and kept to himself. Obviously, his twinticle was a fun person to be with. Who knew someone could go surfing at the age of 50!? H2 was cool. Anyways, H2 was laughing along with a little kid. I entered his room and found a five year old me trying to reach his head to get a chocolate.

It was still a little funny and spooky at the same time, to see myself as a kid, and growing so fast. Koyna 2 looked like a 5 year old in my old but pretty pink dress.  Roran had taken good care of her supplies. I never asked him how he had my dress, but it sure came in handy today.

“You were not a friendly kid” Roran said suddenly besides me, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. He looked like he was lost on a walk down the memory lane. “I remember your first day to school. Your mother had asked me to come along. You didn’t cry, didn’t laugh, you weren’t even nervous. No one knew how you were feeling. You didn’t make any friends for more than three months! Even as a toddler, it took you a long time to let me play with you.” The things he said were kind of rude, but his playful smile told me he accepted me with my faults and I love him for that. His mood contrast was too much compared to yesterday so I asked him after a wide smile and a few moments of speculation. “What’s up? You seem happier!”

“Because I’ve decided not to give up. Twinticles are human clones after all. If we nurture them well in their growing phase, teach them manners, we could at least try. I am going to do my best with this thing and I’m not going to let it hurt you, or me or anybody else. It’s about time something changes over here. Even if it doesn’t work, we WILL think of something.” Something positive was exactly what I wanted to hear. I gave him a quick hug and went to the kitchen to make coffee. I wished I was awake to hear Koyna 2’s first words. Roran says she said ‘food’ but H2 swears it was ‘dude’. Funny man, H2!

While I was pouring some sugar in the vessel, a sweet voice interrupted, “I want coffee too!” Koyna 2 said, confident that she’ll get what she wants. I loved hearing her voice, and hated turning her down. “I’m sorry Koyna 2, I wish I could give it to you but you’re still too young to ingest caffeine. You can have it tomorrow.” By the pace she was going, I was sure tomorrow she would be a teenager. I resumed back to my work. A tiny detail slipped my head though. Koyna 2 was the opposite of me. Which means that she was not obedient.

She started shouting in a high pitched voice, continuously repeating ‘I want coffee’ so many times that I lost count, along with some hearing too. H, H2 and roran all came running to the kitchen, trying to convince her to stop, but she was so adamant. “Raising her, even for two days is going to be tough” Roran whispered and I nodded in agreement.

CHAPTER 4> IT STARTS

“These things are growing rapidly” Roran said, examining the baby. Ever since Roran laid eyes on it yesterday, he’d been upset. Because now I wasn’t just a research partner. I was also a guinea pig. Well, the baby was more like it. I only helped. The baby would look up at me and smile, it was hard to call it a creature. I kept smiling back often, temporarily forgetting what it really was. Some time later, I even started cooing and playing with it. The innocence, the smile, the naïve cries were all too cute! It reminded me of my kindergarten class. Speaking of class, “Hey Roran, mr. Shikhar called and confirmed my position. Both in college and this research.” He just nodded. “Come on Roran” I said, “Why are you still upset? What’s done is done. Just accept it and be happy that you, I mean, we have more samples to work with.” He just shrugged it off. He gave me some files, both physical and digital, regarding the research. It was huge data. I started scanning through it, trying to understand it. But it wasn’t just a day’s work.

We decided to call it day. I went home with the baby. It was my twinticle, so it was attracted to me. When I wasn’t in sight, it cried and cried continuously. Sweet and irritating at the same time. Huh. Roran didn’t even come out to wish me goodbye. I felt like he was still hiding something from me. Well, I was a part of this research now, nothing could be hidden for long. It was such a weary day, I slept instantly on the sofa, only to wake up in a few minutes to hear the baby crying. It was growing fast, but it was still a baby. I bought some baby food and fed it to her. I liked the pace at which this was happening, the ‘creature’ becoming ‘it’ becoming the ‘baby’ becoming ‘her’ now.

Looking at the baby was like taking a ride in the past, like looking into your own eyes. Even though I was exhausted, there was something I’d been meaning to do since the morning. I had some baby photos of myself. I bought them out from the dusty attic and placed it beside the peacefully sleeping baby. The resemblance was obviously high, but it still gave me goosebumps. The exact same eyes, the hair, the little finger statures. Except for one thing. From what my parent’s used to tell me, I was a still sleeper. I didn’t move much while asleep. Sometimes it even scared them! But this baby, well she twisted and turned every five seconds. After a while, it started getting annoying. But it didn’t matter much because soon, I fell asleep. 

I was so excited for the big day that I didn’t even wait for the alarm. Two minutes remained for the alarm to go off and I didn’t mind waking up, which was very very unusual for me. At least today I wouldn’t be late! The first thing I did was check the baby. But where was she? She wasn’t in her bed. So much for not being late. Panic surged right through. What was I going to do now? I rushed through the house shouting “baby, where are you?” I wasn’t sure what to call her, so I went with ‘baby’. As I went in my bedroom, I found it messy. My rooms were never messy. The thought haunted me, did someone search my room looking for the baby? What if that someone kidnapped her?

A few moments later, I heard a gibberish baby talk, followed by a sweet little laugh. I turned around to see my twinticle happily pulling out clothes from the small drawer at the bottom. A wave of relief and a smile spread over my face. “There you are!” I went straight to her and hugged her. “You really like to make a mess don’t you?” I was just relieved no one broke into the house to kidnap her. 

She was a toddler already, crawling and everything. I got ready early and one hour before college time, I reached at Roran’s. “She’s growing up so fast!” Ah! Always wanted to say that. I sounded so much like my mother, I missed her so much. Roran didn’t even smile at my remark. He was expressionless. “Roran…” I started to say when my alarm in my phone rang. College time. Today was my first lecture. “No college for you today” Roran said, “put the alarm off and stay.” This was the first time Roran had spoken. “Why?” I asked, confused. “Shikhar gave you two days off. This twinticle is in its toddler days, it will be very attracted to you.” I hated the way he said ‘it’. “Roran, ‘she’, not ‘it’” I corrected. It was like I was talking to a wall. He continued in the same dead voice, “You cannot teach a class with this thing around. Everything is taken care of. It will stabilize itself in around two days, after which it can stay away from you for some time. Then you can start your college.” That was a bummer.

It was useless talking to Roran, I wasn’t even sure he had ears anymore. He didn’t respond, he didn’t react. All he did was breathe and walk. The bell rang and mr. Shikhar came inside, with a few more people. I assumed this was their research team. “I’ve been meaning to meet you Koyna, and also Koyna 2”, mr. Shikhar said with a warm smile. Two things I immediately registered. Firstly, twinticles were named after their host. And secondly, mr. Shikhar appeared much friendly now. Was he a twinticle too? According to the files I’d seen earlier in the day, I was the fifth person to have a twinticle. And there was no mention of mr. Shikhar having one. My question was answered when I saw him talking strict business with one of his team members. Shikhar kept his personal and professional behaviour different. That wasn’t so freaky compared to my first theory…

After tea and some introductions, we sat in a circle and mr. Shikhar spoke directly to Roran. “Our doctors have created the amoeba like compound very similar to the original one. We must visit there soon.” The rest of the conversation became a blur when my attention shifted to the baby. Koyna 2 was sitting in a corner fidgeting with some toys we recently bought her. I loved soft toys and dolls as a kid, so obviously I bought her some planes and cars. She loved them and I gave myself a smug smile.

Out of nowhere, she stood up and tried to walk towards me. I let out a loud gasp. She fell down and I rushed to pick her up. I loved to see myself as a kid, trying to walk. How many people could see that themselves? I felt like I was the only person enjoying it. The others just started speculating and estimating the time at which she reaches my age. Except for Roran, he just looked terrified. Well, at least he was giving some expression now. It made me believe he was alive.

A few hours later, the discussions ended and Shikhar left with his team. Roran closed the door and I heard tiny footsteps at a faster pace. Koyna 2 was running! She took one of her aeroplanes and ran upstairs. That was fast! I ran after her. She had already reached the terrace. She ran straight to the edge with the plane, and jumped off with it in one hand.

My world stopped for a minute. One second she was right here, running and smiling, the next minute she tried to fly like the plane and landed on the ground, surrounded in her own blood. I couldn’t find my voice, or legs. Somehow still, I gathered myself and ran downstairs. Roran was already by her side, he lifted her and started to bring her inside. I think I could see a part of her brain, her head was in pieces. I was so much in shock that I couldn’t even cry. I didn’t want to literally see myself die. But I did. Roran guessed what I was thinking and spoke, “Don’t worry Koy. She won’t die. They don’t die like this, She’ll be fine in an hour or two”. What the hell did he mean by that?

CHAPTER 3> FINALLY AN EXPLANATION

I love to sleep. It allows me to forget all my worries for the day and live my imagination. However, my beauty sleep was broken by my scheduler alarm for my trial lecture. “Shit!” I swore loudly, remembering I had to go to college and make sure the students liked my teaching. I had no time whatsoever to prepare! I’d spent the whole afternoon with Roran. I was being irresponsible. Not anymore. I couldn’t be late; I’d already managed to spoil my timely appointment with the principal yesterday. I hurried in the bathroom, took a quick warm shower, and changed into formal clothes. I kept it simple with a grey suit and black skirt. 

When I entered the class, I was hoping to see a few students on their benches with some books to scribble down notes. I knew the standard of the college was high, I should have checked the strength of the classes too. The class was more like an auditorium. The floor was slant, for a better view, and student all over. They must be more than a hundred. If this were a cartoon, my eyes would pop right out like a spring.

Anyways, if I wanted this job, I had to get myself determined to get it. I believed in hard work and fate. And this was where fate bought me. I had to endure it. I sucked up my fright and introduced myself to the class. “My name is Koyna Brahma and I will be teaching you geology.” I knew this was college and not KG, but I still expected a “good morning teacher” in chorus. When I didn’t receive one, I continued my lecture on palaeontology. I’d decided to go with mega fossils and microfossils today. However, when I saw that the class was bored, I started giving them examples of the Jurassic park lead and the f.r.i.e.n.d.s. character Ross. When I linked these characters and some of the words that they’d used on television, I started getting looks saying “she’s cool!” from the students. I smiled back. That, I liked.

I wasn’t the kind of person who’d enforce rules on others, students specifically. I couldn’t be a strict teacher. I wanted to be a friend, someone they could readily approach to in case they needed to seek help. Till now, everything seemed to be in place. I was happy by the facial expression – response the students gave. Feeling confident, I left the room. I was hardly aware of the head mister and some senior teachers sitting there to examine me. All in all, I was satisfied by my performance. I was asked to leave for the day. The results were due in two days. I wasn’t sure if I could wait that long. Not that I had a choice.

I decided to pay Roran a visit. I got in my truck and started searching for my keys when I heard a faint baby-cry. I instantly turned around and saw a tiny baby crying on the back seat. I immediately got up and covered that baby with a handkerchief I had, assuming it was feeling cold. It was so small it could fit in my palm. This was weird. And then the memory came back. All of it. That amoeba, the wrapper, that foetus. It wasn’t a baby. It was a thing. That freakish thing which kept following and haunting me yesterday. If I had any indecision about meeting Roran, it vanished. I had to see him immediately.

I didn’t even bother calling him. I drove as fast as I could and stopped only when his house was in view. I kept ‘it’ on the seat itself and rang the bell. When nobody answered, I tried the door and it was unlocked. I stepped in hoping to find Roran, but saw mr. H instead. Uh-huh, make it two mr. Hs. Dressed exactly alike, playing carom.

“What the…” before I could think, words that sounded really bad were coming out of my mouth. Roran heard my voice and came running outside his room. “Hi Koy” the smiley mr.H said, and the frowny one just ignored me like I was a ghost. “Let me guess” I said deadbeat, straight to Roran who had his expression like he was caught stealing. “He doesn’t have a memory problem, does he?” “Come in Koy” he said, and I did. 

“Why did you lie to me? This is outrageous. It doesn’t even make sense. So, mr. H has a twin brother. Big deal. Why did you have to hide it? Why did you tell me he has a memory problem when in fact I’m pretty sure, his brother came to us later yesterday?” It wasn’t a big lie but the fact that Roran had to lie to me made me angry. “Don’t you remember anything I told you yesterday, huh Koy?” I stared at him for a long time thinking about all that he’d told me. “You mean to say that he’s not his brother?” I asked. “No” Roran said, looking at the ground. He then looked up slowly and whispered, “Promise you won’t tell anyone”. “I promise”. “Good, because you’re gonna be a part of this secret.”

Roran started telling me the full story. “We found twinticles about five years before. In Africa. When the man met his fully grown twinticle, they were of completely opposite nature. At first, they thought that they’re long lost brothers. But something seemed amiss. They took a few medical tests. Even the doctors couldn’t put a finger on what was going on. So the tests were forwarded to some labs. After two years of inspection, they came across one more case in the same area. That’s when they knew how it happens. Every twinticle is initially just a shapeless tiny being. It needs the blood of a human to survive.” Shapeless tiny being, much like the amoeba, I thought. “Once it has the blood, it gets attracted towards the person who’s blood it receives. These creatures grow to look exactly like that person. Except that they’re the complete opposite of them. They take every behavioural trait of the person, and reverse it.” I was dumbfounded.

“They grow pretty fast and and age as much as the person. After that, the aging rate of the twinticle adapts to its host person.” I felt like my mind whirling. Like my brain was against gravity and flowing upwards, trying to get out of my skull. “Mr. H is our subject. I’m observing him for anything that might be useful for our research. That’s why I stay with him.” He turned to look at the duo playing carom. “They’re completely opposite. Mr. H is whiny and a cry baby. His twinticle is happy and encouraging. Koy, you have knowledge of geology. Some of our experiments are pointing to facts that twinticles come to life from some fossils underground. We don’t know what exactly is happening, but we could definitely use your help. The reason why the college needs another geology professor is that we need a helping hand in our research. And I think you fit. The principal Mr. Shikhar and my partner is actually considering you as a good candidate. He just called me up.”

As good as the new job news felt, my mind was still whirling about the twinticles. I knew what it was, I knew where it was. A new sample for his, or maybe ‘our’ research. It was in my truck. “Roran”, I said finally. “I have something that might help”. Also, I added, “I need help.”

CHAPTER 2> SOME CATCHING UP

How crazy would Roran think I was if I told him the truth about that creature following me? He was such a good friend of mine. He was like my elder brother.  And, there was no one else that I could talk to about this. After all, he was into ‘biology’. But right now was definitely not the time. In the back of my mind I seriously wondered how the creature found me. It was still stapled under the wrapper. It couldn’t see me for sure, it had no eyes. Yet somehow it followed me from ‘inside a plastic’. It was either too damn talented or plain spooky. At least one thing I was sure of, that the ‘thing’ wasn’t gonna leave me alone. So I just picked it up and put it in the backseat of my car.

Was it just my imagination or had the creature just grown?

Roran gave me a long side glance for throwing the wrapper in the truck. “I just don’t want to litter the road” I said. “Hey there’s a dustbin right by the gate. I’ll…” “No, it’s fine” I didn’t even let him complete. The journey seemed so short! We were chatting and laughing the entire way. We had a lot to catch up on.

I followed the directions he gave me and reached a row house. He was staying as a paying guest there. Man, he must be making a lot of money to rent a place like this one. His landlord opened the door. He was an old man with no wife or children. That explained why he was so whiny. Before even saying hello, he started rambling about how Roran hadn’t paid attention to him this morning about keeping the place clean. On giving a quite ordinary excuse, the man frowned at us. Roran introduced me by saying “This is Koyna, she’s just like my sister. We’re from the same village.” I might have seen a slight smile on the old man’s face. But then he instantly turned around and went inside.

“Why are you staying with this man? You can easily rent a hotel room! This guy seems a little crazy!” Roran laughed boringly, I’m sure he’d heard a lot of this. He started reciting the sentence like he’d learnt it by heart by now. “He’s not that bad. Plus, the house is great. I love the view and his rates are quite reasonable. Also, he’s so lonely. I might as well give him some company.” Humble, noble Roran. He hadn’t changed a bit.

“Do you remember how we used to play carom when we were little?” I said, more than asked. He instantly lightened up and went in the old man’s room, only to return with an old dusty carom board. “Another reason why I live with him, he was a carom champion in his days!” He winked playfully. “He doesn’t play much now though.”

We went into his room and Roran fetched a dusting cloth. Cleaning it was a really tough task! Once we were done with it, we were all smiles and shines. We started playing the game, chatting like old times and laughing like crazy. A tiny part of me cried for missing those days, missing home. But I was relieved to have someone from home, with me. “What are you researching currently?” I generally asked him. When he didn’t answer, I looked up only to find him confused. “What happened?” I asked him, wondering what had possibly gone wrong.

“I can’t tell you. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just can’t tell anyone.” He looked apologetic. At first I considered letting it go, but then considering that I had a creature-secret to tell him, I asked him to trade secrets. Convincing him was rather hard. “Roran, I have to tell you something too. I have a secret, ‘some creature’ stuff and I’m scared of it. I have to tell you but only if you tell me this thing first. Come on. You know I can keep secrets. Remember that time you broke Aunt Talwar’s window??! And then anonymously paid for the damage! And that other time you got beat up by a squirrel!! Man, that was hilarious!! And that other time you kissed Tim and..” “Ok, ok you can keep secrets! I get it!” he said, smiling through the memories. I think he was seriously considering telling me.

His voice grew grave just as his carom pin entered the pocket. He took another shot, but missed it. Then passed me the striker. I acted like I was paying attention to the queen, when infact I was eagerly waiting for him to start. Simply so that he could finish and then I could tell him about the creature. “We’re researching about a foreign being. Something we call twinticles.” “Twinticles? Never heard that before, I exclaimed.” “Like I said, it’s a foreign creature.” Those words got him my attention for real.

He didn’t even pretend to care for the game now. “There is something going on Koyna. Something deadly. Twinticles are creatures that grow to be… twins of some human. They are twisted versions of a human being, or any living being for that matter”. This explanation was not enough for me. It left me more confused. He understood my expression but refused to continue. “It’s all I can tell you right now Koy. And remember, this conversation never happened.” I shook my head seeing the super serious look on his face. I’d momentarily even forgotten about the other weird creature in my truck until  Roran reminded me to tell him my secret now.

Well, Roran hadn’t told me his complete story so I edited mine too. “I’d gone to our village this morning. It’s just two hours from here after all. I saw some creature there. It was scary. We’ll go there sometime and I’ll show you then.” He certainly looked disappointed for such few details, but didn’t push me to say anything further.

We finally changed the topic and finished the game. He won, as usual. And I demanded a victory teat, as usual! We decided to go outside and eat an ice cream, when his landlord, Mr. H (as he preferred it) entered. He gave us a lovely smile and asked me who I was. Maybe he had memory issues. I introduced myself again and this time Mr. H whole heartedly said “You’re welcome to stay here if you like. We have an extra room if you want it”. He looked so loving now. “Uhm no thanks, I have a flat nearby.” I smiled in return and we left the house.

Roran said before I could ask, “he has Alzheimers and some personality conflicts.” That was weird and Roran’s expression confirmed it. Anyway, the sun was setting and I was getting late. “Let’s hurry” I said. We quickly ate my favourite, chocolate ice cream, and then I drove the truck home. As soon as I parked the truck, the horror struck me. I turned behind to see the wafer packet torn up on the back seat. And it was below a circular transparent ball, with water inside it, and a creature. The amoeba that was orange-ish, had turned to skin colour, which now looked like a small foetus. It was mesmerizingly cute, but in a freakish way. I didn’t know whether to be awed or freaked out.

But I definitely didn’t want it in my house. I quickly leapt outside and shut the doors close. I ran up to my room, and quickly drifted to sleep.

CHAPTER 1> THIS IS HOW IT STARTED

I’m Koyna. I lost my parents last year, along with half of my village, in a tragic earthquake incident. Without my parents, I was shattered- not just emotionally but also financially. Some of us who were attending college outside the village, and some of us who were out for work were the only survivors.

I am 21 as of today. I’ve been hunting for a real job for quite some time now. After all, teaching kindergarten in a small town doesn’t promise a comfortable salary. But I still liked it there. I had the qualifications of teaching college students, but I enjoyed teaching my kindergarteners too much. Until, the salary really started giving me goose bumps. I could barely pay the bills and make a living. I had to grow out of my safe cocoon.

Before leaving my house for the interview, I was so filled with doubt, fear and frustration, I decided go visit the land that took my parents away from me. It was sealed after the earthquake, or earth-blast, as the news people called it. I’d gone there to curse it. It was silly, but I needed to do it. Just to get a little peace of mind.

My parents were traders, and often alternately left home and travelled far and wide to trade. Unluckily, they were both home when the ‘earth-blast’ happened. They often told me stories of my village’s history. I never told them how boring it was, simply because it was just so good to hear their voice after so long. Last year, after the incident, it took me a while to realize that I wasn’t going hear their voice ever again.

I reached my old village. The site was sealed, and the rest was abandoned. The piece of land was completely isolated. Just land everywhere, concrete as well as shattered. Some called the accident “rage of the earth”, some called it “haunted land”, or “a natural calamity” or “comeback of nature” or “deadly damned land”. The accident was so lethal that none of the residents had survived it. Many of us had lost our parents, siblings and children. The place reeked. I almost assumed the land laughing at its victory of taking my parents away from me. I banged my leg on the ground, instead it hit a pointy rock and started to bleed. I didn’t even care. I wanted to cry and fight at the same time.

But who would I fight? Earth? That was not humanly possible. So I was left with the second option. Cry. A flood of memories rushed to me. The warmth and comfort of sleeping on dad’s lap, mom’s lullabies, the bedtime stories, their so called “quotes for life”, his wit and gut and patience. I was never gonna see them again. I screamed so loud in agony, I think the earth below me trembled a little. For a second, I even felt something sliding over my foot. But I didn’t even feel like seeing what it was. I gathered myself somehow and whispered “I miss you” hoping they’d hear it wherever they were.

 Reality rushed in then. I’d completely lost track of time. I was already late. I rushed to my tempo-truck that I’d received as a family hand-down. I had to drive fast for my walk in interview as a geology teacher in college. It was a job I didn’t fancy much, but really wanted now. As I pushed my foot on the accelerator, I felt something slimy slide up. I immediately pushed the break and the truck stopped with a loud screech.

I bent down to see a disgusting yellow-orange amoeba like creature. It must have climbed up my leg when I was screaming. I could actually feel its heart beat at the exact center of its body. Eww. I took a paper from my bag, grabbed it in the paper and threw it as far away from me as possible. Just as I was about to turn away, I saw it changing course and coming right back at me like a boomerang. Clearly, it didn’t have any wings. How the hell did it come back then?

I took the truck in reverse, held it in the paper and this time, placed it carefully on the ground. Then returned. I opened the door to my truck, and it slid right before me into the driving seat. It was creepy. It wouldn’t leave me. Why?! Scared and baffled, I got down the truck and closed the door shut. I saw it struggling to get out of the shut window. Somewhere inside I silently thanked God for not letting it pass through the glass like a ghost. It was sealed within and I was wondering what to do with it. It was really petite. It seemed more like skin color now, but I could swear it was orange-ish a few minutes before. A color changing amoeba-like creature. Hmm. Maybe I didn’t need to be afraid of it at all. It was way smaller than me anyways. I got in the truck from the other side, and slowly slid it into the empty wafer wrapper and then stapled it on the top. I was sure it wouldn’t follow me now. I threw the wrapper out and drove right to my interview without giving it a second glance.

I was a full 10 minutes late. I ran up to the principal’s office and he sure didn’t seem happy. I’d lost my first impression already. That got me all worked up and nervous. “Please have a seat” the principal said. I was glad I didn’t tumble on that floor given all those nerves I had. “I’m so sorry for being late sir. My car broke down.” I had to give that excuse. I couldn’t just say “oh I was trying to get rid of a tiny creature that wouldn’t leave me”! The rest of the interview continued formally, without any lies.

“Ms. Koyna, we will be short listing three teachers, who will have to take a lecture in class, in our presence. We’ll let you know in two days, which ones of you are selected. Thank you.”  Okay, that was my cue to leave. That was smooth. I was relieved that I finally had one good interview. I was feeling a little confident.

I was finding my truck keys in my purse, when I heard the most soothing familiar voice. “I haven’t seen that smile in a while!” “Roran!!” I was so glad to see him again! Roran was my neighbour who’d moved recently to town for some biological research work. He was twenty-eight, fine heighted, dark haired and had a huge smile. “It’s been so long! What are you doing here?” we said in harmony, and then laughed for saying the same things. There was nothing funny about it, but I guess it’s ok to laugh for no apparent reason when you’re with friends!

“Well, the principal of this college is my part-time colleague in the research. But what are you doing here?” “I was here for an interview”. “Do you want me to put in a word for you?” Hm. Did I want the job? Yes. Did I want it solely on recommendation? No. It was best to just talk about it later. “How long are you home?” I asked him, really hoping his answer would be ‘forever’. “A few months, a year maybe” he said, biting his lip. “Come on, I’ll show you where I live”, he said. I smiled and he nodded. I opened the door of my truck when I accidentally stepped on plastic. I looked down, it wasn’t just some plastic. It was a wrapper. The wafer wrapper with the creature in it…