Friday, December 4, 2015

A Brush with Bushsh: Chapter 7 - Meeting the Monsters

Read Chapter 6

She picked up the fallen bat and saw that, as she had suspected, it was not a real bat but a mechanical one. She handed it to Param, who had followed her. He shook it and then dismantled it. It had electronic parts. They went out and approached the monsters. One of them bent and boomed. Though she knew it was Udit playing pranks, still it was scary. She went near slowly and touched the monster. She felt something wet and solid. She looked at her hand. Because of the floodlights, the visibility was better. She saw her hand was white and foamy. She smelt it, and was pleasantly surprised to smell detergent. She touched the monster again and realised that the smell of detergent was quite overpowering.


What was the solid within? She moved to a side where the light was strong. She wiped the foam off and saw something rubbery. She frowned, angry at having been fooled by this innocuous balloon. She punched it and saw it wobble, sprinkling foam on her. She looked for something sharp and pointed. She took a slide from her hair and punctured it. She had to move away as the deflating monster rained water and foam. Suddenly she heard a dull thud. When the balloon had deflated completely, she explored the reams of material and found something solid on the ground. She picked it up to see a cracked equipment.

“Looks like a drone,” Param commented, examining it closely.

“What do they need all this for!” Sulekha mused loudly. “Let’s see what’s in that truck,” she said pointing to the truck by the compound wall. “Did you inform Sandeep uncle? Call him and find out where he is,” she instructed her son as the two went towards the truck.

“Uncle? Param here. Did you get my message,” Param spoke on the phone. “No, I was not playing a prank. We are stranded in a strange place. Wait…” He took a photo of one of the erect monsters and sent it to his uncle.

He explained quickly their adventure and asked for help.

“Uncle told us to try and leave this place as quickly as possible,” he informed his mother who was looking around the truck, trying to find a way in. Udit and Manasa also joined them. Seeing the top was open, Sulekha hauled Udit into the back of the truck with great difficulty, complaining that he was becoming overweight.

He came back within minutes. “Crates, tightly sealed. Let’s hope my car works and let’s leave. The guys were banging the door hard,” he said and they headed for the gate.

Sulekha was reluctant to leave. “I want to know what is happening,” she said stubbornly. The children were curious too, and truth be told, so was Udit. Having endured so much, it was hard to leave this place without the mystery being solved.

Udit had locked the front door. There was nothing he could do about the balcony door, but doubted if the men would risk jumping down two floor.

It was an hour before the police arrived. In fact, they were followed by the military as well. This surprised the four, who were snacking on biscuits, praying all the while that the doors held. It seemed to have, so far.

Everything was a haze after that, but at the end of the operations, the culprits had been apprehended, a plot to smuggle bombs to a malicious neighbouring country unearthed and Udit, Sulekha, Param and Manasa were declared heroes.

“Why the balloons?” Sulekha asked frustrated.

“To scare the villagers and keep people at bay. This township had been built to clear slums in the city. But the owners sold it and continued to live in slums. Nobody realised that the same person was buying up all the houses under different names. Once he had taken possession of the place, he connected the different floors from inside and there is a big manufacturing unit on one side and warehouse on another.

“To keep people away, they created these monsters. Though the local police had heard complaints about the monster from one or two who strayed here, they found nothing to support the claims. If you had not messaged us a photo, we wouldn’t have believed you either,” admitted the senior most office.

What! This quiet, quaint apartment had such a complex story to it!

Well, Sulekha was glad that they had come out of it unscathed. Except their car, which was still stubbornly not starting. They got a ride back to the city, and were they glad – the lonely track went deep into the woods before it emerged on to a kuccha road and joined the main road.

“How did you even find us!” Sulekha asked surprised.

“We had had our suspicions before, but nothing concrete,” admitted the policeman.

Their misadventure had turned out to be a boon. “But next time, heed to road signals,” the policeman cautioned them smiling.

They were seen off with great honour, and with a promise of a reward to boot.

Concluded


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