Twilight melts into night faster than the mind can follow itself. Blinding headlights of vehicles into which the Innova plunged headlong with abandon made him shiver at the thought of a violent death that plagued him every so often. The fear of being wiped out of the collective memory of humankind due to a freak accident was one of the first reasons that he gave himself for taking up writing as a career. The reason he gave to others, his love of words, was his last. He loved stories far more than he loved words.
“Tri, I am at a loss for ideas. There are no interesting subjects around to write stories on. You are the only...”
“I'll kill you if you think of me in your filthy words.”
They had been lying naked on his bed on a sweaty afternoon of load-shedding, blowing smoke rings at the ceiling. The fan looked tired at the sight of their lethargic bodies lying limp from pleasure and heat.
“Ron, can I write about you? Do you want a cigarette? Or perhaps a cat?”
She had looked at him with a half smile, as she sat cross legged in her pyjamas on the dining table and ate scrambled eggs. The morning sun was made the dreary apartment look like a movie scene from a crime thriller.
“The Felis Catus. Wouldn't mind one. Though I have run out of matches.”
He had decided to name his story Cat Smoking. Not Cats Smoking. He was sure it was only one cat. He had no idea what the story was. But he was sure this was the title. Traffic had picked up since the car had hit the highway to Bangalore. So many people in transit. Between destinations. Between smokes. He shook his head to throw out his obsessive allusions to smoking. Almost in revolt, his hand slipped a cigarette between his lips. As he put the lighter down, he started typing.
“Tri, I am at a loss for ideas. There are no interesting subjects around to write stories on. You are the only...”
“I'll kill you if you think of me in your filthy words.”
They had been lying naked on his bed on a sweaty afternoon of load-shedding, blowing smoke rings at the ceiling. The fan looked tired at the sight of their lethargic bodies lying limp from pleasure and heat.
“Ron, can I write about you? Do you want a cigarette? Or perhaps a cat?”
She had looked at him with a half smile, as she sat cross legged in her pyjamas on the dining table and ate scrambled eggs. The morning sun was made the dreary apartment look like a movie scene from a crime thriller.
“The Felis Catus. Wouldn't mind one. Though I have run out of matches.”
He had decided to name his story Cat Smoking. Not Cats Smoking. He was sure it was only one cat. He had no idea what the story was. But he was sure this was the title. Traffic had picked up since the car had hit the highway to Bangalore. So many people in transit. Between destinations. Between smokes. He shook his head to throw out his obsessive allusions to smoking. Almost in revolt, his hand slipped a cigarette between his lips. As he put the lighter down, he started typing.
