Phobia

29. Ordinary Everyday Anecdotes

The little dog had a habit. It liked to climb on tables nearby and look out of the small peephole at the empty corridor. Tonight, too, it did the same. Raised its legs and climbed onto the table, tail wagging. It looked out as usual, but today the corridor wasn't empty. Today, it unknowingly witnessed a man in gloves hanging another man on a noose. It wagged its tail, jumped down from the table and continued on its way.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dog's owner talked in his sleep. So he had set up his phone nearby, right next to the window. It was recording his voice. The next day, on finding out that he didn't really speak in his sleep, he became enraged and deleted the recording immediately. His sister had played such a petty prank on him. But he didn't know, if he had just increased the volume, the static he thought he heard in the background would turn into a muffled bloodcurdling scream.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gianni was leaving for work after petting her neighbour's dog when she saw a toffee wrapper on the floor. She was a fervent environmentalist, so she shook her head and cursed the litterer as she picked up the wrapper to throw it in the bin. If only she knew she was throwing a dead man's trash.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Levian was a small girl of nine. She looked up as she walked in the corridor, noticing a hook on the ceiling. 'Funny,' she thought, 'I wonder why that's there.' Noticing her questioning gaze, her mother answered her unspoken thoughts. "That hook was for a lantern, you know? When I was a child, lanterns used to be hung from these hooks. Go ahead, look for more, I'm sure you'll find many."

I'm sure she did find many, but that hook was one of a kind. It had been used the previous night to hang a man.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ri wondered why she ever wanted a child as she surveyed the dark circles under her eyes. The 6-month-old baby was crying the whole night in his crib; she hadn't been able to sleep at all. If only he would've stayed quiet, she would've had some peace. But she didn't know that if the baby hadn't cried, she would have heard screams for help.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An elderly lady made her way to the police station, hobbling on her frail legs, holding a sturdy crutch to aid her movement. She approached the closest officer, greeted him, and said she needed to report someone missing. The officer obliged and asked her for the details. She said, "My son, I can't find him anywhere." The officer inquired, "And how old is he?"

"He just turned 40 last week. My, we had such a grand celebration. He had been so happy with everything."

"How long has it been since you noticed he was missing?"

"I just noticed this morning. He lives with us, you see. I keep asking him to get married but-"

The officer interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I'm sorry ma'am, but it sounds like he simply went away of his own free will. You can officially report missing cases only after 48 hours of a person being missing."

The old lady's lips quivered as she spoke. "My son, he's not like that. He wouldn't just leave like that, without even taking anything."

The officer was done with her. "Ma'am, you may leave and come back after 48 hours, because there's no evidence to indicate that a grown man of 40 was abducted from his parents' home. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

'Old people,' he thought as she left dejected, 'they're so delusional.'

If only he knew. If only he knew that four people in an obscure building in the middle of nowhere had almost collected the evidence he so desperately required.