Something – The bag and the car.

To my family, who share my passion with me.

Happy reading…

The sun had started to register it’s presence in the sky, slowly appearing from the horizon.
The birds were up already and the surrounding was filled by their chirpings. These were the only hours in which one could notice that they lived on a planet along with other creatures as well. That they shared a common sky above and a common ground.
‘live and let live.’
A sentence , easy to understand, made using simple words of the English language, yet it was difficult to implement for many human beings.
Unfortunately, the human race is always eager to establish it’s paramountcy that they forget that life is finite, scarce and priceless. And they also tend to forget that the predator can be predated and the category of vulnerability can be reversed.

The main door of a small, yellow house at the left corner of a residential street at Edinburgh, opened.
A young girl of about seventeen years of age, came out and closed the door behind her, softly. She was wearing a pink woollen sweater and black trousers. Her hairs were tied in a plait, carelessly. She had woke up just a few minutes ago and that could be seen by her swollen eyes and flushed cheeks.
She started walking slowly. There was no need to rush. It was a Sunday, so no school. And it was early, 6:05 AM by her clock. People in Edinburgh don’t prefer cold, early hours to start their routine. Though the roads will start getting filled soon.
It was a big day for Ira, so she wasn’t surprised that she didn’t get any sleep last night.
Just two days ago, Ira had spotted an unusual bag in the garbage can in the central park. The garbage cans carry all sorts of waste, so spotting a discarded bag wasn’t new for Ira. But still, the bag seemed new and it looked as if the bag had been carefully placed over there rather than being disposed. This obviously irked her because it was rare to find someone disposing waste so decently. She immediately informed the guards who in turn called the police. The area was vacated soon and the bag was found to carry a destructive explosive. It’s explosion could have easily affected a large area, killing almost everyone in the central park. The central park at that time of the evening, was hosting about seventy people in which most of them were little kids.
The explosive was diffused and the area was sealed. The news had spread like fire and had shook the world, let alone England.
People felt shivers to their spine thinking about the possible outcomes of the explosion. Those who were present at that time in the park thanked God for his divine mercy. Ira’s identity was kept as a secret. It was very essential for her safety. Those who had planned the explosion must not be happy about it’s failure and the police knew that Ira would be targeted as soon as they get to know about her. The police had talked to Ira in secrecy and was assured that she would be safe. Word went up to the Intelligence department and they decided to investigate with Ira privately. They had also thanked her for her presence of mind and quick actions.
Today, the officials were to turn up to her house, in disguise of course. She was expecting them at about 10 this morning.
She had done a great job, saved hundreds of lives and had prevented a massacre happening in her region, but still, she was restless. She knew why. Never in her life she had faced the police, their questions or their investigations. All of this happened so fast that she didn’t got the time to digest this.

‘Calm. Composed. Relaxed.’ she repeated in her mind. She will tell them everything that she saw in the park that day, they could connect the dots on their own. Its new but it won’t be bad. She assured herself that she and her mother will be safe.

Ira realized that she had come too far from her house. Engrossed in her thoughts, she didn’t realise it. Her mother must be up by now and would be worried. She was about to turn when a black car appeared from nowhere and zoomed past her. She stepped back in time.
She was alarmed and was breathing heavily. “These nasty adolescents. Driving rashly at this time of the morning.”
She started walking back, increasing her pace with each step when she heard the car approaching her again. She jumped out of the lane to save herself once again. The car disappeared at the turn ahead.
A pang of fright stung Ira. A sense of vulnerability took over her. She was alone on the street, no houses nearby, not a single person on the road and a car following her. She started running as fast as her legs could carry her. Panting, frightened, but she didn’t stop. She wanted to be at her home, in her mother’s arms, safe, secure, warm… ‘THUD!!’
The car hit her and she was on the road. Hurt, bruised and tears in her eyes. The gates of the car opened and five armed men jumped out.
“HELP!! HELP!!…” Ira tried to shout in her shaking voice. One of the men grabbed her by her hairs while the other tied her hands at the back. Ira was struggling hard in their grasp, but her strength was being overpowered. One of them tied her mouth shut tightly. She was picked up hastily from the ground and was tossed in the back seat. The men climbed in the car and the car disappeared soon.