Prologue

The underground railway transport system or more popularly known as the Subway is a sign of technological advancement made by man as is usually the symbol of a nation’s engineering prowess. Since it’s introduction it has always been a city’s major transportation lifeline, helping daily commuters reach their destinations. Underground subways present a totally different atmosphere to the common man who tries to escape the world under the sun into a new world made and run entirely by man.

Rarely however we do find situations in which the subways play the rather villainous role and get in the way of people’s lives, literally or otherwise. On the other hand the unmoving, periodical and mechanical behaviour of the subways possess great powers of healing even the deepest of wounds over time.


The Subway

Hello, my name is Yuki. I am a tenth grader in Rallifort High. I live in the suburban residential areas in the outskirts of Newark city. I live with my parents and a devilish elder brother. Ours is an average family. My dad works in some office and brother is in college.

Usually I am a shy guy and like to stay alone. I am rarely troubled by it as others are. Mom says I am an oddball, who knows maybe I am. I garner rather boring hobbies of reading and listening to music. As I prefer the indoors rarely do I go outside. Actually I refrain from doing so until it is absolutely necessary. One such occasion is when I have to go to school.

“Good morning mom. What’s for breakfast? Make it quick or I will be late for school”. Mom brought sandwiches and eggs for me. Meanwhile I took a glance at the day’s newspaper. Something snapped in my brain and I thought I was going to have a concussion. Only that I did not. There was a piece on a young girl being run over by the subway train. Witnesses did not realize what happened until much later. Some suggested it to be a case of suicide. However her parents and friends vehemently protested that she was completely happy and content and had no reason to commit suicide. The police are still looking for any clues. In another news item, a law had been passes that all college going students must refrain from using cell phones within college campus.
Oh when would I get to go to college. This year never seemed to end. I would have so much fun in college. At least this year’s my last at this school. School SCHOOL .Oh God I am going to be late for school. Hurriedly I snatched a toast from the plate and dashed out of the door. “Hey Yuki did you take your medicine?” mom asked but I was in a hurry so had to lie “yes mom.”

Soon I was running along the path to the subway station shielding my eyes from the morning summer sun. I board the subway from here, the Southern parks and travel to Commune Centre staion, which is about five stops ahead. From there school is a couple of minutes walk. I had rather a very promising feeling today. Though I could not really pinpoint what was its cause it caused me great euphoria. For reasons unknown I was feeling extremely happy today.

Huffing and puffing, I reached the Southern parks. The subway was like a home away from home to me. It was a refuge from the outside world. I checked in with my monthly pass and descended down the escalator. I flopped down on one of the triplet chairs and threw my backpack to one beside me. The train was due in a couple of minutes. I looked around for something interesting to happen. Usually nothing does happen and I waste my time looking for something nonexistent. The place was almost deserted except for a few sweepers, school going students and a couple of office goers. I like it this way only for I really despise crowds.

The train was on time and as I stopped I boarded it in a leisurely fashion. We were off. I found a seat facing the door, this was my favourite spot. I loved to sit here and watch people board and alight from the train. I love to look and remember faces of strangers. As of now I know a lot people by their faces only, the faces which I will remember for a long time without even knowing their names, let alone their destination, jobs or family. However I do chance upon a couple of interesting characters once in a while. Like the lady in the brown cardigan. She uses to board the train every Thursdays and Saturdays on a walking stick. Though she was always in a lot of pain she refused any help from her fellow travellers. She stood during the entire journey clutching her bag tightly to herself. What was in the bag was another mystery for me. For all I can guess it might even be a bomb. But I never intent to find out lest it might dampen all the excitement of travelling on Thursdays and Saturdays. Some other times I find a gentleman wearing an oversized cloak and a hat which to cover up his entire face. He never talks or for that matter even look up from his seat which was invariably at the farthest end of the coach. Apart from these unusual characters there were groups of giggling girls and noisy boys, some tramps and balding old gentlemen who if not snoozing were discussing politics, business and other adult stuff. For me this seemingly confusing scene was no less than a wholesome television like entertainment. And before long I arrive at the Commune Central station.

But today fate had other plans for me. As I took my seat and he train began its journey a sharp unsettling pain hit my cranium. I almost fainted at the spot. But soon enough it evaporated like there was no pain at all. The pain was magically gone however I still a giddy feeling the seemed to linger on. I guess I should have taken my medication. I decided to head back home. As the next stop came into view I picked up my backpack and prepared to alight and stood near the doors.

It was the Frank land Avenue station. The train had begun to slow down. A sea of faces were flowing along side the train. Finally the train came to a halt. Along with it also my heart, though only for a second. For I found myself face to face with the most beautiful young woman through the door glass. The doors slid open and then slid closed. The train began to move again too but I was still rooted to the spot, unable to move.

As the train caught up speed, I started to feel my arms and legs again. My legs felt like ice though. With some awkward movements akin to an arthritic rhino I managed to find a seat. I closed my eyes and began the slow breathing technique taught by our physical instructor in order to calm my jangled nerves. Wow, what a close shave, I thought. I never knew beautiful thing as such had such disarming abilities. I never wanted to look at such a beautiful face again or did I? A moment later it was there again. It had popped out of nowhere as if it was imprinted in my mind forever. To get away from it I frantically opened my eyes and felt my skip a beat again. (If this happened a few more times I was going to get a heart attack for sure, I thought). She was sitting there right opposite to me. She looked at me as if I were a ghost. Slowly her expression changed and she smiled at me for a second and then looked outside the window.

Though I felt a strong affinity towards her I dared not do anything more than stupidly stare at her unearthly face. As a couple of stops later she got up from her seat and got down from the train. Soon the train was in motion again and thankfully I broke out of my reverie. Soon the train entered the Commune Central station. I alighted. However I was still in a surreal world. I did not know where I was going. I was swept along with the flow of humanity into the outside world. There the sun knocked some sense into me and made me realize that I would have to qualify for the Olympics, if nothing else to reach school before the first class began.

The day at school was rather uneventful except for a couple of teachers who rebuked me for daydreaming in their classes. As the school clock musically chimed out three ‘o’clock a mad marathon began and all students made a dash for their homes. I was running along with them though my journey was only to the subway station. I climbed down the stairs to the welcoming platform. It always felt so very soothing inside the subways and relieved me of all the physical and mental tensions I had borne that day. I was waiting for the three twenty five to arrive.

The train as always was on time. As it came to a halt at the station I jumped into the third compartment and occupied my favourite seat opposite to the door. The journey was uneventful and boring, that is until we reached the next station. I expectantly looked up to the sliding doors half hopeful for the knockout beauty to materialize right there outside the door. Soon my pulse was racing away in a Ferrari for she was there again. But this time I was prepared and tried not to look at her lest I might do something horribly stupid. However that was not to be. Her beauty was just perfect, metaphorically speaking of course. What I meant was she was perfect for me. It was like another sun glowing with radiant beauty and I was basking in its heat. This time I diverted my gaze to her person. She was neither a waif nor voluptuous; neither fair nor dark even her hair was like somewhere in between black and brown and was in a ponytail. She was wearing some sort of a uniform, maybe a school uniform. I hazarded a guess. But I could not figure out which school. The train had come to halt in the Frankland Avenue and she left, leaving me behind with my mouth hung open.

“What is the time, young sir?” a gentleman sitting beside me asked. This broke my trance and I obliged the man with my watch. The train was slowing down again and the familiar Southern Parks station came into view. First it ran, then jogged and then it stopped at last. I walked out of the subway in slow motion, somewhat like in the movies. As I surfaced again, the setting sun hurt my eyes. Shielding my eyes from the sun, I made my way home in a jog.

The alarm clock rang out loud near my eardrums. I tried to bury myself in my pillow. As usual it was in vain. Reluctantly with much grumbling and tantrums I had to get off my sweet bed and turn the darn thing down. By now I was quite awake so I decided to get ready for another day at school. Soon I was downstairs all dressed up for my breakfast. After munching on my food for a couple of minutes I headed out for school. The memory of that angelic beauty I encountered yesterday was refreshed in my mind as soon I entered the subway station taking refuge from the relentless morning sun. Soon enough I was praying hard that she make an appearance today again and hoping for the best. For the record though I wasn’t really sure what was best for me though. That she make an appearance and the wind out of me or she doesn’t make an appearance and break my heart to pieces.

The train arrived and I boarded it eagerly. The next station came into sight soon enough. I crossed my fingers and waited hoping against hope that she come again today and out of the hundreds of doors choose the door in front of me to board the damn train. I could not take the pressure and decided to close my eyes and wait. I could hear a door opening opposite to me. I waited with baited breath. No, actually I could not wait. I cracked out my left eye a fraction of an inch. The old lady with a walking stick and bag clutched to her self walked into the compartment. As I began to curse my luck I was suddenly overtaken by all so familiar blinding pain in my cortex. However I was thankful as it receded as suddenly as it had come. As I came to my senses again my sight rested on the angelic beauty from yesterday. She was still as pristine as the last time my eyes had feasted on her glowing face and braided ponytail. It seemed as if she was helping the old lady to a seat. For one thing the scene was somewhat hard to digest. Never before had I seen the lady allowed anyone else to talk to her let alone help her. After leading to a seat both sat down together and began some sort of small talk. But these things minutely distracted me. The only thing that troubled me a little bit was that ‘my’ angel was talking to the old lady. I speculated that maybe they were related. Maybe the old woman was her grandmother. Maybe not. As my mind raced on I noticed a certain detail that had until now eluded my eyes. An insignia embroidered on her sleeve was what diverted my attention. I recognised it without too much difficulty though. It belonged to the Scottish Girls’ High. Yes I remember that symbol from somewhere in which I was recently involved but could not place it accurately. Perhaps it was on some cousin of mine or possibly it was from the newspaper that I had come to about it. A couple of stops later, the old lady alighted helped by ‘her’. As they left I could not help wondering why I felt that I should try to know more and more about her family. Commune Central arrived and I made my way out of the train and the station in the sunny outsides again.

In the afternoon I prepared to return home from school “Hey Yuki, would you do me a really big favour?” I turned around and found a flustered but friendly Ralph looking pleadingly at me. “What are you talking about Ralph, what favour do you want?” I asked somewhat puzzled. He continued, “You live in the southern parks right? Well you see I was wondering if you would help me find me my uncle’s house there. Before I had considered it I had spoken “ Sure thing Ralph”.

However over the next couple of hours I found myself wondering if I had perhaps spoken too soon a dozen times. As we entered the station together I was suddenly gripped by a fear of loss. What if my angel made a show now that I was with Ralph, she would definitely grab his attention with her glorious beauty. No, I could not let that happen if I could help it. It might really seem that I was acting a bit hysterical here. As if she was some hidden treasure and I was the adventurer who had found her by some turn of luck and now did not want to share her with no one else. Somehow I could not control this particular feeling of mine and it seemed to grow with every passing moment.

As we waited for the train to arrive I was almost sweating with tension. Finally the train arrived a good ten minutes later and we boarded it. This time I took care to take a seat as far away from the doors as possible. After that I tried to engage Ralph in useless small talk. Half of my mind, perhaps more was targeted on the door at all times. As the next station slid into view, I held my breath and waited in anticipation of her making a totally unwelcome appearance. I saw a stick prodding the floor followed by the old lady from this morning. Damn, I thought and redoubled my efforts to wean Ralph’s attention from the noisy doors. But soon enough I realized that my prayers had bore fruits as the old lady was alone and thankfully without her granddaughter or whatever. She was her old self again, the grumpy old hag who never sat down and never talked to anyone let one take any of the offered help. All in all my angel was not in sight and I heaved a sigh of relief.

I helped Ralph to his uncle’s home in southern parks and bade him good-bye. After that I returned home completely exhausted mentally and somewhat physically too.

Next morning again as I raced the sun to the subway station, I was feeling somewhat elated but could not place the feeling as usual. But as soon I entered the cool interiors of the station I knew what it was. It meant that today I was going to meet my angel again. I do not know how but it was almost like seeing into the future. Maybe it was some sort of telepathic connection between her and me. It was as if she was someone whom I had been seeing in my dreams and waiting for all my life. I entered the train and took my favourite seat again opposite to the doors. As the train set into motion I fixed my eyes at the door intently. The Frankland Avenue station arrived and the doors mechanically slid open. But instead of my angel the man with the cloak and hat stepped in. I felt as if let down and banged my head with my knuckles in a fit of frustration. It was as if I hit a sore spot on my head. The blow immediately jumpstarted a searing pain in my temple. I could barely keep my eyes open and gently massaged the temple in a bid to ease the pain. It was in vain but the pain began to recede away as suddenly it had started. Some disturbance caused me to gaze down the row of seats and to my utter surprise that it was her and all her glorified beauty that was attracting my attention away from everything else. Today however there something else that was different from the daily routine. That is, she was deep in conversation with the man in the cloak and the hat. Their conversation was not like some stranger talk but rather kind of intimate like they were closely related or something. As usual I remained dumbstruck throughout the remaining journey. She was a beauty beyond comparison crafted by the hands of God himself. There was such finesse and perfection that I doubted there could be anyone else at par with her. I know, I know it does sound a bit exaggerated but true or not it was really how I felt right then. I did not realize when the commune central station had arrived. I managed to regain my rational state of mind and made my way to the surface real world again and somehow found my way to school too.

At school we were told that the following day our school would remain closed for some overdue repair work school wiring system. After school, I was on a high over this good luck that I had found in the form of an unexpected holiday. I loved holidays just like any other kid. After all it allowed me to relax unfairly on working days. As I descended down the stairs, I began to formulate a plan on how to spend my holiday in a not so productive manner. Some video gaming and chatting on the net would not be bad. But I should not loiter in my room for long otherwise mom would ask me to clean up my room. Maybe I could visit Ralph at his uncle’s place. I could perhaps catch up on some lost translations in History and some wayward locations in Geography to kill the time. Apart from all this I must devote a generous amount of time to sweet slumber.

I was deeply engrossed in some really major planning when the train arrived. I boarded the train and waited in front of the doors for a final long look of my angel for the weekend. This time I had no misgivings that there was something in between us then bonded us together. It was as if were connected by some ethereal means and were one being in two bodies. Well I am sorry for I do not possess much knowledge on these topics but I ask you how would you explain that whenever I am on board the train she is drawn towards me and I find her right there in my vicinity every single time. So much about that already, presently she was came right in trough the opposite door. This time again she was not alone. But this time her company was somewhat unacceptable to me. There close beside her sat a blue eyed boy of similar age as mine. That apart, he was engrossed deeply in some imaginative conversation with her. Hey who was this nightmare ruining my time with my angel. Maybe this guy was her brother, I wondered? After all members of her family usually accompanied her more often than not. So instead of directly confronting the couple I decide to plan my advances and take care of this problem in the bud itself. Who knows if he wasn’t her brother? What if he liked her? No that I cannot let that happen.
It was then that I realized that she was there for the taking for the past couple of days and all I did all this time was foolishly gawp at her. Something had to be done and done fast. I put the situation into my head began to think of a good strategy. That’s it. Tomorrow was the day. Tomorrow was a holiday and I must make this holiday pay. She must have school tomorrow. I will meet her early in the morning and sort this little dilemma of mine. In the subway station.

I made up my mind to meet her tomorrow and express my feelings towards her. With this happy thought I left the station and trundled down the path to home humming a gay tune under my breath.

Next morning the alarm clock was ringing its head off and announcing the arrival of ‘the’ day. I got up from my sweet bed and turned it off. Rubbing my eyes groggily I peered at the time. What the heck? Only seven in the morning. Today is a holiday. Cursing, I turned to the bed again and fell flat on it. As soon as I had closed my eyes I realized. My God, today is the big day when I shall at last speak to my angel. In an excited state of mind I bathed and put on my best attire for the all so special occasion. I left home in a hurry without even caring for a bite. The thoughts of her angelic beauty seemed to fill my mind and stomach as well. I braved the morning cold in the warm sun and reached the station. I bought a regular ticket for the not so regular destination. Frankland Avenue. I restless watched the overhead digital clock. Then I looked at my wristwatch and then at the clock again. This continued for about ten minutes until the eight five arrived. I boarded it and soon my journey began. Everything around me seemed new to me though I had travelled in the same train a million times before. As the Frankland Avenue came into view a disaster befell me. My old head splitting headache was back. Not now darn it. Moreover this time it didn’t fade away as swiftly it did as always rather it occupied dangerous proportions. Not this time, I decided to brave it this last time. For my angel.

The train halted and the doors swung open. I alighted on to an alien surrounding nursing my temple. I sat down on the waiting chairs. Meanwhile the pain had reduced considerably but still there was still some soreness in my cortex. I decided to look for her and began to walk along the lonely platform. Not a soul was in sight. A perfect setting, I thought. After about some fifteen minutes I gave up on my search and sat down again. However I felt something beckoning me from behind. I looked behind me and found a woman standing with her back towards me. On closely observing her I realized that it was she. Though I had never seen her from behind I had full faith in the telepathic connection between us. I could almost see her angelic halo from behind. Moreover I recognised her Scottish High’s uniform and ponytail, which madly swung in the cold gale. It was time.

I walked up to her slowly on weak unsteady steps. I was really near her now and was frantically trying to form the words to speak in my mind. I could almost smell her faint perfume, almost touch her soft hair, could almost feel her being. I raised a hand to call her upon her shoulders and took another step towards her. I paused for a moment. Something beckoned me to stop. Something that was coming towards us. Coming closer and closer. Coming nearer every second. My ever active conscience told me whatever was approaching was not good. Rather far from good. It was sinister and still more. It was resiliently evil. It warned me of an oncoming disaster.
She was still peering into the tunnel. The train lights were visible now. Clouding the darkness within the tunnel the subway train was making its way to us. The time was at hand now. Now or never my conscience said to me. It urged me on. Go, it said. Go on. I took the final unsteady step to her. It kept pushing me on. It pushed me on so much that it that become rather intolerable. It was as if I was in a delirium. I did not want to go on any more. I wanted to stop. But I could not. Still it went on inside me. Push on. Push. Then unable to bear the pressure, I pushed.

I collapsed from the pressure right there and from there on my memory draws a total blank. The only thing I could remember was a wild scream. And of course the subway train. When I had woken up I found myself in the platform medical ward. I was told that I had fainted from exhaustion and fever.

Where had she gone? Had I missed my chance? Then it all came back to me. The train was almost there. When I fainted she must have had boarded the train and left. Stupid headache. I cursed my poor health and poorer luck and headed home. When I landed back in the Southern parks I was smarting all over for the lost holiday and lost girl. As I surfaced from the subway station I immediately began feeling a little better. That day for the first time in a long while I roamed the remaining day outside. I came home late in the evening and was famished. I ate like a dog and slept like a log. The day was over for me and a new tomorrow was coming.


Epilogue

The next morning was brand new as ever. Everything was back to normal. I ran downstairs to get some breakfast. As I waited for the food to be prepared I decided to catch up on some of the day’s latest news. Elections were round the corner and campaigns were in full force. A new dam was being proposed for the nearby river. In an incident involving the subways, a young girl from the Scottish High was run over by the train again. This was the second case of a ‘subway’ death this month and the sixth this year already. A lack of witnesses led to a vaguely drawn conclusion of suicide which friends and family opposed vehemently. When I looked at the girl’s photograph I the newspaper something seemed familiar to me. I seemed to know this girl but I could place her anywhere in my memory despite my best efforts. Was she a distant cousin or a friend of my cousin sister, I was not sure. Whatever the case I was unable to forget the pony tailed girl’s pretty face.
As I rushed down the pebbled path to the Southern Parks subway station I felt a kind of remorse for the ponytailed girl’s poor fate. Soon I reached the station and upon entering I immediately felt calmer and happier. While I waited at the platform, watching the sweepers, beggars and the like my eyes chanced upon a pretty young girl waiting for a train. At once my heart began to race and my feet went numb at the sight of the angelic beauty.

Sniper's Poker

Prologue

The year is 2029. The world is raging with unimaginable technologies. Cybronic implants and cybernetic organisms were abound. Androids were not behind either. A new breed of military androids called the Tachikoma were the latest ones in use. In addition to heavy firepower capabilities, armour and optical camouflage each came equipped with a unique personality akin to human beings. Except for their bodies, which were the size and shape of a pick up truck, they were quite similar to cyborgs. They were recently inducted into the elite Japanese vigilante group called Section 9, which was headed by chief Aramaki and led by the able ‘Major’ Kushanagi. Other members of the team were Tagusha, Bato, Ishikawa, Paz and the one eyed sniper Saburo.
Except Saburo all the others were Japanese nationals and for the last one read on to find out how he ended up in Section 9.

Sniper’s Poker

It was an evening in winter. A few friends were huddled around a table in the corner of a repair garage. On the table cards and tokens were scattered all around. Evidently a game of poker was in progress. A couple of Tachikoma who had come for their regular check up were chatting away merrily nearby. “Shut up you two. Can’t you see that a game is on here?” sergeant Weathers of the local police department said to the Tachikoma. They in turn replied “Poker is a game of probability and memory isn’t it sir? Players look at other’s cards and try to guess their hands. After that they bluff or bet their money. So at some times they win and so at some times they win and most of the times they don’t”. The other Tachikoma added “but here Saburo Sir always wins. Why is that, sir?” Weathers said, “ He wins more than others because he bluffs.” Then turning to the man in question he spoke “but not today Saburo. Today your bluffs are not going to take you anywhere. This game is mine” he ended glancing back at his cards.

Tagusha, another member of the elite Section 9 opined “don’t be so sure weathers. Saburo always has a trick or two up his sleeve.” The fourth gentleman in the group was a new recruit to the in the police fraternity. He was quiet and was called Walters.At long last the most talked about man in the group intoned in low than usual voice2 I do not bluff. I can merely read all of your thoughts just by looking at your faces. So as a piece of advice I ask all of you not to poker face me. Get it.” A few moments of pregnant silence passed. Finally Saburo had to speak again to break the ice “OK you guys I will tell all of you a story. It is the story of my life and the experience I had in it chilled me to the very bones of my spines. Apart from that it also taught me to read poker faces like all of yours.” The Tachikoma broke upon into an appeal for the story. Saburo said “all right I will tell you all the story if all raise their bets.” Noncommittally everyone raised. However Weathers said, “ I am not raising because I want to listen to your dumb story. Just so you know that, all right.”

Saburo began “while I tell the story please do not interrupt me and one more thing comments are not welcome. Fine then.” “It was the summer of 2020. Back then I was still just a mercenary. I was in the Spanish national army. At that time the US and Japanese economies were in great turmoil. They could think up of only one solution their downtrodden condition by crippling the Mexican drug and arms industries, which boosted the Mexican and its ally’s Spanish economies. They had persuaded the UN to allow them to assault the Mexican government under the name of disrupting their illegal drug trade and production or something. I did not know the reasons very well back then nor did I care. I did what I was paid for. I fought. I was perhaps the last man standing left of my team that was wiped out by a surprise attack by the US and Japanese allied army. I was in wait for a chance to surrender given my mercenary status. While I was still on lookout I got an Intel update from my headquarters that a small group of the allied army was in the town to nuke it and flush out the remaining guerrillas in the nearby areas. This plan of theirs irritated me to no end and I went against my surrender plan and instead decided to have a final go at them before I leave this world for the netherworlds. I wanted to give them such a nightmarish time that they forget for their entire lives and maybe eve after that. Trying to nuke me out are you?”

The sun was beginning to dip behind the distant western Sierra Madres. Painting the wee little town red and orange. I scanned the region with my binoculars and after a couple of minutes of searching I acquired my targets. It was smallish group by allied standards, I thought. However my shots were also limited so I decided to go one after another.

On the ground, lieutenant Marcus led the group of three Japanese and four Americans including himself. They were sergeant Mothers, private Paul, private Ivan, the ‘Major’, Ishikawa and Bato. Marcus was growing impatient, he said to the others “I say we detonate the darn thing right here and return to base. This hunting for survivors is taking a lot of time. Moreover we have strayed too far away from the company already.” No one replied. The made their way in silence through millions of boulders and debris that cluttered their path.

Meanwhile I checked my signal-jamming device. Last time I had checked it was able to jam their radio and satellite uplink including their GPS as well as their remote communicator devices. With the hep of this device not only were they stranded away from their company reinforcements they would be totally helpless in locating me without the help of satellite imaging of the area. Now all they had to rely on was their unreliable humanoid instincts. However that was only what I had speculated. I checked my Rolex, which was a gift from someone special. This is not the right time to bring up that issue though. It was fifteen seconds to five. After checking the time I checked my rifle and finally I checked out my first target. I closed my right eye and took careful aim with the left. Funny thing though. Back then I still had my real left eye not this Cybronic implant I sport now. I must say I had a rather good eye then for rarely did I miss a target. My eye and crosshair was one instrument when I followed the American soldier carrying the nuclear device. He was my first choice for obvious reasons. Five seconds until I announce my presence to the group below. I began counting under my breath. Five. Four.Three.Two.One.Zero. The clock tower at the opposite side of town gonged out aloud. As I had anticipated everyone on ground zero paused momentarily caught unawares. I shot that man in that brief moment of surprise turning it into shock. As he crumpled to the ground even from my hiding spot I could make out the sudden ruckus below as everyone dived for cover.

On the grounds not only the view changes but also the entire scenery. Since you change from the attacker to the attacked. So I took the liberty of describing the emotions and actions undergoing at the ground level. “Sniper, sniper in the ruins. Take cover everyone.” The ‘Major’ cried out. She neither was a major by rank nor by name. But the lady who was in fact a cybernetic organism since her childhood was as much experienced or maybe more than any living army major in the tactics and techniques of guerrilla and modern warfare that her colleagues aptly called her Major.Anyway everyone dived for cover as soon they heard the Major’s command. Well almost everyone, except sergeant Mothers that is who still writhed in mortal pain on the open ground. Private Paul said, “ We have to rescue him” indicating Mothers. Lieutenant Marcus said “All right everyone listen. Bato and Ishikawa cover fire the western building and Major and I will cover from the eastern side. Meanwhile Paul gets Mothers. Any doubts anyone.” On the count of three all emerged.

The firing disturbed the deathly silence of the city. Paul was at the side of Mothers in a flash and was saying to him “try not to move too much, Sir. Everything is going to be fine” However he could speak only as much as a moment none too late a slug punctured his temple and crumpled beside the wounded Mothers, stone dead. Everyone dived for cover once again, this time leaving the two Americans to die in the open.

In a fleeting instant in which everyone must be trying to catch their breaths on the ground I proceeded with the next phase of my plan. I used my remote control to fire a 20mm shell from the previously set up mortar-firing unit in the eastern building. The shell landed on a stagnant car lifting it off the ground. As I had expected the firing briefly stopped and then riveted to the opposite direction. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
“Stop, stop everyone stop firing. Cease fire, cease fire”, yelled the Major. The firing stopped in a few moments. “Do you know where the sniper is? Try to think straight for a while. I feel the eastern one is just a decoy to divert our attention for a few seconds.” Marcus argued, “How can you be so sure. Maybe there are more than one snipers. Maybe we are all surrounded.” To this the Major calmly replied, “ if we were surrounded by snipers we’d have been dead by now.” Then to Ishikawa she said, “ Ishikawa can you track down the jamming device’s originating signal. Can you get a lock on its position from here”. Ishikawa replied after checking his devices “the signal is originating from three different locations. If we take down any two of the transponders then we can uplink with the satellite and call for backup”, he continued “the locations are the church and the hospital in the west and the apartment in the east”. The Major said, “very well then I will check out the apartment to prove my theory. However I strongly believe that the enemy is only one sniper and a very clever one at that. My instincts tell me that he is hiding in the western side. Snipers hate to face the sun anyway.”

“Cover me guys” the Major shouted and made a dash for the apartment in the east as the firing erupted from the ground again. Once inside the apartment turning corners cautiously the Major made her way to the potential location of the jamming device. As she had speculated earlier there was only a single transponder and a premeditatedly propped up 20mm heavy round launcher aimed at the ground below complete with a remote trigger.” About twenty minutes later she returned to her companions at the camp below holding a telltale 20mm clip. “There was only one round in it and it was fired with a remote controlled trigger. So now we are sure that our friend is in the western side either in the church or in the hospital,” she concluded.

As she wondered about the further plan of action Marcus began to load a heavy round in the shoulder mountable rocket launcher saying “at least there is one way to find out”. In the hospital Saburo had not let his guard down even for a single moment and rather followed the proceedings below. I could not help praise the presence of mind of the team members to check out the apartment first before jumping to conclusions. However I must say I was a little taken aback to find a female in their midst when I focussed on the huddle below. I guessed she must be a cyborg. Real woman are such soft creatures to survive in a battlefield let alone discuss strategy. In a second none too late my eye caught one of them aiming a rocket launcher at the hospital, at me. Not losing any more time I slugged him in his forehead.

The Major cried hoarse “the hospital, he is in the hospital. Bato, Ishikawa cover me. Ivan follow me.” They began to advance to towards the hospital cautiously. At some distance the covering fire began to pummel the weak old hospital walls and I hid behind the windows. I could not for long though for otherwise they would storm the place taking me down along with it. I decided to retaliate. I aimed from the tiniest corner I could find and followed the man running behind the lady. Just before he entered the smokescreen below I nailed him. As he kissed the ground I saw helplessly as the woman in their team make her way harmlessly into the hospital grounds. I bailed from my hiding place and took refuge near the pillar which a good fifty feet from the only entrance to this floor.

Did you guys know something? In a battle no one knows who kills whom except for one person. The sniper, the sniper always knows. He is the one guy you can take your revenge on. That is why snipers never become prisoner of wars. Thinking along such lines I prepared myself for the final battle of the day.

Meanwhile the Major successfully crossed the threshold of the hospital and proceeded along the stairs to the third floor swiftly where she believed the enemy to be hiding. In a few minutes she reached the third floor entrance. There she picked up a piece of broken glass lying on the floor and with its help surveyed the entire scene while still in the shadows. She saw a transponder device lying on the floor beside the pillar. Calculating her risks she removed her semi automatic heavy machine gun from her shoulder and plugged its data cable into her neurosystem port at the back of her neck. Balancing the gun at her waist level for maximum stability she stepped out of the shadows.

I was surveying the entrance with my mirror glass for the past ten minutes. I sensed some disturbance in the ninth minute but nothing happened until sixty seconds later. The woman stepped out of the shadows a heavy machine gun swinging at her waist and fired a deafening three shot burst that took out my transponder. It did a couple of back flips and finally came to rest against a boulder. I had only a single rifle bullet and loaded semi automatic hand gun which quite useless at this distance. I gauged her distance and my skill several times and tried to picture the scene in my mind. Though the rifle she held was ordinarily used as an assault weapon it could effectively double up as a long distance shooter in the hands of an expert user such as a cyborg as her. Supposing the software for the long and medium range shooting were installed and ready for use in her cyber brain, if I fired a shot she could easily shoot down my only bullet and given her rifles much faster firing rate take me down with the next shot before I could duck back. No matter how many times I played the scene in my mind the outcome seemed the same to me each time. I realized I was pitted against a complete cyborg and it was a test of all sniping experience. It was truly a moment of truth and I am really not ashamed to say that it chilled me to the very bones of my spine. She stood there unmoving, not even blinking her eyes for a nanosecond. I saw her expressionless face and observed a drop of sweat crawl down her forehead into her eye and back on her cheek. As it left her chin I concluded any mistake on my part would be my last.

The Tachikoma interrupted Saburo for the first time during his entire storytelling “but you could not wait forever, could you sir?” Saburo observed them for a second and continued, “Well yes I could not”.

At that very moment my gaze fell on something that jumpstarted my brain again. I saw my transponder lying quite dead on the ground. It was shot evidently shot down with a three shot from her, but why three shot when one would have been enough. It dawned upon me that the software for long range shooting had not yet been installed and now that the satellite uplink was back on track she was downloading it as I was thinking. There was not another moment to loose. I swung into action immediately. Taking aim only for a fraction of a second I fired. Just as I had calculated she tried to shoot down my bullet but managed only to deflect it a millimetre. My bullet scraped her cheek and cut out a lock of her hair. Her next bullet was already on its way. I backed away quickly but I was not quick enough to completely evade her bullet. It scraped my sniping left eye and crippled me. With one hand I covered my remaining eye and with the other I took out my handgun. But before I could fire it she was already standing over me. In a flash she disarmed me and pinned my free hand to the wall. Her poker face had not left her yet. She said, “You are a very good shot. Work for me. Your call”.

I had no choice to refuse but had to work for her. Not only had she defeated me truly in battle but also had successfully deceived me to the end with her poker face. In this way I ended up in Section 9. However to this day I wonder if I could have spotted her poker face a couple of seconds earlier maybe I would still have had my real left eye. From that day on I never had an experience as frightening as that and I never have any trouble with poker faces like you either.

“Wow” the Tachikoma cried out in unison. Weathers however said, “that was a really good story but you still can’t bluff to win here. I kind of remember seeing that movie sometime ago though” Saburo didn’t bat an eyelid. Instead he said, “ Let me have my last card. Yes I was bluffing. I made it all up”. The final cards were dealt “I bid all my money” Saburo said. Weathers was hysterical “ You can’t bluff here. You can’t win. To win you need a straight royal flush of spades and you can’t have it since I have the ace right here.” Saying so weathers showed his cards.
Saburo got up to leave and spoke to Walters “Settle my bill, will you?” The Tachikoma asked him “were you really bluffing, sir? About the story.” Saburo left the room poker faced without speaking a single word. Walking down the street he lit a cigarette. The Tachikoma moved up to the table “are Saburo sir’s cards really that bad? It picked them up and said, “wow guys look, it’s a straight royal flush of spades. It makes me wonder if the story was real.”“Maybe” the other Tachikoma said as Saburo disappeared into the city leaving behind a trail of cigarette smoke.

El diablo

So friends here it is as I had promised.


Prologue





To go on living and move forward in life every must have a belief to guide him or her onward. All of us humans believe in both God and the Devil. We ‘usually’ pray to the former and despise the latter. But sometimes even the almighty God might not be able to knock some much needed sense into the subjects gone astray from the ‘good’ path of His, then He might seek out the help of His not so benevolent counterpart, the Devil.

In some cases where both God and the Devil fail separately then desperate measures are called for. When the good and the evil join forces can any mere mortal stand any chance against such earthshaking alliance. However in such a case an unwanted situation may also arise where the beloved subject of the lord is lured by the devilish temptations into the sinful underworlds. Or otherwise as the old adage says” iron cuts iron “will the devil be able to get rid of the many evils plaguing the innocent subjects of the almighty.





El Diablo


The summer was almost gone and autumn was knocking at the doors. Winters were the worst part of the year, at least for me they were. For as long as I can remember winter has always been bad news for me. Every year some thing or the other happens to me. Last year my dear horse Camille went missing. I have not found her since then. The year before that, I lost all of my savings in a darn bet at the pub. Even before that my beloved Marlene, the love of my life died of pneumonia. It all began twenty years ago. I could still remember that cold winter morning as if it was only yesterday. My father had gone out for church duties as every morning. Suddenly a gang of outlaws stormed the streets with the police after them. A good amount of shooting ensued from both the sides. My poor father was caught in the crossfire. Poor man, he died on the spot .He never had a chance. Ever since that fate less day I have come to hate two things from the deepest depths of my black heart. Winters and churches. Even though I had a strong feeling of something bad about to happen I had not the slightest idea of what was in store for me this winter.


My name is ‘Baldis’, though a few knew of it. Most of them are dead now including my parents. Now I went about with the name ‘Didas’. I belong to this ghost of a town called ‘Polton’. I work here and have spent most of my life here and intend to live here till my dying days. What do I do? Funny you should ask. I do a fairly important job of keeping the residents of this place in line. To tell the truth I do a fairly good job at it too. No, you fools I am not mayor nor am I the sheriff though I get to meet them once in a while when I go about my job. For all you dimwit city dwellers who are still not able to guess my job let me put in simple words for you. I am the town’s numero uno outlaw. That is right I am a crook, a criminal a so called “bad person” .I eke out my mere existence by charging a nominal ‘protection charge’ from the traders and the innkeepers of the town. It is not like I am a greedy stink or anything .I only charge them according to their capacity to pay. And the good people of the town are usually more than happy to shell out rather than face my six-chambered friend holstered at my side.


It was just like any other morning today. Business was brisk and I swiftly went about my collection beat. Sensing my arrivals the streets usually remain sparsely occupied. Occasionally do I chance upon a fellow outlaw or a bar mate and bid them a good morning otherwise the beats are a boring exercise. A couple of ladies were returning home from the daily market. Having caught sight of me they scurried away at top speed but not before I treated them to a couple of ‘humble’ bows. The sun beat down mercilessly upon me. I could literally feel the heat. My throat was going rather dry too. A drink was called for. To the Red Lion pub, I decided. While I was there I could collect my tax from Rudolf too. Maybe I could say hi to Miyuki too. She was the barman Rudolf’s daughter and I nursed a soft spot for her in my heart and decided to marry her one day in the near future.



I made my way to the pub in silence. A light breeze was whipping across my face. A child was curiously staring at me from the window across the street .I waved back to the child. No sooner had I waved the window was rudely closed by the child’s mother. I sighed and resumed my journey. Something caught my eye as I turned at the spot. Some one was approaching the town from the eastern gates. I shielded my eyes from the sun tried to make out who he was. It was a stranger. Rarely did tourists come to this measly little town, and then who was this mysterious figure approaching on foot. As I dwelled into my thoughts the wind caught strength and a fierce gale began to blow lifting the dust with it .A sandstorm was imminent. As I dived into the pub for cover I could not help feeling somewhat sorry for the poor traveller who was caught in the storm out side.


I approached the bar and called out to the bartender, Rudolf. He returned the greeting by saying, “how are you today sir? Bad storm sir isn’t it? Only dusty winds and no rains, business is bad too.” I ordered a beer and settled down in the bar. Some of the tables were occupied A couple of guys were drinking while a couple others were playing cards and making dirty jokes, I finished my beer and ordered another. In the mean time I asked Rudolf “what happened to the tax you were about to pay me? You are already running three weeks late. Hearing about the tax Rudolf began to plead and said, “Please sir, business is not very good. Not many travellers are coming to the inn nowadays.” “Rudolf, I will let you in a on a big secret. Income tax is the hardest thing to understand. Did you know? If not then you know it now so pay me the tax right now .I wont have any more if that from you. Rather let make you an irresistible offer. The money or your daughter’s hand in marriage. What do you say to that ,old timer?”“ No, sir please for God’s sake leave my daughter out of this. She is all I have left in my miserable life. As for the money I shall pay you in a couple of days, sir .I swear.” All this nonsense was getting to my head. But before I could say something else, a sudden quiet enveloped the bar. The wind had died outside but this lull was even more frightening than the raging storm. Suddenly a shadow passed the window and began to move towards the door. Who could be roaming outside in such weather? As the door opened a cold wave swept the entire room. Maybe it was the cold wind from outside or maybe it was the sinister aura of the person outside. I was a wee bit surprised when I saw the person entering the bar was none other than the unfortunate traveller I had seen at the city gates a while ago. Surprisingly he looked quite clean and sombre to me. There wasn’t even a single speck of dust on his person. It was as if the winds were afraid to mess with his hair .I took him to be a jovial wanderer for a moment but my opinion about him changed as soon I noticed his garb. From what he was hearing there was no mistaking that he a priest or some other God man from the church or somewhere. The thing is since the day my father died that fate less day twenty years ago I had lost all my faith in almighty god. My father never hurt a soul. Let alone physically he would not even speak a rude word to someone else. He religiously went to the church everyday too. Yet he died such an untimely death and God could not do anything to protect him. From that day on I pledged not rely on some invisible possibility called God but on my own strength and skill. So in this way for me God became nonexistent and such God men, the worst perpetrators on earth.




Suddenly my feet were going all cold and numb. What the heck was happening to me? Has the winter arrived already? The traveller was making his way in between the tables to me. Just as he was about reach me he stopped and lifted his gaze to Rudolf and ordered a cigarette. After that he just moved away from the bar and quietly settled down at the table in the farthest corner of the room .I took a moment to study the priest person. He was tall and had blonde hair. One could go as far as to say that he was handsome too. He wore a monk’s plain robes and a jewelled bracelet on his left arm. He had no luggage on him. Must be poor beggar, I thought. Pathetic. All the same he had a certain aura surrounding him that seemed to have frozen and gagged all of us. Only did he when raise an arm and beckon Rudolf did we all come to our senses. Somehow I did not feel like staying in the room at all. Money and Miyuki all forgotten I turned tail and ran out. At the door I issued a halfhearted warning to Rudolf “I will be back for the money”. Though it was more out of a habit than out of my heart once outside I instantly began feeling better. However the arrival of a foreign priest in the town had dampened my mood for the day. So I decided to call it a day and returned to my modest wood cabin at the farthest end of town.


When I woke up next morning the ominous feeling from yesterday seemed to linger on. I stepped outside into a misty morning. I was feeling hungry like an animal. I decide to pay a visit to Ronny’s eating joint. His sandwiches were the best in town. Humming little tune under my breath I made my way to Ronny’s. From a distance I could say the place was unusually overflowing with people. The entrance was jam-packed with people. Still more were arriving. With much difficulty I made my way into the crowd. At the front I could see the people were all surrounding one table. The table was occupied by none other than the priest guy from yesterday. Hot anger boiled inside me. The folks were pampering him. They were offering food and drinks to him. However everyone was carefully standing at a certain distance from him. At that precise moment I felt a chill in my chest. Then I saw what was happening. The priest guy was looking right at me. It was as if he could hear what I was thinking. His face was expressionless, but I could see hatred in his cold blue eyes as he observed me for a moment before looking away again. His eyes seemed to burn a hole in my conscience. I said to myself, get a hold of yourself buddy. I needed to get away from this guy. So I made my way through the crowd. Once I noticed how the people were falling one over another to get a glimpse of the priest. Even more people were coming now as it were some sort of a festival or as some Hollywood star was distributing free autographs. Didn’t they have anything else to do? What had happened to the town? Someone had to bring them to their to senses. If no one was going to then I was. I took out my gun and fired. Bang bang………bang. I fired three shots into the air. Slowly the crowd took notice and began to disperse. This was more like it. With some satisfaction I started to move away from the scene of confusion.



As I walked on by the streets I knew that one thing was for sure this priest was getting on my nerves. Sooner or later I would have to face him one on one. This town was too small for the likes of both of us. One of us must leave. If he comes to his senses and moves out on his own it was all fine and dandy. If not, I was afraid I was going to have to make him. A reassuring feeling came to me as I felt my dear gun inside my coat pocket. I had reached my favourite spot, the tree and decided to take a nap under it to cool off my head. As I lay under the tree I observed a lot of activity amongst the townsmen. Rarely did the streets remain so full during this time of afternoon. Were they under some crackpot spell of the priest? What the heck if they were? At least they were working now and not wasting any time after him. Go on people make more money and pay me more tax. I did not remember when had I dozed off but when I woke up it was late in the evening and still the town seemed alive with action. I was too tired to deal with it right now. After all whatever could I do? I could not tell them off for working late. So I decide to retire for the day.

There was a chill in the air when I woke up the next morning. The sky was overcast and the air misty. But it was the middle of autumn. No mistaking these were the signs of an early winter. A chilling realization dawned upon me as I recollected all the unpleasant experienced of the previous winters. For me winters were like curses or something. It was this time of the year when my luck literally runs out. I’ll have to be careful from now on, I decided. As I dwelled in my own thoughts some loud noises broke my reverie. What? Such a ruckus and that too so early in the morning. I dressed and went out to check it out. I saw people standing outside surrounding the priest guy from yesterday’s fiasco and were singing something that seemed a lot like hymns or something. What was wrong with the folks, I wondered. I was fast losing my status as a celebrity in this town, all thanks to this freak. As I was thinking how to set this guy right he began to distribute clothes and other stuff amongst the folks. What the hell? This guy has got to go one way or another, I decided.

That afternoon I checked my gun and holstered it in my inside pocket. After I headed outside. Two days had passed I had not collected my tax from anyone. Well how could I with the freaky priest running around giving take away gifts to the poor townsfolk. Who would like to work too if one gets everything for free. I decided to pick off from where I had left last time, the Red Lion. Before long I was there. As I was about to enter the place I had rather ominous feeling about something. Something in the back of my head was telling me to go back. A man in my profession however cannot be overwhelmed by such minor distraction and nor was I.

The tavern presented a familiar and pleasing scene. Men were smoking and drinking. Some were playing cards. Others were just having a bite. Everything was going on fine, I thought. As my sight fell on the punter priest I felt as if I had spoken too soon. He stuck out in their midst as if a sore thumb. He was sitting at the very spot he was sitting on the unlucky day he stepped into this town. I decided to ignore him and headed straight for the bar and called out to Rudolf. Rudolf was polishing a mug. When he looked up to see me at the bar all colour left his face.
“Hey Rudolf, how’s business? How about a beer?” Slowly he handed me one. Soon the beer was finished. “Now let’s talk business pal. Where is the money you owe me?” “But I don’t have any right now, sir. I promise to settle the dues in a couple of days” Rudolf lamented. “I won’t have any of that any more. Money or your daughter. Your choice, old man. And make it quick. I have other places to visit today”. This only made him redouble his efforts in pleading and begging for time. However I could not become soft. A softie could not survive in this profession of mine. This scene continued for sometime until someone interrupted.

Suddenly an imposing voice was heard speaking quietly and clearly. “Hey bartender, quit fooling around and get me a cup of coffee. And my pack of cigarettes is also almost finished so hurry up and get another one, will you?” the priest spoke in a cold voice. Rudolf said nothing but accusingly looked at me. For the first time, since I had seen him the punk spoke to me” “Listen mister, why don’t you stop troubling others and something useful once in a while like shutting up ad getting out of here.” He said all that with a straight face without even blinking an eyelid, his voice as calm and cold as ever. Even more than his words what irritated me to the point of no return was his indifferent attitude. A dam of restraint gave away somewhere in my head and let loose a flood of fury into my throbbing temples. In a flash my gun as out and I moved towards him pointing it at his head. Sensing me approach he glanced towards me for a moment before closing his eyes and lighting a cigarette. This had done it. In a mad rage I kicked everything off his table. A few tension filled moments later he spoke again “Listen buddy boy neither do I have the time nor the interest to play with you. So if you will be quick about your business here it would be much better”. “Listen Priesty, your crackpot spells and hymns won’t save you here. You are crossing paths with me, Didas of Polton town. So either you leave or”, I raised my gun to his forehead “I make you leave”. By now any other person would have wetted his pants but not our priest friend here. Instead all he did was smiled, no no it was more like an evil smirk. “Well now as I have already said I don’t have time to play, but since you are on to it so much I will be kind enough to grant you some time for playing.” he said. Then he drew a tiny Smith and Wesson .38 six shot from inside his robes and continued, “for the record I am no priest but a mere wandering monk and the game I would like you to play with me is the Russian roulette. It’s an interesting game I picked up from a now dead friend of mine a couple of towns back. Surely coming from these parts you should know all about it. One round and all will know who is the though guy and who’s the wuss.”

This guy was mad, no this guy was supremely insane. Of course I knew all about the damned game. It was the most dangerous game of chance that messes up your lives as well as your grey stuff if you are low on luck that is. “Well my friend what do you say, you game for a round?” the monk interrupted my thoughts. “Of course” I said as a cold sweat broke at my neck. “Fine fine” he said with the air of a rather satisfied man and then continued “why don’t we make things a little more what do you say interesting. Instead of aiming at ourselves why don’t we aim at each other. Also let us bet something at each shot. On winning a round the loser must do the winner’s bidding,” he added with a smirk “that is if he is still alive”. I was still speechless and could only nod my head in agreement.


I pulled up a chair and sat down opposite to him. Suddenly the air seemed to chill around me and the inmates of the tavern gathered round to see the fun. In the mean time I was trying to calculate my chances and options. If I withdrew now, I would loose my status in the town and would never be able to live with myself again. On the other hand if I played along with this madman it could mean game over for me. Then status or not I was dead. But I had to get rid of the sucker one way or the other and this was the best way to do it without hurting the folks’ feelings and losing their trust. I trusted my stars and said, “We will play with my gun.” “All right” the monk agreed “but I will take the first shot” he finished.

Slowly I forced a hot lump down my throat and checked my gun. It was fully loaded. I know not why but instead of removing the bullets I fired them one after the other into the nearest window shattering it into a million pieces. Maybe I wanted to generate at least some fear of death that I was already experiencing, in the ever calm monk. However after the shooting I could easily make out that the exercise was in vain. Or maybe I wanted to fill the excitement of firing my gun for the final time. Whatever it was the monk was all but impressed and all he did was sigh heavily as if he was being made to wait unnecessarily. What frightened me the most was his yet carefree attitude. It was as if he already knew who was going to win and also that it was not me. I placed my gun on the table and resigned myself to my fate.

“Hey bartender where are my cigarettes. I am all out”, he shouted out to Rudolf who seemed to have forgotten all about it in all the excitement. Then to me he asked, “Well dear sir I must know my opponent’s name at least”. “Didas” was the answer “what’s yours monk?” At this he forced a rare smile on his face “well” he began “my name you ask. Monk is as good as any for even I do not know my real name”. By now Rudolf had brought him his pack of cigarettes. He nodded and accepted the packet. He lighted one and said to himself “much better now” and then without warning he picked up my gun from the table in a swift motion and examined it. He twirled the bullet compartment a couple of times and before I knew it I was looking into the barrel of my own gun.

As I stared into the depths of the barrel I had a realization. I had never experienced such fear earlier. I never expected to be at the receiving end of my own gun. Usually it was someone else at my place. I could now fully understand their fears and situation. Though I still had a chance if the bullet chamber was empty for me but the poor fellows who faced my gun otherwise usually had no chance at all facing death right at their faces. “Enjoying yourself” the monk interrupted softly and then, continued “well, cross your fingers and call upon your lord”. I could feel a drop of sweat travel down from my forehead making it’s way through my brow sliding through my stubble and pausing for a moment at my chin before deserting me for the floor. I closed my eyes and surprisingly apart from the drop of sweat all I could feel was remorse for all the people I had killed or wounded in my life.

“Crick”
After several tense moments, which seemed like infinite eternities to me, I opened my eyes to new world. The light was blinding me. As my eyes got adjusted to the glare the monk came into view. He was still drawing out the last dregs out of his cigarette stump. Disgustedly he spat it out though I was not sure if he was angry at the cigarette or my getting out of the round alive. Turning his cold expressionless face to me he said, “Awake already. Well then it’s your turn now. If want to demand for something from me, do it now.” I was briefly caught up in my thoughts. As my thoughts cleared I spat out without any more delay “get out, get out of this town now.” The monk forced down a ghost of a smile, which tried to emerge at the corner of his mouth. He refused flatly as I had feared earlier “Not yet tiger. I will however go away if you win your next round. Right now the game has only begun and the stakes are not that high yet. Ask for something less valuable than that.” For the second time I was stumped. What else could I ask for? Money was my first option. No, my life was worth much more than a poor monk’s money. What else… “Give me your arm bracelet”. For a second there I thought the monk was going to refuse in the name of religion or something. But I was proved wrong soon enough. “What you want this thing? Fine.” Saying thus he threw it towards me. It slid across the table and came to a halt after hitting my gun, which lay innocently on the table.

I raised my hand to pick up my life’s worth of jewels. Midway through the air I changed my decision and picked up my gun instead. The jewels could wait I reckoned. I cradled the gun in my hands for a few tense seconds and then said to the monk with a fraction of my erstwhile confidence “get ready monk” as I raised the gun and aimed at his forehead “to meet your maker”. The monk only gave me a fleeting glance and went on pull out another cigarette from the pack on the table. Sensing my impatience at his indifference he said, “Spare me the genial attitude will you, and make it quick”.

Having had his say he closed his eyes and tilted to a more comfortable position on his chair. Lifting his head heavenwards he took a long drag at his cigarette and began to blow smoke rings. Watching all this in silence I was confused if he was ridiculing me or if he was immortal or something. He was acting as if I was not going to shoot him rather that I was going to pay for his hotel tab. As if reading my mind he spoke “You’d better get me the first time cause if you don’t you are going to have to pay for my lodging here inclusive of my restaurant bill.” It was unnerving as when I had face the gun earlier. I tried not to give his comment much thought rather willed all my might for the bullet to be there now. I took careful aim so as not to miss him and fired.

“Crick” was all my gun said.

The monk swung into action at once. Spitting out his burning smoke he titled forward and looked me in the eyes “Hey big boy guess what? I did not run out of luck after all. Maybe your God isn’t so pleased with you, is He? ” “After all He let me live to make your life a living hell,” he added in an undertone. Then again he continued in a loud voice “oh yes I almost forgot. Rudolf be sure to collect my entire due from this so very kind gentleman here” he said indicating me. “And yes add ten more cigarette packets to the bill will you?”



His eyes were filled with an obvious malicious intent and a rare ghostly smile dangled at his lips as he whispered to me “you’d better settle all your debts right now. After all you wouldn’t want to carry the burden of debt to your grave. Would you?” After that I was completely sure that this godforsaken monk was toying with me on purpose. I said to Rudolf that his taxes had been waived for the time being. His face brightened up a bit. As soon as I had settled my bill or rather his bill the monk jumped on the game again “ shall we get on with our game then? How lucky are you feeling today?”


The next moment I was staring back at barrel of my gun again. Even though I did not go to high school I could still say that the chances of my finding the bullet at the third round were up double than the previous time I faced this ordeal. Seeing obvious tension on my face the monk parted with a rather tortuous comment of his “enjoy the last few moments of your life my friend for as soon I finish this cigarette you are done for.” I searched for the cigarette in question and found it dangling rudely at the corner of his mouth. Judging its length I guessed I had about a couple of minutes maybe less before my potential death. I shifted my focus back to the unending depths of the unrelenting gun barrel. I was reliving my entire life in a flashback. Visions of my dying father, my ill mother, and faces of all the people I had killed and hurt in my miserable little life were swimming in my mind. Somehow I could not remain calm as the monk was during his turn and I envied him for that. Why was it that the monk was under God’s grace because of which he could control his fears and face them like a soldier, had my headstrongness made me a coward over the years. The monk drew the last dreg out of his cigarette and spat it out. In that last moment I did something I had not done in two decades and had never thought I would ever do it in my life again.

I prayed. I prayed to God.

I prayed hard like I had never prayed before and I must say I felt better afterwards. I felt such happiness and bliss that I had certainly not felt before. The feeling of elation was so overwhelming that for a moment I even forgot there was a satanic monk sitting opposite to me hell bent upon ending my life. In the outside world of open eyes I did not know what was going on but when I opened my eyes a minute later I found a visibly upset and grumbling monk cursing loudly. My gun lay faithfully on the table. Now I had a few questions to be immediately answered. The first and foremost of them being HAD I WON? Had I won the second time? Come on some one tell me, anyone. I looked up to Rudolf for some answers and his smile did not disappoint. Rudolf said quietly “congratulations sir on your well deserved victory.” His words were no less than an angel’s voice to me.

On a high after my second win I stretched my hand towards the gun to conclude the one unfinished job at hand. To get rid of the monk. For the second time that day midair I was torn apart by indecision. I realized that I already had a way of sending the monk away. Just by asking him that is. But the more sinister part was telling me to have another go at the monk. It was telling me would not it be more fun to send the monk who turned my entire well settled life upside down in a couple of days to hell. As I began to consider this possibility an unheard of angelic voice spoke in my mind. It said, “Baldis, pause before go further and think about your actions and the consequences they may have. God has been kind enough to grant a life to you but He may not be as compassionate if He finds out about your still evil heart. Spare the monk and may the Lord forgive yours sins for forgiveness is the supreme act of good. Consider the situation and act sensibly for it is your final chance.” Now that the ball was in my court I began to weigh my chances. I needed to get rid of the monk at any cost. The real question was should I try again to get him with the gun or should I meekly ask him to leave as my demand on winning this round. If I win it would be all fine and dandy but if he won no doubt he would surely have another go at me. Will the luck Gods still bestow upon me their blessings? Certainly not. Given my past records and the sinister reasons for which I want the luck it would be rather safe to say that I had already got more luck today than I even deserved. Although all this drama took no more than a few moments to occur in my head the monk omniscient as ever read it off my face in a matter of seconds. The monk said to me with a wicked smile spread wide on his handsome visage “care to try me again?” It was as if he was jeering at me. White hot anger boiled inside me. Just as I was about to pick up the gun the angelic voice in my head issued a final warning “don’t fall for the Devil’s trap, Baldis”.

Anyway I picked up the gun and raised it to my chest for inspection. The wicked smile spread wider on the monk’s face. I said to the monk “you have soiled my gun monk”. After that I wiped my gun and stowed in my holster. The smile on his face was soon replaced by a disappointed frown. I continued, “One more thing, could you kindly get out of my life and this town as of right now”. The monk lost all emotions and expressions from his face returned to his unmoving and cold old self again. He said to Rudolf “Get my stuff, will you?” Rudolf brought a dozen packs of cigarettes, which the monk stuffed into his robes. As he rose to leave he threw me a disgusted look and his Smith and Wesson “keep it as a consolation prize, buddy boy.” At the pub doors he turned once more and said, “Now, behave all of you or I will be back before long to carry on with my game where I left off.” then to me he bid a final goodbye “see you later, alligator”. Out of courtesy or relief, I don’t know maybe both I wished him back “in a while, crocodile”. Without speaking another word or even looking back again he disappeared into the dying sun resuming his journey to the west.

I was reborn twice today. In this way I washed away all my past sins and was not only a new man but had a new life too. God had been kind enough to give me a fresh start in life so I must not ruin it, I said to myself. I took out my gun again. The evening sun shone on it. The gun had been my companion for more than half of my life now. I felt like it was trying to tell me something. But what I could not figure it out. Anyway I opened it to reload bullets. To my astonishment I found the only bullet lodged in it lodged in the last fired chamber. I tried to recollect what had happened during my second round. But my mind was complete blank. I could only remember myself praying to the lord at that moment. The monk was nowhere in sight and I further doubted if I would ever see him again. However I decided to return God’s favour for saving my life.

As I returned to my table again, I overheard a couple of guys speaking to Rudolf “do you think he was really a God’s man?” I did not know about God but one thing I knew for sure. The monk was the Devil himself in flesh and blood. He was El Diablo.




Epilogue




The summer was almost gone and autumn was knocking at the doors. Winters were the worst part of the year, at least for me they were. For as long as I can remember winter has always been bad news for me. It all began when my poor father died caught in police shootout twenty years ago. Ever since that day I had lost all faith God until I met a monk recently who helped me cleanse my sins though not in the most conventional of means. What do I do? Funny you should ask. I do a fairly important job of keeping the residents of this place in line. To tell the truth I do a fairly good job at it too. No, you fools I am not mayor nor am I the sheriff though I get to meet them once in awhile when I go about my job. For all you dimwit city dwellers who are still not able to guess my job let me put in simple words for you. I sweep the church grounds on Sundays.


Well now friends. That is that. so if will all please favour me with a couple of your comments. i would be the happiest guy. and it would be so good if someone added a autoedit feature in this place for my horrible typing.good bye.

COMING UP SOMETIME LATER THOUGH
>SNIPER'S POKER(NOT SO ORIGINAL)
>THE SUBWAY (SOMEWHAT DERIVED INSPIRATION)