a short tale....

I drove along the causeway on a pleasant evening. I thought of the day that had gone by. A pleasant one. It seemed as if the world was made for me. Everything was so perfect including the bucolic environment through which i love to cruise. Suddenly there was a low rumble, a sound that i prayed not to hear. The engine was having choking. Soon after, my twin turbo engines came to an abrupt dismal halt. It was night by now. I realised that i had to pass the night somewhere nearby. A beautiful day had come to a bad end. Locking my car, i walked along the road. It was 1 AM now. I walked through a field. At the end of it i could see a small sodium vapor lamp glowing. Giving a sigh of relief, i made a bee-line towards the house.

Knock knock knock - i heard noises from inside. Then i heard what sounded like whispers. Naturally the inhabitants of this house hadn't expected a visitor this late at night. And the rickety door opened slowly and a meek little man put his head outside the door, straddling his body between the door and the bolt, as if preventing me from entering inside.
"What business may you have at my place at such an unworldly hour?"

"Sir, i had engine problems. My car stopped for reasons i could hardly fathom."

"Uh-Huh." he said.

"Would there be a place nearby where i could spend the nite" i asked.

After pleading with him for fifteen minutes he looked at me and said - do you see those benches over there? I stared in the direction he pointed. I could see some marble tables. Stuffing a blanket on my face he said "Go and sleep there." Before i could react he closed the door and bolted it.

I walked towards the marble with the piece of cloth he had so generously given me. I tripped all the way as the marble benches weren't arranged in any particular order. I chose the longest of the benches by feeling them. There was no light for me to discern anything. I laid down on one bench and shrouded myself in the blanket. I hung my coat in what seemed to be a pole. It was a breezy night. And i loved it. Such a nice place. The last thing i remember was trying to find patterns in the star strewn sky.

Some one was pushing me. I heard distant voices shouting "Who are you? Who are you". I got up and stared at the old puckered face staring from directly above me. It took me a few seconds to fathom where i was. And then it all came back to me. The car...the noise..the sodium vapor lamp.. the old man.. and the cloth. The cloth. It was missing. I saw the man and i stared around. The marble benches were graves. I had spent the last night in a cemetry...