A fling with fate

I saw it in the mirror, I saw it in my face. That this was not going to be my day. The clocks had moved forward. I thought it was 8.45 but time had moved to 9.45. My cell phone was ringing. I sleepily picked up the call. An angry female voice greeted me at the other end. "The cab driver has been calling for the last 10 minutes. Are you coming or shall we move on?" It was that damn girl from the cab again. I had heartfelt empathy for her boy friend whoever he was . I said "You please proceed. I am working from home today"  and cut the phone. I was not keen on enriching my knowledge on what constituted responsible behavior. I hoped she would not call up again to educate me on the same.

 I congratulated myself on reading the signs well and staying out of harm's way by not going to office that day. After all fate had limited options to ruin your day at home. So thinking I went on to open the fridge to pick up my morning cereal and milk. The minute the fridge door opened, crimson fluid began to seep out and soon the whole kitchen floor was painted red. What kind of a nightmare was this! Then I realized.  It must be a nightmare only. Probably I had still not woken up. I had woken up from a dream which was still within another dream. If what I say sounds crazy, I suggest the reader to check out the movie 'Inception'. Now I had to find the 'kick' to get out of this dream.

But then when nothing like that happened for the next 5 minutes, I decided to investigate further. I soon located the source of this blood like liquid - a tetra pack of tomato juice. It had got soaked and had begun to leak. But where had the water come from? I noticed almost every item in the fridge was wet and soggy. Then I remembered my room mate mentioning something about defrosting. I had not paid much attention then. But I was paying dearly for that mistake now. Seemed like he had gone ahead and tried to defrost. I had heard of people becoming victims of frost bite. But I was probably the first victim of defrost bite. Hunger was biting into the inside of my guts and the only edible item that had survived the melt down  was the juicy Papaya I had picked up the previous day. I was thankful for the small mercies. I quickly retrieved the Papaya from the fridge and moved it to the hall table.

I decided to quickly freshen up and have a bath before cutting the Papaya. Nothing like a bath to clear the head. I definitely needed a clear head to handle a knife. I was sure water would have stopped in the bathroom or the drainage pipe would have got clogged.  I had faced both these situations before and walked in bravely into the bathroom ready for anything. But your opponent has no fun if you have begun to anticipate his every move.  So my foresight had probably stalemated fate and the bath turned out uneventful. Maybe my hard luck had ended. My lovely papaya was waiting to be cut. And then I should get on to my office work. Phew! What a day it had been.

With these pleasant thoughts I entered the hall after my bath. My mind was hardly prepared for the scene of terrible violence and mindless carnage that was awaiting me on the table. My dear papaya  had been the victim. Lying there on the table torn to shreds, it was hardly recognizable. I could not withhold my emotions seeing the fate of my Papaya. It was with a heavy heart that I went on to investigate the perpetrators of this dastardly crime. They had left in haste and had left behind their traces on the table and the floor - little footsteps. I followed the footsteps that lead towards the balcony - and there they were! The felons themselves - a pair of monkeys caught red handed. Orange handed in this case though for the papaya was nice and orange. But what is the use when there was no means to bring them to justice. I took the remains of the Papaya and flung it at them with full force giving vent to my emotions. They neatly dodged and scampered down the pipe. So there went my last scrap of food.

I decided probably fate was indicating a day of dieting for me. So thinking I at least decided to have some water. Nothing as refreshing as a glass of cold water when emotionally distraught. I was hoping the monkeys had done nothing to the water at least. Thankfully the water was still there. Pure and clear Kinley water, reflecting the color of the green vessel kept near the water dispenser. But then wait a minute! There was no green vessel near the dispenser. Then what was the green reflection I had been seeing for the past couple of days? A closer examination revealed that the source of greenery was not outside the dispenser but inside it. A thick layer of moss had got formed at the bottom of the dispenser. And we had been drinking water out of it all this while. From a practical stand point whatever would happen out of drinking such water should have already happened. So one glass more or less shouldn't make any difference. But then mind does not always work by logic. After seeing that moss, I could not have a drop more of that water!

In Hindi movies, they have a dialogue that the hands of law reach very far. I had now realized same can be said of fate. You can't escape fate even shut safe inside the 14th floor of an apartment. This fling with fate had made a stoic out of me. I had seen it in the mirror, I had see it in my face. But yet I had refused to accept and sought to escape. But now I had learnt my lesson. 

Related Post: The Cursed Credit Card

26 comments:

Whitesnake said...

What of the mould on the cheese?

T F Carthick said...

@white snake - Did not check that. Enough bad luck already.

Lisa said...

Nice writing prompt. I enjoyed it.

Vibhuti Bhandarkar said...

Hey Karthik,
This was really an interesting and entertaining fling with fate! A simple day's tale told. And I do remember experiencing such days myself but also I believe when one starts a day with a wrong and completely negative thought in mind thats what will happen to you!
The more negative experiences you anticipate the more is attracted towards you! Something mentioned in 'THE SECRET'

T F Carthick said...

Welcome back to my blog, Vibuthi. Seeing you here after such a long time. Yeah I have read the secret. But sometimes it can't be helped. Some days you know everything is going to be good. Sometimes the other way round.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks for your comments, Lisa.

Meryl said...

Nice story. Question: 14th floor apartment... does the building have a 13th floor or is the 14th floor apartment really on the 13th floor? Nice touch!

T F Carthick said...

Thanks Meryl for once again visiting my blog. And yes. Your right. 13th floor is actually not there in the flat and the 14th is actually the 13th. Now I know the reason for my bad luck. Thanks for throwing light!

Gloria said...

What a day! LOL, one line really made me chuckle - "I had heard of people becoming victims of frost bite. But I was probably the first victim of defrost bite." Love it! ;)

T F Carthick said...

Thanks, Gloria. Glad you enjoyed it.

dvirada said...

There is an adage-'Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity'. Sure enough your day was drowned with calamities and tragidies:(

Still can't believe you managed to drink water from a verdant moss filled container without actually noticing it for quite a while.

So much for a day! Did you actually manage to work from home after all these disasters? Nevertheless, a very entertaining post, as usual.

T F Carthick said...

Hm.dvirada. Actually even I could not beleive when I saw the moss.

Moonbeam said...

LOL! loved 'defrost bite'...! Hope the day ended in a better way! thanks for a good laugh!

s said...

Hahahaha.....I will never again have a Papaya in my Life without being reminded of your post....!!
I loved the 3rd para from the last so much that I read it a couple of times, only that para.
Also in the end, when u mentioned about the 'kanoon ke haath bohot lambe hote hain', I thought u were about to mention 'Usi tarah, bandaro ke haath bhi...u know, whatever. Blame it on silly me n my scattered brain.
And I loved the 'green reflection' part....I could almost imagine ur expression at that point

T F Carthick said...

Thanks, Moonbeam.

Thanks for checking out my post, Shilpa. Glad you liked it. Your monkey idea was funny. Probably I should have put that.

Sarah malik said...

haha..comedy of errors..actually too many of them! sometimes no matter how hard u try, things dont seem to fall in place until u fall back in bed and get up with a better day. but i guess, thats how life has to be :)
very well written post..this is the kind of humour i like a lot...so thumbs up !

sarah

T F Carthick said...

Thanks a lot, Sarah. Glad you enjoyed the humor.

Moonbeam said...

LOL! loved 'defrost bite'...! Hope the day ended in a better way! thanks for a good laugh!

Gloria said...

What a day! LOL, one line really made me chuckle - "I had heard of people becoming victims of frost bite. But I was probably the first victim of defrost bite." Love it! ;)

Whitesnake said...

What of the mould on the cheese?

Rabharat said...

finally the mystery got resolved.....nice confession...

vhjamdar said...

:D
I had experiences on days like this !
humorous, I dont think you would be able to "work from home" that day..
Sometimes you can do nothing but be a mere spectator of what life does. But, then move on.
Entertaining post.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks, Rabharat and vhjamdar.

Unknown said...

You actually drank water when from the mossy tank? Ewww....

T F Carthick said...

I realized that only later, Pankti. But then it was already done. Luckily I did not fall seriously sick.

Deepa from FictionPies said...

Eww. You'd been drinking that water for days! But then in such cases, ignorance is bliss! What you don't know cant harm you!

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