by Neil D'Silva
The interiors of the restaurant are all white and black, but the red cylindrical lamps hanging from the ceiling defy the general dullness and create the perfect ambience for couples.
“This is wonderful. I had only heard of the decor of this restaurant and seen its pictures online. But pictures are so different from the firsthand experiences. Thank you so much, Sumukh, for bringing me here for lunch today. This is my best birthday so far.”
“It is my pleasure, my lady. By the way, there is more for you today than just lunch!” Sumukh winks at Shivali.
“Ooo… Can you tell me what awaits me? Or is it meant to be a surprise?”
“Of course, it is a surprise!”
“All right. I shall wait until you reveal it then,” said Shivali, blowing a kiss at Sumukh.
The couple reads the menu to order food. Sumukh signals a waiter that they are ready to order. After the waiter comes over, takes their order, and turns around to go back, Shivali gets busy looking around. The kitchen’s door is behind her. She does not notice a face peeping through the looking window at them. She does not even notice Sumukh drop his left hand beside the table to give a go-ahead signal to the face at the kitchen door.
Sumukh and Shivali wait for twenty minutes for their food to arrive. Sumukh inhales the aroma of his penne with creamy pesto and cherry tomatoes while Shivali savors her warm Thai noodles and papaya salad.
“How’s your food?” Sumukh asks Shivali.
“It’s yummy. Or the ambiance is making it yummy.” She giggles with a string of noodle dangling from the corner of her mouth.
Sumukh too laughs with her.
“But does it really taste good? Nothing odd?”
“Not at all. It’s good enough to eat.”
Shivali bends her head down to take another mouthful of the Thai noodles. The same face is back at the kitchen looking window. Sumukh gives it a thumbs up. The face vanishes from the door.
***
“Thank you for taking me out for lunch. The food was delicious, but nothing extraordinary except the presentation. I think they get marks for that. Nevertheless, thank you so much!” Shivali pecks on Sumukh’s cheek as he drives his car. “I love you.”
“You are welcome, Your Highness. And I love you too. But you have a surprise waiting for you. Remember?”
“Oh, yes. I forgot you mentioned it.”
“Come on. A woman never forgets about a surprise that is waiting for her!” Sumukh teases her.
Shivali punches his shoulder and turns to look at the road ahead.
A van overtakes Sumukh’s car and plants itself right in front of them in the moving lane. Sumukh doesn’t complain because at least it is moving faster.
“What is that written on the van?” Shivali asks Sumukh, trying to read the text on the back doors of the van in front of them.
“Oh, that! I don’t know. But it is funny to read it. I don’t know what language it is but it’s written with English letters. I see it often on other vehicles too in the mornings when the company cab picks me and my colleagues up. We try to read it out loud and whoever reads the whole sentence without any apparent mistakes and without stopping wins. He gets his choice of drink that evening for free. Do you want to play that game? A good way to pass the time until we reach where your surprise is.”
“Sure! Why not?”
“You go first. Just read it as it is spelled. You practice the words first. I can help you out with how my colleagues and I pronounce the words. Later you read it as one complete sentence altogether. Then it will be my turn. But let me warn you. I will win this game for I have practiced more.”
“Ha ha! I will beat you and your friends at your own game. Watch me.”
Shivali reads each word and confirms with Sumukh to match his pronunciation. When she is done practicing, she announces that she is ready to rap.
“Wow! That was quick. Okay. You start when I say. One, two, three, start.”
“Va zar vef libhe rofufuraper gung vi unir pobuyayarepi goruq sebaz guvef jibeyoq naqabuj vanezerinoqul gab fenipevosuvaper zil fobuhay geb nicocorunafelebih.”
As soon as Shivali says the last word, she is stunned into a paralytic shock. Sumukh sees her and parks his car at the side of the road, and so does the van in front of them. He checks whether she is still breathing. He takes out his phone to make a call.
“She ate the food mixed with the cursed blood and chanted the exact words. She is unable to move now. Tell me, is it time yet?” Sumukh asks over the phone. “Okay. I will do it now.”
He disconnects the call, moves closer to Shivali’s ear, and says, “Libhe fenipevosuvaper vef napepericoguraq.”
Shivali collapses where she sits.
“Happy birthday, Shivali! This was your surprise. Alas, you won’t know what it is.” Sumukh sniggers at the dead body.
Two people get down from the van and walk to the car. They have a stretcher. They lift Shivali’s body and transfer it into their van. Sumukh drives straight ahead and the van makes a U-turn.
He makes a call again.
“We robbed her of her soul. The last sacrifice of a girl on her birthday is done. All went well. Prepare for the last ritual. I will be there for the awakening of our Lord,” he says and disconnects the call.
ABOUT SHWETHA H S
Shwetha H S is an ambivert writer and a traveller who daydreams and hopes that one day love will win over all the odds. She works as a food technologist by day in Bengaluru for bread and butter, and dives into the world of books that she is either reading or writing at night.
Her short story "The Redemption" was longlisted for the Aftermath short story contest and later published on the same magazine.
Her other short story Dummana has been accepted to be published by Selene Quarterly Magazine in the year 2020.
She was the featured poet of the Tuesdays with the Bard's 280th edition at Urban Solace, the weekly that holds Limca Record for being the longest running poetry event.
She was one of the finalists in the Readify Author Hunt season one.
An historical fiction of hers, for Amish Tripathy's prompt, was in the Top 10 in season one of Write India by Times of India.
Her fiction and nonfiction short stories have been published in magazines such as UnBound and Indus Woman Writing.
She self-published a prose and poetry collection called Blues Brewery.
She is currently working on two novels, a short stories anthology, and a poetry anthology.
