RAMBLINGS OF THE MIND
Then from the corner of his eyes, he saw something under the maple kitchen island where his wife loved to be. It was her favourite part in the house. It was her part of the house. She specifically chose the maple color to match the design of the kitchen. And right under it a shiny thing caught his eye – it was his wife’s mobile! It was not switched on. His wife never switches off her mobile. It’s with her all the time, what with her selfies and FB updates.
When he pulled it out, and switched it on, he saw the unsent message. All of a sudden he felt excitement building up and his heart seemed to burst out of his chest.
It was the same messge they had used when they were secretly seeing each other. He ran outside the house and sprinted all the way to the park.
At the Park
17:13:54
He reached the park just when everybody was leaving. He saw somebody left the bench, so he went for it. Gasping for breath, looking around, sweating like he just finished a hundred-meter dash. Well, didn’t he?
He was still trying to catch his breath when he saw the bag. Nobody’s around now. The park was quiet. It was cold, but he was still sweating. When he saw what was inside the bag, the man started trembling and his knees were shaking.
It was a gun.
He held the gun carefully, and the weight was so familiar he thought he was back in the field as an operative. He didn’t want to remember those days, that was why he was trembling.
And then he saw the two praying mantises in front of him, bobbing their heads like they were trying to catch his attention.
They were staring at him with those alien-looking eyes.
At the Park
17:15:56
“George, come on, make that face which makes you look like a priest in front of the altar,”
“Come on James, all mantises look like they’re praying,” grumbled George.
“But nobody does it better than you do. You really make them believe that you are praying. So please, make that face. Hurry,” James said with such an urgency that it scared George.
George started bobbing his head back and forth, with both front legs now ready to do the act.
“But why, James? I’m only a mantis,” George whispered, really scared now.
“Because I see the butt.” James’s voice was a little bit higher now, with much more urgency.
“What? Whose butt? Where?”
“That butt.” James pointed at the man, sitting on the new bench at the park.
“That butt again?”
