Judgement Day

A 'Statue of Liberty' figurine swinging wildly, loosely hung around a rear view mirror—the chuckle of little girls precariously crossing the road--the shimmering metal posterior of a fuel oil truck wearing a shabbily painted warning sign—and then his mind fell blank....his memory leaving his mind to ascertain the loose ends.

He tried to open his eyes, but his concerted effort was thwarted by a blinding light. He tried again, this time his desperation for awareness about his surroundings giving way to a enforced sense of calmness as he slowly opened his eyelids. He was successful. An eerie serenity surrounded him in this pristine white room. He turned around to notice a man in a suave white suit sitting high on a black office chair, a walnut brown office table separating the two. The man could easily have been in his fifties, but the lively radiance in his eyes seemed to suggest otherwise. He had an aura of ethereal beauty about him,there was something unearthly about his appearance.The man's posture had a component of sublime elegance, yet he saw a sense of submissiveness in the man's demeanour as he brought his hand forward for a handshake.

“Good morning Mr Prakash Sharma. I hope you feel comfortable in my humble abode”, the man said as he elegantly shook his hand. Prakash! Yes that was his name! A powerful surge of memories now overflowed his mind. The mist surrounding his identity was clearing to give him a sense of ecstasy, his futility to gather the bits and pieces of his past now gave way to a clearer sense of direction. But all of a sudden the hurricane of memories grinded to a sudden halt. No! Something was missing! He had a stone in his shoe,he could not recollect any events that had happened that very day. He tried to recollect the series of chores that he performed since morning,but his repeated attempts to meet success in this task were to no avail.The sting of his inabilty to find answers injected a sense of deep turmoil in his heart. His curiosity about his whereabouts seized his mind in a turbulent manner, as the man patiently waited for him to recover his senses.

“Where am I?”, Prakash asked in exasperation ,”Who are you?”.

His questions received a pacifying smile from the man.“Patience, my friend. I promise that your questions will not go unanswered. But before that we must complete our business”, replied the suavely attired man as his soothing voice reverberated in the speckless white room. He swiftly pulled up a briefcase from his under the desk. His movements were elegant yet amazingly rapid.

His relaxed composure,now gave way to an alert posture. His eyes now stared deep into Prakash's eyes, relaying a sense of grave seriousness,“Prakash, whatever follows from this point onward will most definitely be the defining moment of your life. The future prospects of your life hang in the sway on this critical juncture. Your choice is inextricably involved in determining your future. Choose wisely. Your decision may have deeper implications than what you presume”.

He unlocked the mahogany brown leather briefcase,swerving it smoothly around to reveal its contents to his confused 'business partner'. An expression of astonishment spread on Prakash's face as the contents of the briefcase revealed themselves to him.

“ The briefcase contains an amount of ten crore rupees”, remarked the man in the suit,” and the money is yours for the taking.....”.

Startled, Prakash sprang up from his chair. His mind now was ailing under a heavy concoction of turbulence and disbelief. He stared at the man with a remark of amazement frozen on his face.

“What's the catch?”, interrupted Prakash in an unsuccessful attempt to regain his composure.

“There is just one condition”,continued the man,”if you choose to accept the briefcase containing rupees ten crore, someone in the world will lose his life. You have just one minute to choose your destiny.”

Prakash's eyes stared at the man with a blank expression of incomprehension.

“Its as simple as that, my friend!”, remarked the man with his hands raised, palms facing Prakash.
“If you do not choose the briefcase, you continue your life on the beaten track.However, if you opt in favour of accepting the money, you derive the power to accomplish your long forsaken aspirations but at the cost of the life of any person in this world!”.

“No!That is totally unacceptable!”, refused Prakash,”I cannot agree to a proposal that makes me a murderer!”,his heart laden with deep contempt over such a possibility.

The man's eyes glowed with an ethereal light,“Prakash, I know you are a practical man, but can you not see how greatly you will gain from this offer? In every second that passes on the clock at least two people in this world lose their lives. Life and death is an unbreakable cycle. Death is inevitable! What difference does it make to anyone if a certain someone loses his life in some part of the world? I mean, it could happen without your affirmative response to my proposal. An agreement to this offer could just initiate an event that would have occurred without your intrusion in this matter.” remarked the middle aged man.

“But would I not be responsible for the death of an innocent man?”,questioned Prakash.

“Can't you see? More than a hundred people die every minute that we speak! What difference does it make to the cycle of life and death?”,grimaced the man.

Prakash now entered a state of deep reflection into his heart's turbulence .He envisaged a life as he had always wished it to be, a whole new dimension would now be added to his life. He could see his struggles and toils vanishing in the horizon. Here in front of him lay a key to a golden future, the power to achieve all his dreams could not have been presented in a more inadvertent manner.

But his conscience beckoned him not to accept the briefcase, he would be a sinner if he did so. The fact that a new turn to his fate came at a price of an innocent man's life would constantly prick him for the rest of his days!He would never be able to justify his lowly deed!

No! He must defend his interests too! Had he not seen how callous life actually is? The rules of the world were always on the lines of “every man for himself”, why then should he make a soft decision on this matter? The opportunistic have always dominated throughout man's history! Why then should he let this chance slip away?

“What is your final decision?”, asked the man,in a tone laden with deep empathy towards Prakash's dilemma.

“I accept your proposal, I chose to take possession of the briefcase”, replied Prakash with reinforced confidence.

“Ah! My heartiest congratulations to you!”,said the man with a pitiful smile on his face.The brightness in the man's eyes faded as he sympathetically looked at Prakash.

Prakash could now feel a sense of deep satisfaction, his mind crafting unique plans about his newfound wealth as each second passed. He could feel a warmth in his whole body. His joy knew no bounds, a sense of invincibility enveloping him. He felt warmer now. The sound of a victorious laughter resonated in his soul, the future would never be the same! He felt a shocking warmth on his head as he happily swooped down to pick up the briefcase. Drops of blood fell on the leather sheath of the briefcase!

FLASH--- A sudden rush of memory flowed back to his mind! The jigsaw of images automatically began inter-connecting! He could see himself driving a car, a statue of liberty figurine hung around the rear view mirror swinging, as he sped up to overtake a shining oil-tanker truck. He could now feel the wind pounding on his ears, his hair floating wildly in the hot summer wind. The trees and buildings passed swiftly, the hot sun induced hypnosism and sleepiness. All of a sudden, he noticed a group of schoolgirls carefreely crossing the road ahead . He desperately swerved the car left to avoid hitting them, but violently skidded off the road. He made frantic attempts to regain control of the car, but to no avail, disastrously crashing into a tree. He could feel the devastating impact of the collision, his head now throbbing with pain. Prakash saw himself motionless, with a bloody head on the steering wheel, inside the debris of the car which lay strewn around him.

He now felt an excruciating pain seething through his spine, his hands carrying the briefcase now were red with blood!

Prakash dropped dead.