Manohar felt great. He had the road all to himself. For hours his
only company had been the thousands of tiny insects dancing in the beams of the
headlights.
Cool mountain air rushed
into the cab through the open window. It carried a hint of rain, but the sky
was cloudless, marked only by the countless sparkling stars and the thin glow
of a crescent moon.
The feeling of freedom and
power as he pressed down on the accelerator was overwhelming - almost
intoxicating. Only one thing bothered him at the moment. He didn't know where
he was.
Not that he was lost.
Manohar never got lost, at least not for very long. He just didn't know
where he was. Or why. Or how he'd come to be there, or where he was going.
He was just driving, all
alone, in the middle of nowhere, for no reason that he could remember.
He knew other drivers who
would fall into a semi-sleep at the wheel. They'd experience a temporary
disorientation. But Manohar knew that he hadn't dozed off. He was wide
awake, and fully aware of everything around him.
He thought back, trying to
remember when he'd stopped last
Two days before he'd been
in Forest road. That's where Sara lived, so he certainly couldn't forget that.
After Forest road..
Nothing. Two days were missing.
He looked straight ahead
through the darkness, trying to find the telltale dome of light of a city or
town. Eventually he must come across a town - something that would give him his
bearings. The road stretched out, surrounded by dense forest, on and on, with
no signs of ever ending. The view in the mirror was the same.
The radio was silent. Its
light tried to tell him that it was working, but nothing came through the
speaker but soft static. Every channel was the same. Either he was too far from
any transmitter, or absolutely nobody was on the air.
Without warning a man
appeared in the road ahead. In the frightening and helpless second before
collision, Manohar saw that the man was just standing there, arms raised,
and smiling.
Manohar's hands
automatically tightened on the wheel. There was no impact. No thud.
Manohar clearly saw the image of the man slide through the cab and then
disappears through the back wall of the van.
Manohar braked hard
and fought to keep the van from going out of control. The right wheels bit into
the gravel of the shoulder and sent up a wake of dust. Just inches from a large
and very hard tree the van came to a stop.
Adrenalin shot through his
veins as he hopped from the van. He looked back through the darkness and saw
that the man was now walking toward him, and still smiling. Just fifty yards
away the man stopped, and then waved.
"Hello. I was
wondering if you'd be by tonight. I've been waiting for you."
Manohar felt the
blood rush to his face, leaving a streak of icy cold along his spine. His hand
was shaking badly. Fighting a desperate flood of panic he reached into the van
and pulled out a large wrench.
"Hold it right there,
Man," he commanded.
The man shrugged.
"Okay, if that's what you want. But you might as well put the wrench away.
It won't do you any good."
"Step closer and
we'll see just how much good it does. Now who the hell are you, and what do you
want with me?"
"It doesn't really
matter who I am. You're Manohar , right?"
"Yeah. So
what?"
"Well, Manohar,
I've come to release you from this world."
The chill along his spine
exploded, spreading a tingling numbness all through his body. Breath came hard.
The man began walking toward him again, arms open.
"Stand where you
are!" Manohar screamed.
The man ignored it, and
was smiling even wider than before. "There's no need to be afraid,
Manohar. Accept it, and it will be much easier.
Using both hands
Manohar raised the wrench and hurled it at the approaching stranger. It
sailed through him and slid along the road behind.
"Calm down,
Manohar. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm going to help you. I'm here to
release you from this world."
Manohar tightened
his fists, knowing very well that all his strength wouldn't help him against
this . . . this creature of darkness. "How can I fight a ghost?" he
thought in panic.
The man came very close
before he stopped, and then stood looking at Manohar and smiling.
"Being dead isn't so bad. You'll see."
"But I don't want to
be dead!"
"I'm afraid you have
no choice, Manohar. There's nothing you can do about it." The man
opened his arms again, as if to take Manohar into his embrace.
Manohar backed up
quickly and yelled, "Get away from me. No spook is going to touch
me!"
The man smiled and lowered
his arms. "Do you know what a ghost is, really?"
A drop of sweat fell down
Manohar's nose and into his mouth. "Yeah. They're dead people."
"Not all dead people
are ghosts, but you're right, in a way. Some who have died just wander around,
and won't let go of this physical world. They sometimes stay around the spot
where they died - such as this road."
Cold kept spreading
through Manohar until now he was shivering. He swallowed hard, trying to
remove the grapefruit sized lump in his throat. "Then why don't you just
leave!!! Why do you want to go haunting a road for?"
The stranger stared at
Manohar, the smile gone. "You don't understand yet, do you
Manohar? It's not me who's haunting this road. I'm quite alive. You are
the ghost. You died on this road thirteen days ago and have been driving it
ever since. Now you can leave. There's no reason for you to stay lost any
longer.
"You're dead,
Manohar."
