A Not So Typical Afternoon

Around half-past one in the afternoon, my mother pulled me into the house. She lifted me up slowly with all her strength; yes, I am heavy. She made me sit at the nearest chair. She rushed to the kitchen, and when she returned after a couple of minutes, her hand had a glass of chilled water - much required for a hot and humid outdoor.

"How did all this happen? There are bruises on your legs, knees, arm, and even shoulder! Did you get into a fight with someone? I don't think you would do something like that. Just tell me, tell me what happened!" she was confused, shocked, and above all worried.

I had not reserved any energy to talk and had exhausted everything on the way back cycling. I simply lifted my index finger and pointed to the television. She understood something serious or sinister had happened and switched on a local news channel.

"There was a blast? A blast in the petrol pump near Governor House? (A brief pause) That looks intense! Thank God you didn't suffer anything serious. Let me bring some bandages. I will tie those spots; you will take rest and be up and running in no time." 

I drank the chilled water. Coughed twice. Removed my watch and spectacles.

"I had no idea that today would be yet another day I would feel so near death. Do you remember last year when we did the underwater thingy, and there was water inside my diving helmet, making it difficult to breathe? Well, today was even more dangerous."

"I was speeding down the slope near the Governor House. There was a lot of traffic, especially because there was a tanker in the nearby petrol pump. I guess when summer comes, everything needs a refill. Ah! my bad humor survives the accident. Consequently, there was also a larger queue at the pump. I was delighted that I was on a cycle."

My mother continued applying ointments and tying bandages on the wounds.

"I had acquired so much speed that I crossed two bikes on the road. In their defense, they were slowing down to enter the pump. Immediately as I crossed the orange and white-themed filling station, I heard a large bang - so terrifying and loud that it scared the bejesus out of me while nearly deafening me. I thought that someone behind me had burst their tires. However, I had experienced this phenomenon several times, and it never had this kind of effect on me."

"I thought I would take a quick peek behind me. As soon as I looked back, I saw a motorbike hurling at incredible speed towards me. My brain froze. I didn't know if I should pedal faster because I was already at the maximum velocity. Nevertheless, I attempted to pedal faster. Missing the pedal due to haste led to a collision between my ankles and them damn plastic pedals."

"Ouch! Mama, those ankles still hurt. Leave them to the end," I shrieked at the top of my voice. This attracted our neighbors; now, they were standing just outside our gates, pitying my condition and fate. 

"It was painful, which was bad in itself. The fact that made it worse was that it slowed my cycle. As the motorbike was almost near me, there was an eventual collision. Thankfully, owing to my earlier mishap, it just slightly missed my body and landed on the front tire. I lost my balance, and instead of landing straight on the ground, I completed a half-circle rotation. Due to my earlier momentum, after I landed on my right arm, I still moved a small distance forward, resulting in this bruise here (and I pointed to an elongated wound on the right arm). I was still shaken from the impact and standing slowly up when I observed the height of the black smoke coming from the pump. I realized that there must have been some kind of contact between fire and petrol."

 "It took me a while, but I got hold of the fact that the motorbike had no rider when I saw it propelling towards me. It could only mean two things - either the bike was just kept near the pump, or the rider is still inside those fumes, and honestly, I do not want to think about what happened to the motorist in the second case."

I was lucky that none of my body parts got trapped under the motorbike. I was able to lift the cycle with whatever energy I had with me. I rode it back to the house. Conveniently, when I walked up the stairs, the lift was not working, and I sprained my ankle again. That's why I sat in front of the gate after pressing the bell, and you had to pull me inside the house."

"Well, just be grateful that you survived this incident." said my mother as soon as she completed dressing the wounds. Although she did not add anything else, she was evidently suppressing thousands of emotions just to support me. 

I stood up, limped to my bed, and dozed off into my happy place.

Siba Smarak Panigrahi