I could see the flyovers ahead leading to many different locations within the city but only a few cars passed by around me, I thought that it was a bit strange considering it was evening and normally the roads aren't so empty, probably there was some ongoing roadwork I said to myself and dismissed the rising voice of caution within me.
I knew there was something off about the rickshaw driver the moment I sat in it and told him my destination.But I didn't listen to the voice within, she talks a lot sometimes and its best to ignore her. But right now I was thinking to myself “Should I have listened to her?” I decided to be more aware of my surroundings now, and started watching the driver intently, thinking to myself “Just in case I have to identify him later”. All I could see was his brown shirt his black hair ending at the nape of his neck, his arms steadily on the two handles that drives the rickshaw,righteously following the rules of the road. There was nothing out of the ordinary to state that this man is going to harm me in any way but my mind wandered down its own path, coming back to the same conclusion... “Something about him just didn't seem right”.
I could see the road leading into my destination, and sighed a bit of relief and as soon as I let that sigh leave me behind was when the rickshaw driver took a turn into a narrow path towards the left of the road and going into a muddy pathway that I have never been on before... this is when I asked him, “Where are you going? My destination is that way” I said pointing my fingers to the opposite direction, and that is when he turned around with a look in his eyes that made my entire body freeze up, and said “This is a new path leading to your destination” he said it with such conviction that I knew he believed that he was taking me to a destination that he believed I needed to go to but his definition of destination and my definition of destination were not one and the same.
Adrenaline kicked in me; I need to get myself out of this situation I thought. I sit up straight and look on either side of the roads, the path is very narrow and we are moving right next to the boundary walls of houses on either side but the houses in itself were a good 5 – 8 minute run away and even if I was to get there in time there is no guarantee that someone would actually be at their house to come for my aid. I decide to sit in the rickshaw and access the situation for a bit longer. He is moving fast, even if I wanted to jump out of the rickshaw I couldn't do so without getting hurt or breaking a few bones, I decide to continue sitting in the rickshaw,a few meters away I see a bunch of men laughing and talking, I think to myself probably I can scream out for help to them but as the rickshaw moved closer to the men, they seemed more dangerous than the man I was travelling with and I thought to myself, considering that I recall a few “Safe Yourself” moves that my brother taught me, I could fight for my life with this one man but fighting off five men seemed like a losing battle, so I continued to sit tight.
A few meters ahead, the rickshaw still racing fast, my eyes catch the following scenarios a fork in the road, an elderly women walking with the assistance of her daughter on the path I was travelling in and a young man getting out of a rickshaw to pay the driver who was parked in the direction heading opposite of where I was going. My mind racing I knew how the next few moment will play out and I prepared myself for it, I look down and see that I am wearing my bright red beautifully crafted suede and black buckled heels and I know as a fact that I cannot run fast in them, so I take it off with my feet and slide it aside ensuring I wasn't raising any attention to myself from my rickshaw driver. I am bare feet now and getting ready for my window of opportunity. And then it came the elderly women and her daughter’s walking forced my rickshaw driver to slow down grabbing that exact second I jump out of the rickshaw, by this time the young man had paid off his meter charge and was walking away and his rickshaw driver has started his engine to drive off and I glide into that rickshaw and say MG Road and he started driving and my heart was overcome with relief and at that exact moment I realized that my beautiful red shoe was left behind. This was just too much for my mind to handle and with a jerk and a scream I woke up from my nightmare. Moral of the story: Beautiful Shoes Are Incredibly Traumatic To Part With! From The Mind Of Nive Prem
