Whoosh! And she was gone! Gone down the rabbit hole, just like Alice in Wonderland.
21 year old Alicia Creado had been selected for a job interview at a Multinational company of her dreams. She had taken utmost care with her make up, put on a white pleated skirt with a matching white and black coat. She began walking down the street to seek out a taxi.
It had been raining for two whole days. Her first mishap took place when her heels got stuck in the wet -garbage cake -like gooey mess piled up on the pavement. ‘Crap,’ she cursed the powers that cleaned the gutters, but left the filth on the pavement. Next, she got splashed by the innumerable rickshaws that sweetly insisted on speeding by. Lastly, she found herself falling into a large hole! The hole was an open manhole, filled with rainwater mixed with gutter water. Frantically, Alicia fought to keep herself afloat in this man made cesspool. ‘This is a rabbit hole’, she kept reminding herself and forced herself to stay awake.
‘Help’, she cried out, weakly. Fortunately for her, a few drenched pedestrians had noticed her ordeal and rushed to her rescue. She was almost unconscious while being rushed to hospital. ‘Must stay awake to meet the Mad Hatter,’ she hallucinated.
Alicia was as good as new within the next few days. At the breakfast table one morning, her father exclaimed, “Alicia, a youth met with a bike accident, fell into a pothole and died on the way to the hospital. The same cursed road!”
The youth’s father pressed charges against the authorities concerned. After a long drawn battle, the father won the case and the contractor in charge of laying the road was held responsible. The proprietor of Shrikant Roadworks, now languished in jail!
Alicia and her family were happy. They felt justice, although delayed, had been served.
Two years passed by. The monsoon was in full force. There was a cyclonic storm warning and people were advised to stay indoors. Unfortunately, Alicia’s sister Ava, had dropped her child to school in the morning. She was frantic and wished to get him home from school before the storm worsened. She put on her rain gear and set out on her little scooter. She had to travel on the same ill fated road.
Unbeknownst to them, the contractor of Shrikant Roadworks had been released from jail within six months. He began the same work under a new title, Arihant Roadworks. He was awarded the repair contract of the same road!
Ava was off on her journey, on a road riddled with potholes. Whoosh! And she was gone!
Author’s Note: This story in no way casts slurs on any ruling party It is written to bring home the fact that as long as mankind is greedy there will be corruption. And loss of life and limb.
On another note, a salute to the spirit of Mumbai.
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Photo By: Haley Lawrence
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This is an entry for Five00-7, a writing event hosted by ArtoonsInn. Check out the event prompt and guidelines here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/five00-7/
Use the tracker to record your rulfy progress: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ApiLwn00sMcLgw25_MChxGCrua9_
