Friday 5 June 2015

Smelling Horror... #MyNoseKnows


                 The night was unusually cold and gloomy. I was sitting on the back seat of my 19 days old maruti alto which was gliding past the relatively thin traffic. I could feel  the  chill of the breeze slowly going down my spine as it was flowing through my  perfectly set hair . A sweet voice asked me to close the slightly open window and I complied. It was a short journey and we finally reached the destination well before expected. The door sprung open with the slightest of my efforts as if I have always known telekinesis. I stepped out of the car. It was dark and foggy as the hour hand might just have swung past the niner. I was not confused but couldn’t figure out if I was elated or desolate. It felt like  I could sense  the dementors in proximity. I looked at the old building standing barely 100 feet from me. I was  expecting a déjà vu here but  I could hardly recognize this  place. There sat an old man at the entrance stooping over fire and covered in woolen clothes from scalp to toe trying desperately  to balance between keeping himself warm  and not catching fire. We walked past him and went up the stairs to the  first floor. Each one of us was holding a bag or something in our stiff hands. We went straight for the room for which I already had the key. Just a few steps across the empty corridor and we were facing the grayish blue door. It was room no. 94 but it was not supposed to be open. I was holding the key anxiously but there was nothing  to unlock. We exchanged a vacant stare  each and then I knocked the door hesitantly still holding the key in my hand. There was no reply...I waited and knocked again. A young man answered this time...”kaun hai be”. I ignored the carelessly demotic tone and answered...’its me , Amit’.  A decent looking young boy opened the door, greeted us all and invited inside. I inspected the room from outside the door and the stepped inside careful enough to put the right foot first. The moment I invaded the young boy’s habitat I knew something was not right. I took a step further anyway...but as I ventured deeper into his abode I felt a strong force against my nares as if I was being smothered. I could sense the choking but seemed helpless as if someone has sucked all the oxygen out of the room instantaneously. I could feel my nasal hairs burning with the intense noxious smell creeping up my nose. I was trying to hold onto anything I could reach and  fight the vigorous desire to stop breathing and drop dead  when I noticed the bare feet of the supposedly innocent boy who turned out to be the daemon here. His feet were still wet with sweat and the soggy socks and shoes unarguably dipped in basilisk venom were lying just 5 feet away. I gathered my senses and ran for the balcony door and rushed it open. The next moment I was literally hanging from the dilapidated railings for a breath or two. A gush of fresh air felt like a stroll in the heaven itself. After resuscitating myself, I came back for my parents and was relieved to see they were all coming to senses. We were saved this time with what could only be described as divine intervention and It was only surprising how a manageable event like shifting  into my very first hostel room during first year of my MBBS turned into an ordeal. Only god knows what I went through or may be ‘My Nose Knows’...


I am sharing my odor story for the ‘My Nose Knows’ contest as a part of the  #SniffSniff activity at BlogAdda.

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