The Touch of Fear

An old man was watching television. He slowly moved forward and came to the edge of the seat. His eyes widened and his brows went up. He looked worried and disturbed by something he saw on the television. Wiping down his sweat from his forehead, he looked at a set of motorbikes set ablaze followed by a horrific scene where a police station was on fire. Distressed, he swapped the channel and saw the same scene but from a different angle.

Pencil Sketch - Chinnas

The same set of scenes was shown across all news channels, especially in the local channels, without any break. The shots and angles differed but not the scene. What was more agonizing for the old man was that even ‘music’ and ‘movie’ channels carried the same news for a while. Unable to watch the television any more, he switched it off.

After sometime, he went out to pick up his grandson. On the way, he saw a strange looking person holding a bicycle chain. Sporting a filthy, tattered shirt, he looked weird. He coiled the chain around his rough and strong right arm. His chest muscle bulged out from his torn shirt.

The old man broke out in a cold sweat after watching him. His body was shivering in anxiety. He looked terrified and watched every step carefully as he must cross that person to pick up his grandson at the bus stop. The scenes he saw on the television disturbed him immensely. The more he neared, the more became his panic. He was like a cat on hot bricks.

As he was approaching the strange-looking man he heard him yelling in a bass voice,

“Heyyy!”

The old man was stunned and stood rooted to the spot. He was a bundle of nerves after hearing the voice. Distressed and scared, he burst into tears.

“Can’t you wait?” The man shouted again and marched towards the old man with a stern look.

The old man was confused and terrified. He sat down placing his hands over the head and started pleading in fear. Tears rolled down his eyes without any break. His whole body was shaking intensely.

To his dismay, the filthy man crossed him and went near a person who was waiting on a bike. He shouted at him on his face and went with him.

The trembling old man who sat down in distress did not notice the actual scene, lost his balance and fell down on the ground. The fear overpowered his balance. His age complimented his fear and intensified the impact. As he struggled to raise on his feet, he heard a familiar voice. 

“Grandpa, what happened?” His grandchild came running to the spot. “Oh my God, blood!” He screamed.

The old man was nose-bleeding due to an anxiety attack!