Excerpt – The Rainbow Runners

The van braked sharply and stopped with a crunch. The doors were opening. He was being pushed out. He tried to resist. Somebody kicked him behind his knee. His legs folded under him. But they didn’t let him fall. Holding both his shoulders tightly they made him kneel with practised ease. The pressure of the steel barrel had moved away from his head.

An explosion!

Sriman suddenly stood up, pushing away the plate of nimkis. Sweat was streaming down his body and his limbs were shaking. His tongue seemed pasted to the roof of his mouth.
He was overcome by a swooning feeling.

‘What are you doing here?’

He started at the sudden voice. It was the man he had met earlier at the sand mines. He was sitting astride a scooter.
Sriman’s eyes nearly burst out of their sockets.

‘Don’t look for dead bodies in the morning, the man told him coldly. Violet light was shining from his eyes, Or you will get into big trouble.’

The man then rode away on his scooter.

Sriman literally swayed. The world around him wobbled and spinned. He could stand up no longer and sat down with a thud on the wooden bench. He quickly grabbed the edge of the bench. His sudden jerking movements flung the glass of black tea onto the ground.

‘Kya hua, babu, kya hua?’ The tea seller rushed to him. He lifted the glass from the floor.
Sriman looked at the tea seller in genuine surprise. Who was that man? Where did he come from? Why was he here?’

‘Do you have the fits?’ the tea seller asked him. He hurriedly brought a jug of water and another cup of black tea.
‘Wash your face and hands.’

He poured the water and Sriman mechanically splashed it onto his face.
He felt a little better. He took the glass of black tea offered by the tea seller.
‘Have you been to the sand mines?’ the tea seller asked. ‘That is not a good place?
Why does he say that? Does he know something about last night’s incident? Surely he does.
Sriman again felt a reeling sensation.
Swaying like a drunkard he started to walk along the road.