The light flickered with the
wind and got absorbed by the candle string. The man in white suttan strode to
me in the semi-darkness. “Get ready for morning Mass”, he said with a toothy
smile.
The hunters had noticed the
glowing rosary on my neck and hurried my fainted lump out of the pit to a
nearby Catholic church.
My attempt to rise with my left
shoulder as a pivot failed; it was dislocated. The sharpness of the pain that
followed caressed all the nerve roots in my feeble body. The priest noticed my
pain and hurried to help me up. I practically limped to the front row and sat.
In no time, shadows of worshippers sneaked up from behind me. Nobody dared join
me on the front row. I felt like a man to be exhorcised…maybe I was.
“In Nomine Patris, et filio et
spiritu sancto…”, the priest began in perfect Latin. That language has a way of
compelling serenity…and hunger. You dare use it during a fast, then, you might
lose your congregation. I just wish the priest understood how hungry I already
was.
“Dominus vobiscum”, Mass had
come to an end…I had slept throughout and nobody bugged me. When the
congregation had fizzled out, the priest re-emerged from the vestry and walked
towards me, smiling as he strode. I touched my pockets, they had been emptied
by God-knows-who. No wallet. My wrist strap and time piece had gone astray too.
The screen of my Nokia C7 had been shattered, during the fall, I guess. I kept
starring at it until the priest sat beside me. That feeling of being followed
by a demon returned as he place a hand on my shoulder.
Of course, I was right. As soon
as he started speaking, the demon flew into my mobile phone and it beeped…”Your
presence is required for general CDS at your PPA, by 10am. Stiff penalties
would follow your absence. CLO.”
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