Tuesday, April 05, 2005

Yellow Roses Part II

Looking back with a half-crazed mind, I was swept with relief to see that there was no one behind me. Concentrate!!, screamed my mind and I happily turned back to the job at hand.

It had seemed like an eternity and maybe it was actually close to it. I turned around just in time to see the old man and the guy happily chatting over the exchange. It was the old man's turn to have the dreamy look in his eyes and I am sure that he was thinking of days gone by when he was young and the world was that much younger. Coming out of the trance, I was actually surprised to see that some women were giving him the eye. It may seem funny now but was a happy feeling then. The young guy, unaware of all this but the flowers in his hand, seemed to be lighter now, floating on air. He dreamily looked around, and I knew the look. It was the look only a customer can give. Not one to leave a chance like this, I quickly tapped him on the shoulder, "Mister, someplace you wanna go?".

"Yes..", he said dreamily. I asked him where and he seemed to mumble something like coronary. It did not seem important, as I could always confirm where he wanted to go once he was in the cab. I pulled his am slightly towards my cab which was plastically screaming "FOR HIRE" on the roof. I opened the back door and he floated in and reclined on the back seat. Note that I say reclined. The plasticky interiors did not in the least seem to bother him and he looked like a king on a trip!. A psychedelic trip that is!. I put the cab into gear and roared off the kerb, snatching a glance at the old man, still looking a little wierd.

Weaving in and out of traffic on the avenue, I finally stole a glance at my passenger who still looked so happy that he would burst. I again asked him where he wanted to go and he mumbled the same thing. But he did give me some directions and I followed them. This time it sounded something like marble. The guy had gone marbles, I thought. But thoughts like "Ours is not to reason why!" and "The customer is king" crossed my mind and i kept the accelerator pretty much sticking to the floor. But he was sane enough to give me directions and I kept taking them. The roads started growing a little narrower and the tree-lines became thicker and the clouds started to eclipse the sun. I had to roll up the windows for the day had decidedly become colder. Something like a chill crept up my spine and left me saying "Brrrr!!". I was crossing on 1st avenue, but it did not seem like that at all. The roads seemed empty of life. Cutting into an empty lane that my passenger asked me to, the day had indeed darkened and cloudy. A cold thought crossed my mind like someone had walked up to my grave. That was a very curious thought for one so alive, hale and hearty, I thought.

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