Chapter 147

It was a cold and cheerless evening. The fog seemed to hover over the street, clutching the buildings, the streetlamps - the entire city, in a damp, icy grip. If one were to stand still, passers-by would emerge briefly from the gloom, only to disappear from view after taking just a few steps. These ghostly apparitions tormented Chari as he impatiently waited for the cab to arrive.

As if sensing his tension, the vehicle soared into the corner of the street and pulled into his driveway and the silence that had spread across like a mist dissipated in the smoke from the cab. He stepped out from the car and his gait was slow, and his face, barely visible beneath untold layers of grime, betrayed an anguished, exhausted expression.

What he saw seemed like a reflection of him, how he felt, the dreadful day, and the journey had just started and there was no angel to guide him to the light and relieve him from the soreness of what was yet to come.