A Good day to die easy

"I need you to understand Aparna... Its not going to be possible..." whispered his son-in-law. Aparna took a deep breath for the news to sink in. She murmured back " Lets not tell him now.... though being him , he might have already known." Saket did not overhear this conversation, but knew what news was being transmitted and instantly felt uneasy and different. Sensing that her father was still gazing  from the glass window at both of them , Aparna paused the 'hush-hush' conversation , looked at her father, smiled gently and raised her thumbs. Saket just smiled back from inside. Somewhere deep within her, Aparna knew that her father knew.

Saket clad in green from top to bottom now twisted to the other side of his hospital bed and began staring at the blank wall. Uneasiness was beginning to hit him hard. He began to sweat. It seemed his body released  epinephrine, norepinephrine and dozen other fear hormones at the same time. Saket, aged 70 has been fighting his battle with a peculiar disease for which he was undergoing several tests and little treatment at the hospital where his son-in-law is a doctor.

...........

The door opened."Apologies for being late Deepak. My wife insisted on me having the dinner before I left".

"Not at all sir. No problem."

Deepak pulled a wooden chair for Raja to sit. "Not unusual that there is a huge hype surrounding it... Is it not sir ?" asked Deepak . Raja ,his superior nodded his head , looked down at his footwear, dug in his toe , and pushed a pile of dust that had accumulated in the last 15 days. "I am just proud and happy to be part of history." Raja replied. He stood up from his wooden chair, went across the storage section and caressed his hands slowly at thickly wrapped books and continued " Media does help. In our case , more money."

Raja breathed in the aroma of newly bound books.He had done the same for four previous editions of it. He bent down the racks to check whether the bundles were properly tied and in the process caused the contents of his shirt pocket(Paper bits, visiting cards, Restaurant bills etc) to fall on the dirty floor.Among the fallen items ,he picked up only his visiting cards. He blew out the dust , wiped them by caressing it along his chest and kept it back in his pocket. Other fallen items continued to lie on the floor though.

Raja thought himself to have a much more significant role in his job than the designation printed on his visiting card which read as " Raja Mukherjee : Warehouse Manager , Bloomsbury Publications India - Central Warehouse , Kolkatta ".Today he felt, he was informally given a responsibility from the management."Bring on the mattress, its time we get some sleep.. We have a busy day tomorrow. More books are on the way." said Raja with pride.  "Yes sir.Give me a minute..". Raja observed the ceiling fan above and managed to find some spider webs."Bring a wet cloth too, we need to wipe the fan before we lie under it".
"Ok sir."

...........                                                                        

Saket was game for a midnight adventure.The night was regular , like many other nights , nothing special or extraordinary. Saket had worked his way through the gates like a regular and nobody could detect. He moved without a single pause and was outside the ever crowded hospital (which represented a mall) in five minutes. Having no other option, he decided to take his son-in-law's old green-and-blue bike. 

His ride was liberating and after having traveled for over an hour, he decided to stop by an old rusted building. He looked for passerby's and found none except some sleeping stray dogs. He pulled of his coat and went to the rear side of the building and broke in. The darkness notwithstanding , he courageously strolled along. 

.........

Raja had been waiting for the second lot to arrive for close to 2 hours in the morning. He then received a call from his superior informing him that no new books would be arriving due to a policy change. There would however be a review of warehouse around noon by delegates before further books arrived. The release date had been postponed. 

Bloomberg Global , had its own reservations before releasing the book in India. The piracy market was rampant and humongous. They had also to content with the population that would be reading it online. They went ahead with a reasonable pricing strategy. They went ahead because there was demand, and there was no doubt about it. The release of the book was much talked about even a year before it was supposed to release. Delegates from the parent company were sent overnight to several Indian locations to monitor theft and piracy. No new books would arrive until the delegates reported back favorably. 

Raja went back home , had a bath. His wife had prepared a sumptuous brunch. He refused it as he had to go back to the warehouse before noon. 

.........

Saket came back to his room quietly without anybody noticing but knew that his adventure will just start and will be an exciting one. What he didn't know was that he had just found more than a new friend after a long long time, the book in his hand; a friend for the remaining lifetime and metaphorically his future love. There was temptation though to read the last page. He had never done that before. And, he said to himself that he will never do it again."People who read the last page first have no life", he mumbled. He resisted the temptation and began his joy ride.

Page by page , he did read... Line by line, he did enjoy.... Word by word, he did relish.... Hour by hour.. he took six....And when the seventh had just began and he came to the last chapter....

..........

Officials from the management came to the warehouse around noon and immediately the inventory counting took place. A book was missing. Raja recounted them all. He bent down at the same place as he had done the previous night and to his surprise found the plastic cover in open mode.

                                   

The other contents of his shirt pocket were still there. Could it be the work of rodents ? Then how could an entire book vanish ?. Several questions were posed at Raja. He was perplexed and so was Deepak. A police FIR was lodged.Media broke open the news almost immediately. Needless to say Raja and Deepak were reprimanded.

.........

.....2 pages.....

Patience was running out. " Just 2 more..." he said to himself. His hands began to shiver. Tears flowed from his eyes. The concentration fluttered and he paused. He composed himself and re-read the page.

... Last page... 

He felt gloom and happiness at the same time.

... Last paragraph... 

Saket now knew that Harry lived. He also knew it much before the world knew. He had done it. He knew the end. Saket shut the book and looked upwards....... Little did he fuss for the excruciating pain that hit him couple of minutes later when life left him.

THE END