The Kidnap (603 words)

                                      (A short story of yesteryears that will leave you with a smile)

 “Uncle, let me go. Why have you brought me here? I am scared. My parents would be worried and looking for me” cried the ten-year-old boy, in a trembling voice

“Keep quiet, I warn you.  I am not letting you go so soon. Let me get some money from your dad and I will think about it later” barked the man, his eyes cold and speculating, beneath a big drooping moustache.

The boy started crying loudly. The man slapped the boy hard and asked him to be silent if he were not to get hurt.

 “Ayyo, ayyo. It is paining. Please allow me to go. I will ask my dad to pay you whatever money you want”, pleaded the boy with flowing tears. Annoyed by the loud cries, the wicked man took out a roll of duct tape from a bag and put it on the boy's mouth securely. He tied his hands behind and also his legs.

“You ignored my warning. Now suffer the consequences” said the kidnapper as he spat the pan through the window.

 He closed the shutters and started smoking. Scared beyond wits, the boy turned silent and was looking at him wistfully. More than an hour passed and the man had exhausted his cigarettes. He was pacing in the room restlessly for two hours with his patience wearing thin waiting to make the ransom call.

Suddenly he heard loud knocks at the front door. He immediately lifted the top of a hollow centre table and thrust the boy inside.” If you make even a slight noise I will kill you. Beware” he warned the boy as he replaced the top and kept a flower vase on it.

As the pounding of the door became incessant, he opened the front door to find a policeman with two other men.

When he looked askance at them, the policeman said “We have come in search of a young boy. This man here who was in the tea shop across the road says he saw you with a boy. Where is he? The other person is his father and says the boy is missing for two hours from the house where he was playing.”

“I know of no boy. What crap is that man talking? He must have seen someone else”

“Anyway, let me search inside the house” the policeman replied and went from one room to the other and searched thoroughly opening the shelves, lofts and almirahs. When they drew a blank, the policeman said “This is the room where this man has been staying as it is filled with cigarette smoke. Call your boy by name” he told the father of the boy.

“Ambi, Ambi” he called loudly twice. The boy heard his dad but could neither make any noise nor move cramped as he was inside. Panic struck him afraid they would go away.

The policeman turned to the boy’s father and said “We are not finding him here. Come to the police station and lodge a formal complaint. We will take further action. No point in wasting time here. Let us go”

As they were about to leave, the man from the teashop suddenly exclaimed “Look, under the centre table”

They saw a puddle of yellowish liquid trickling from below the table. The policeman caught the kidnapper who tried to flee even as the other men removed the top to find Ambi tightly bound.

When they removed the tape, the boy proudly said “Daddy, when I heard your voice, I tried to shout or make noise. When I could not, I started peeing hoping you would find me”