The next story

Hello everyone.......I'm back with yet another story!!! This time round the protagonist has changed and is not the famous Nick anymore!!! :) Hope you all enjoy this one as well.........oh by the way part 2 of this story will come soon.........I am starting to enjoy sequels..........aren't u??!!!! :)

Taxi anyone!!

Sipping his tea Salim was glad that the days were getting cooler. He remembered the time when he first came to Dubai. The searing heat seemed to be the first and only thing that he noticed as he got out of the plane. He had left the comforts of being at home to eke out a living in a foreign country…….the need for money was overwhelming. Debt had forced Salim to an uncertain future in the Gulf.

His uncle had helped him land a temporary job at a local trading store. That would atleast ensure that he got a visa which would then help him in getting a driver’s license…….which is akin to getting ambrosia from the Gods………a near impossibility!!! None the less a license would open the floodgates to other opportunities……..better paying opportunities.

As soon as he won his lottery Salim landed his second job as a taxi driver. The pay was decent even though the work hours were long and arduous. Besides the traffic was a nightmare…….but Salim didn’t complain as the jobs were helping him clear his debts. He drove during the day and his partner took over at night, this helped as their monthly targets were then split between them.

His journeys took him to every corner of Dubai………and he served a wide variety of customers – young and old, Indians, Pakistanis and Philipinos’ even the local Arabs came in often.

It was a December when his partner went on his annual leave. As a result Salim had to cover a certain part of the evening to ensure that they were not behind on their target. During one of his nightly runs he thought of visiting his uncle in the shop he worked. It was late in the night so he knew only his uncle would be there closing up shop. He parked his car and walked into the shop. What he saw next shocked him!!!!!

He saw his uncle lying down in a pool of his own blood. He quickly knelt down to see if he was still alive and just as he was about to check his uncle he felt a sharp pain on the head and saw blackness engulf him. He woke up later tied up, with beads of sweat pouring down his face and a throbbing pain in the back of his head. His assailants were standing over him menacingly.

“Who are you?” Salim asked weakly. “What do you want?” he asked again. They wore ski masks and so he couldn’t see their faces properly. They spoke a foreign tongue to each other, one he couldn’t recognize. Then suddenly one of them frisked him and took out his wallet. He then took his gun and pointed it to Salim’s head and said “You will take us to the airport. Do you understand……..Salim?” looking at his ID card. He threatened Salim “Never mind who we are………your only concern should be that the police must not catch us now……….otherwise!!!!”

Salim was shaken up from his ordeal but he nodded to the assailants demand. Salim then plucked up the courage and asked “My uncle needs help”. The men all laughed and one of them said “The old geezer has had it……….he’s caput……..kapish!!!”.

Salim was seething within anger, why did they do this…….what had his uncle done to them? They removed his bonds and took him to his car .They piled in and started their perilous journey to the airport.

The next story

Part two of Nicks life continues here. Hope you guys enjoy it!!! :)

Two choices

Time had passed by since his second accident. Nick was listening to one of his favorite groups the Colonial Cousins…….to one of their first hits. He believed in one of the lines in the song...…….”time being the healer, time being the friend”……but he still had difficulty in coming to grips with what had happened. These days he often spent time alone in the college stadium near his home. It was a place of sanctity for him……a place to get lost in his thoughts. Suddenly self-pity became inspirational!!!!!

It was there that he met William for the first time. He had never noticed him before……could be due to the long hours wallowing in despair he thought, asking the Lord the same question over and over again “Why me??”. Today he decided to get a closer look at his unknown companion. William had been training in the stadium each and every time that he saw him. Nothing exceptional caught his eye.

But today something did………something he could not believe at first. As he came closer William looked up at him. “Hi stranger!! Been seeing ya here for the past month…….nice to say hello finally!!!” said William. Nick gave a rather weak hi…….the effect of avoiding his mates for some time now. He didn’t want to face them nor tell them about his ordeal.

“When did that happen?” Nick asked pointing to William’s leg. “Haha…..that, ohh it happened quite some time back………say a year. Lost a portion of the leg due to a motorbike accident……sounds clichéd doesn’t it???!!” quipped William. “How is it clichéd?? You have lost a part of your leg!!!” fired back Nick. “It’s so because you always get to hear of some idiotic teen getting into a motor bike accident due to his carelessness or what we nowadays call the Dhoom effect…….hehe!!” laughed Williams.

“So what’s your story mate?? I’ve seen you here for a long time now……you in the track team or something?” asked William. Nick then went on to narrate his story……….athletics, the accident everything. “I don’t know how you take it mate……..I am finding it difficult!!” confessed Nick. This surprised him...…..he hadn’t told what he felt inside to anyone…….not even his parents!!! He didn’t know why it was easy with William. “Hmmmmm I know exactly what you feel………I too felt lost in the beginning” continued William. “My doctors told me I had a 10 percent chance of coming out of this……….I just thought 10 is much better than zero!!!” laughed William.

Nick was surprised by the way William laughed everything off and he told this to him. “You got two choices mate……..laugh it off or let it take control of your life which I guess is what is going on with you” said William. Having something close to commonality or so Nick thought helped and he found that confessing what he felt was like lifting a load of his back. Their friendship grew as the days passed by……..William became a very close confidant.

One day William asked him “So you ready to start your training once more?” the question blindsided Nick and he mumbled the answer “I…..I am not…..not sure”. “There is no - I am not sure here, it’s either a yes or a no and I think in your case it should be a yes” continued William. “So what do you say?” asked William once more. Nick took one look at him and then looked at the track; he knelt down on the asphalt. “I have two choices here – a no or a yes. I will say why not!!!!” wisecracked Nick. Both looked at each other for a second and laughed together.

Story telling continued

I like the idea of franchises and sequels in movies. Especially when you know its the second and third chapter that unravel everything. I guess you will be familiar with Nick so I thought of continuing with him in this story as well.

I wanted to break this up into two parts so as to keep the spirit of a sequel in touch!!!! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing about it :)

A second chance

Nick loved to listen to music while he trained and he always kept his mp3 player by his side. This time around he was listening to his favorite songs from Rock On. He liked the thought of second chances…….since it was the same for him and he did not want to miss the boat this time around.

Nick had been a star athlete back in his college days and he continued that into the professional circuit hoping to represent his country one day. His forte had always been the mile run, but he wanted to elevate himself. He wanted to be known as an Ironman.

But a couple of years ago his world came crashing down. An accident left him with a torn knee ligament. From being an active person to being tied down………he could feel the frustration building up. As soon as he was able to stand he tried showing his fortitude by running once more though it was against his doctors’ wishes. He risked everything to do the thing he loved the most.

The risk proved to be costly………while training he slipped and twisted his knee once more. This time around the injury was more severe. His doctor told him that reconstructive surgery would be required. Nick was not one to give up, but even he could not bear it a second time round.

He kept saying to himself………“If I had just listened and wasn’t so damn stubborn…….I would still be out there.” But it was too late and the damage was done. The doctor gave him a 50-50 chance for regaining the same physical composure he had. His parents helped him to pull through, but for Nick the mental torture of going through the recovery process once more was agonizing.

He wasn’t able to sleep or eat peacefully……..the accident kept cropping up in his mind like a sword to the heart. It was like a tape replaying itself all the time…..…he could hear his screams of agony and the snapping of the ligaments. It was crazy and he had no way of putting a stop to it.

But something did finally come to his rescue…….it wasn’t exactly an earth shattering event. A very subtle one infact…….one which changed the whole ballgame!!!

Story telling

I just thought of writing short stories to keep my myself sane. This is my first attempt......hope u guys like it:

The story of a Guy

Nick was always interested in movies. Be it comedies or action flicks even romantic flicks or thrillers everything interested him. His obsession led him to read a lot about the industry……books, magazines, gossip…..nothing escaped him. He knew details about each and every film that he had seen. People were amazed at the interest he held and that he was capable of religiously watching a flick every week.

Secretly he dreamt of becoming an actor……who didn’t these days. But he never could figure out a way to start. He then remembered the interviews of the many stars that he had seen. The most common thing he had seen was that each and every one of them began behind the scenes. He then contemplated where to begin with. Spot boy? Direction? Stunts?!! Where could he start?

It then came to him like a bolt of lightning……….writing. He was not bad at that. Maybe a little unpolished…….but never the less he knew he was good. And so began his attempts, but no matter what he did, no matter how many books he read on screenwriting he was missing one very vital component!! An active imagination!!!

Ideas were not coming forth and he started to think………” How in the world do people come up with ideas for movies??”. He was seriously lost. Then lightening struck twice, he read that storylines need to be based on real life experience no matter how bizarre or unrealistic. There is always that element of reality behind the subversive universe one calls a script!!!!

And so he began his quest with his first ever script………even before he typed his first words he was already accepting his Oscar from none other than Spielberg himself!!!!

But he did eventually start off……….he wrote about a guy, a regular guy, an unknown guy, a guy who was not that popular who was damn interested in movies and who wanted to be a star!!!! He kept writing and writing and then suddenly he was writing about his life and masking it with his fictitious character!!! Suddenly a familiar song came into his head and he remembered about all things seemingly unnatural that came to life in The Twilight Zone!!!!