Writing Exercise 025

This week's writing exercise takes you to a different country and a different time. The task was to write about a taxi ride. Without further ado, let's see what happens there:

2016/05/30 – write about a taxi ride

January, 1944. Naresh grinned like a cheshire cat as he drove to the station. The taxi was brand-new, just like the license in his pocket. A little figurine of the goddess of fortune Lakshmi sat atop the centre console and the radio was playing his favourite song.

It was a busy day. So as Naresh pulled over his car was the only taxi at the station.

Instantly the door was flung open and a guy poked his head inside. “I need to get to Poona,“ he said.

The tank was full, so about 150km there and back was doable. He had not been to Poona yet, but he surely would figure something out once they got there. Naresh nodded. “No problem.“

“Can you help me with my luggage?“ the guy asked. Naresh got out of his car and opened the trunk. But when he turned to look at the man he led a goat by the bridle and carried an aviary; inside was an eagle.

Perplexed, Naresh blinked. “This is a joke,“ he laughed and shook his head. “Sir, you can't take these.“

“But how else am I supposed to get to Poona? And I can't leave them here. Please, this is urgent.“

Naresh shook his head, thought of his new car. “You have to find another way,“ he denied. “I can't put them inside the trunk and they are going to make a mess in my car,“ he weakly argued.

But the man was adamant, desperate even. “Please, my wife is in Poona. I have to get to the hospital before she gives birth. I promise they'll behave.“

Naresh sighed. The Lakshmi figurine was laughing at him from atop the centre console. 'Just my luck,' he thought. “Alright,“ he relented.

The man sighed, visibly relieved. “Thank you. Thank you so much.“ He coaxed the goat to climb onto the backseat, then placed the aviary next to it and shut the door. Naresh put the man's suitcase into the trunk and sat behind the wheel as the guy climbed into the passenger seat.

As he slowly pulled away from the curb Naresh glimpsed the rear-vision mirror, worried. The eagle shrieked and fluttered his wings; the goat baaed and pattered on the seat. It reeked. Naresh just hoped the police wouldn't stop him as he joined traffic. He had invested everything into the taxi and the license; if he lost both he was done for.

As soon as they left Mumbai and drove north towards Ulhasnagar, the man, contented and smiling, started to prattle about everything under the sun. Naresh listened only with half an ear, his eyes darting between the highway and the rear-vision mirror. Whenever the goat bleated or the eagle cried he startled and almost drove into the ditch. But the man didn't seem to mind.

After half an awkward hour they reached Ulhasnagar. Traffic was extremely slow; only one lane was passable. The police was regulating the traffic. Naresh expected that there had been an accident but he couldn't see what had happened.

Suddenly a police officer knocked on the window pane. Naresh startled and rolled down the window.

'Oh, Vishnu, please let me get out of this unscathed,' he prayed. His heart pounded heavily and he feared he might lose his license because of the goat and the eagle.

“Good afternoon,“ the police officer monotonously mumbled, “registration and license please.“ Naresh fumbled and handed them to the officer, his hands slightly shaking. “Where are you headed?“ he was asked.

“Taking a passenger to Poona,“ Naresh stammered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

The police officer peered into the taxi and frowned. Both goat and eagle were deadly quiet, as if they weren't there at all. “Aha? Have a safe ride then,“ he said and handed registration and license back. He didn't comment on the animals.

Naresh was perplexed, his mouth agape. “Thank you,“ he murmured and hurried on. Soon the other lanes were passable again; the traffic jam didn't clear though. Naresh sighed.

'That was close,' he thought. The man started talking about his pregnant wife and a friend who lived to the west of Poona, but Naresh's thoughts were elsewhere. 'Why did the officer let me go?' He couldn't wrap his head around it.

Then he thought about why the police had been there in the first place. The news came to mind; earlier this morning they had reported on a fugitive mass murderer. Naresh even pondered about his strange passenger.

'Is he that man they talked about?' he wondered and glimpsed at the guy. But then he shook his head no. 'Just an odd duck,' he soothed himself. 'The police would have recognized him if he was.'

But the guy still gave him the creeps with his ghastly eagle and the annoying goat. He could feel the goat breath down his neck and the eagle stare at him. The long road to Poona was crowded with commuters. And the longer it took the more nervous Naresh became.

By the time they reached Poona Naresh was a nervous wreck. As he drove past the wooden palace-like buildings of the historic district Pesha with its narrow, crowded streets he was lost, but he didn't want to admit it to his strange passenger. So he drove to and fro looking for the hospital.

Instead the road suddenly was blocked by a cow. Naresh sighed, desperate. He couldn't go around the cow because the road was too narrow and the holy animal wouldn't budge. Naresh worried for his passenger but the man calmly smiled to himself, excited to see his wife soon. The goat nipped at Naresh's hair and startled the driver; the eagle shrieked and fluttered in its aviary.

When after half an hour of honking and impatient waiting the cow trudged on and the road was clear again Naresh let out a hurried prayer of thanks to Vishnu and Lakshmi. He drove on and after a while he finally, finally found the hospital. Relieved he sighed and prayed again; this ordeal was over. It only took him a moment but when he opened his eyes again and looked to the passenger seat, it was empty. Surprised he looked to the back seat, and the animals, too, were gone. Outraged Naresh bolted from the car, but the strage guy was nowhere to be seen.

'He couldn't have disappeared like that! It certainly wasn't just my imagination, was it?' Naresh groaned. And the guy hadn't paid. 'This whole horrible drive – for naught and nothing?!'

While Naresh was still seething, the passenger door was pulled open and a man sat. “To the airport, please.“

Stunned speechless, Naresh gaped. Then he was quick to get behind the wheel. “Yes, Mister Gandhi,“ he grinned, excited.

The Lakshmi figurine atop the centre console laughed.