Tales from Beyond (continued)

Her heart pounding, she threw the clothes into her suitcase in a haphazard untidy pile. She had to go, and never return. The thought curiously enough, saddened her. She took one last look around her bedroom, picked up her suitcase and headed towards the door. The eyes in the photograph on the mantel followed her reproachfully. The loud click of the door as it shut, startled her, almost accusatory, she thought. It was at that instant that she saw her again. The lone figure of an elderly woman. There was a sadness about the gait. She looked at Sushma and the look was long and piercing or so Sushma thought for the distance between her and the woman was considerable. The woman stood on the hillock, a lost soul and then hobbled painfully away and disappeared through the tall trees.

The noise of traffic, the chatter of the passengers in the bus was strangely comforting. She guessed she wasn't such a recluse after all. She wore extra large sunglasses to hide her face. No one paid the slightest attention to her. They were engrossed in their own mundane lives, and Sushma wished she was just one among many. The hotel was a nonedescript one, not a five star hotel where she was normally booked. The clerk at the desk was seedy and looked bored. He was a short thin man in his forties, with oily hair parted in the middle and the inevitable black moustache. He eyed her sullenly. As she approached the desk, his eyes took in her expensive luggage and elegant clothes, and the expression changed to one of excessive servility. She really hated that about Indians! The mere whiff of money brought out this attitude. She had experienced it dozens of times. She had also experienced arrogance and humiliation from the same kind of people when she'd been poor. (continued in next post).