Look Before You Leap-Ch 9 - Towards the Final Destination by Masood Sadiq

 9| A Great Blunder of my life

Quite often, we try to review our past and we cannot believe what we had experienced. Resultantly, our priorities are changed and we are surprised to see what is going to happen around us or what has happened with us. Our expectations suddenly go wasted, and the way we handle some situations including the intentions and we look forward to resolving those issues that do not actually correspond to the outcome we expect. We don't have any other option to tackle the situation we have to. However, what we get by the end of that crisis matters much in our life. It serves as a protected shield against any forthcoming crises in our lives forever.  

Sometimes, our priorities are changed and we are stunned to see what has happened. Our expectations go wasted, and the way we handle the situation including the intentions as we look on does not correspond to the outcome we expect. However, what we get by the end of that situation matters much in our life. It serves as a protected shield against any forthcoming crisis.  

A Nightmare

On a Sunday we had just come back from our outing from Head Mirala, I heard some unusual noise nearby our house in the afternoon. Many people were gathered there and talking about an old mother and her unmarried middle-aged daughter. They were all alone by themselves. The rest of the family had gone to England and never come back. That house was adjoined to our house, but I could see the people standing outside the main door of that lady. The door was locked in and nobody had come out so far. It made the neighbours worried and they called the police at once to investigate the mayhem. As I looked out there, in no time, I jumped over the wall and reached the spot to satisfy my curiosity. In that spur of the time, I could not realize the blunder I had done. I couldn't see the bloodstains on the same wall from where I jumped down.

The police broke the lock and saw both of the ladies lying dead on the floor. The bodies were badly stabbed and blood was clotted on the ground which was gushing from their bodies. People's expectations came true that someone had robbed and stabbed them in confusion last night. Actually, it was winter season, so nobody could hear the sound of this tragedy at night. Soon the news spread like fire around the village. In the meanwhile, the police had spotted the way the burglars came and killed the ladies. They went up the stairs and found the entrance of the burglars. Unfortunately, they also highlighted the footprints of my jogger on the roof of that wall where they had seen some of the blood strains. Now that news fell like a bomb on me and rushed from the other way to my home. By that time the news went around and everybody was coming to see those blood strains and footprints that they considered to be left by the burglars last night. All of the members of my family were much worried to hear the news which was being discussed by everybody in the village. Most of the people visited our house to see the footprints, which were clearly visible from our home. We tried to remove those footprints by throwing some grains of millet on them, so the birds would peck them.  

Click here to read Ch 2- "An Adventure with the Puppies"

It was I or those burglars who knew the fact about those footprints, but what could I do. I was completely at loss and tried to justify my conscience in a melancholy. So what I could do to face such an incredible situation. I just kept silent and listened to the different stories. I tried hard to bear the situation, but the more I thought about the more it became panic to me. It was very shocking that the criminals were moving among us and talking the same fishy-fishy, fake stories that went around in the village. The very next day, I went to the city and threw those shoes in the trash and bought a new pair of shoes. But the fear was never gone. It always lay with me and talked to me at night and awoke every dawn with me. It was gone when I heard that the real culprits were arrested incidentally by their own mistake by the police.

After a month or so, one of the culprits visited the bank to draw the draft that he had stolen from the victims’ house. The manager was alarmed but he kept quiet and asked him to stay and wait for some time. In the meanwhile, the manager phoned the police officer to visit the bank. Within no time, the teams arrived and arrested the first culprit who led others to bring behind the bar before long.

At present, after passing this incident for about thirty years, I still realize another blunder of mine which was just to fulfil my curiosity without realizing the drastic aftereffects of my hasty action. Thus it is rightly said, “Look before you leap.”

Click here to read Ch 15- "Time is Money"