THE FOGGY DRAIN

 THE FOGGY DRAIN

 

At dusk, Antonio was dropped off at the main road by his office cab. He had a long, tiring day at work, so he hurried home. He had to cover a stretch of one kilometre on foot to reach his apartment from his dropping point at the main road. At that hour, he found the streets full of open maintenance holes, which probably indicated some construction activities. As he walked alone, he approached a storm drain. A thick black fog was billowing out of it, and it seemed dark and dreary. His curiosity aroused, Antonio stepped closer to the storm drain, illuminated by dusk's light at that unearthly hour.

 

A robust and nauseating smell hit his nostrils. He noticed it emanating from the fog, leaving him gasping for breath. It had a strange, acidic smell, the unbearable stench. Throwing caution to the wind, he leaned forward. Suddenly, a pair of stone-cold hands grabbed his ankles, sending a chill down his body. He started shivering in fright at the touch of the icy, cold hands on his trousers.

 

Antonio tried to pull away, but the grip on his ankles was steady and robust. It started pulling him towards the drain and into the dark abyss. Panic gripped him as he was pulled and dragged into the darkness below. It was sucking all the joy, energy and vitality out of him. He felt drained, and a sense of hopelessness surged through him. All his positive spirit, his optimism, his bravery, his tenacity, his enterprise, his cheerfulness was slowly being sucked from his body as the icy steel hands tightened their grip. Antonio started crying out for help desperately, but his shouts drowned in the eerie silence of the dusk and the fog. The cold hands on his ankles felt like ice plyers fastened securely.

 

Just when he resigned to his fate and gave up all hope, the heavens above parted, and a sudden bright light pierced through the sky, illuminating the dark drain. Encouraged and energised, he made a final desperate bid to escape, and with all his might, he pulled away, this time managing to break free. He turned around and fled from the drain as fast as he could.

 

As he collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, he was breathing heavily.  As he turned to look back, he could see the fog retreating into the drain as it spun, spiralled, and disappeared into the drain as if it had never been there. Antonio thanked his lucky stars for a narrow escape from whatever dark forces lay beneath the drain. He felt much better now and could sense his optimism and vitality returning. There and then, he vowed never to venture into any drains at any time of the day, be it dawn, dusk or twilight.

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