Once upon a time,

Oh My God,

Am going to write a story in rhyme,

Am in my home,

It’s the middle of the night,

I wake up in horror and fright,

It feels as someone is in my house,

Listen close,

Yes, that’s right,

Someone’s here,

Someone has got to go,

I get up carefully slow,

My heart,

Thumping like it’s going to blow,

I Call One Five and let the phone on hold,

After sometime I whisper,

Someone’s in my house,

Send help,

Send someone,

Just got my gun from under the bed,

If he comes close,

Some blood will surely shed,

I try to focus in the dark,

All I see is haze,

My own house looks like a maze,

Everything looks so different in this Black light,

Where is the intruder?

I can’t get his sight,

Has he left the house?

Has he fled from the site?

My eyes open wide,

Slowly walking out the room,

I keep thinking,

He has picked the wrong house,

This is his last night out,

For his life he will scream and shout,

It’s just a matter of time,

Before the Police comes,

Beats and cuffs him out,

Cops come,

And the sirens soon wake up the whole town,

I wonder if the thief now smiles or frowns,

Whatever he does he is going down,

Suddenly there is a grab from behind my back,

He gets me by the neck with a knife,

Drops my gun in a swift movement,

Replaces it with knife,

And threatens me for my life,

I plead him not to shoot,

He says, “I won’t, I just want to get away with the loot”

Door slams open and cops run in,

His gun points on my head,

Around my neck is his other hand,

It has the loot bag,

I keep thinking if he kills me,

Cops also gonna need a bag,

A body bag,

But he won’t kill me,

If he wants to get away,

if he does then his luck will go astray,

One of them screams,

“Sir be brave, We are going to rescue you,

Don’t be afraid”,

Robber shouts, “Shut Up and behave,

Do as I say,

I need a car to get away!”

I whisper, “The car keys are on the table near the ash-tray”,

He picks them up and says to them,

“Come on, Give me way”,

The cops clear out,

And he moves out slowly,

It’s like by his personality and actions all have gone sway,

We get in the car,

He has asked me to drive,

Don’t know why but I know deep inside,

It’s going to be a very rough and may be my last ride,

He says in a grim tone,

“Just do as I say,

And in the end from all the troubles you would be away”

I drive and drive,

Cops chasing us like when bees in danger run towards their hive,

I thank God that still I’m alive,

Don’t know however how long I and he will survive,

“You know you have to drive fast if you want me to leave u alone”

I said “Am trying hard,

From their sight we would soon be gone”

Speeding through the streets,

Passing by people sleeping on footpaths,

Sometimes driving on pavements made of concrete,

Drifting and screeching,

It feels like a race,

And guess what,

I am winning,

I am the rat trying to find a way out of the maze,

Cops are soon out of sight,

Their sirens though give me a fragment of fright,

He says suddenly to stop,

Gets out of the car,

And points his gun at me,

I scream, “Why? Aren’t you now free?”

Yes, that I may be

But you have seen,

From close you have seen my face,

Now for them it’s easy to trace,

The last sounds I hear are the bang,

And my own scream,

Life doesn’t flash before my eyes,

Cause I don’t get much time to think,

To speak,

To plead,

I did everything,

And this is the gift I received,

In the last moments,

I wish someone was there for me,

Someone whom I loved,

And someone who loved me,

Someone whom in my last moments I could be with,

Someone whom in my last moments I could see,

Alone I was in the start,

Alone at the end I be,

Gasping for air,

With bullet in my chest,

It’s hard to breathe,

Every breath seems to give me pain,

My mind whispers,

Sleep.

Child…

Sleep.

© Jibran Manzoor – 2011