The Night Begins
“I need to sleep now. I can’t stay awake any longer than I have to. Please, God, let me sleep. I need your help.”
Amrut was an IT engineer working on the most prestigious project the company had ever undertaken. He was the most trusted employee, and his seniors believed in him completely.
He was good with every client. Clients used to specifically ask for him whenever they had to discuss a new project.
Amrut had climbed the ladder of success in a very short time, and he was now a manager at the MNC.
Amrut had a very high caffeine intake. He used to drink Red Bull and espresso more than usual, due to which his sleep schedule had become unstable.
Amrut used to work from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the office. After returning home, he would continue working while sitting very close to his monitor.
Amrut was living alone because, at his parents’ house, he was not allowed to use computers or work on company-related tasks there.
So, he had moved out of his parents’ house, and his company had provided him with an apartment near the office.
Amrut was now free to do whatever he wanted, but his eating habits had changed. He mostly survived on junk food.
One night, Amrut was looking passionately at his screen and cheering because the code he had been working on for the past three days had finally started working brilliantly.
He could receive a big incentive from the company if the client liked the app.
Amrut took a sip of Red Bull and placed the can back on the table.
The can was not placed properly, and its contents started spilling onto the table.
Amrut didn’t notice.
He started searching for the can. He took his eyes off the monitor and looked around for it.
That was when the room started to move.
Amrut couldn’t remain seated on the chair. He grabbed his head and lay down in a fetal position.
Amrut felt as if everything around him was moving in circles.
He tried to stand, but it was in vain.
He started crawling, but his head suddenly touched something thick.
He touched his head and slowly looked up.
Suddenly, he fell backward.
Amrut saw a person sitting on the chair.
His throat went dry.
He couldn’t yell.
He took his mobile phone from his pocket and pressed the torch icon, but the torch didn’t turn on.
He kept pressing the torch icon.
Sometimes it switched on, only to suddenly switch off again.
Amrut threw his mobile phone away in panic and sat there until he felt he could speak.
“Who is there? Who are you?” he asked in a panicked tone.
But there was no reply.
He kept asking the same question.
Eventually, he gathered enough courage to pick up his mobile phone again.
He calmly pressed the torch icon, switched on the torch, and started laughing.
The person sitting on the chair was none other than the helmet he had left there.
Amrut face-palmed himself.
He went towards the fridge, took out another can of Red Bull, and finished it in a single breath.
Then he sat back down and continued working.
