TWO MINUTES

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 29; the 29th Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The topic for this month is 'TWO MINUTES'.

It was 1 pm.

The police vehicles hurried through the city, their sirens blaring and hastily docked at the market place. The uniformed men quickly stepped out and wasting no time proceeded to evacuate all the shoppers and shopkeepers with a lighting speed.



They used all means possible to bring the chaos under their control and within ten minutes the place was occupied by only the security forces, the common men now watching with growing curiosity at a safe distance.


Personnel with metal detectors and sniffing dogs started prowling the place, vigorously hunting.


A tip-off from one of their trustworthy informants about a possible terror attack had sprung them into the current deputation.



One of the German Shepherds ran towards a pillar at one corner, which was mainly used as a dumping point for all the garbage and started barking ferociously. The policemen hastened a metal detector to the spot and the loud beeps confirmed what had been sniffed by the dog.



They hastily rummaged through the filth and soon saw the sinister looking cardboard box beneath.


Gautam stepped forward looking like a robot in his outfit for the job.


Today was his last day in the force, end of ten years of service in the bomb squad.


He was passionate, intelligent and smart, a combination that had won him many laurels from all the superior ranks in the force.


As he cautiously moved forward, Shwetha’s tear streaked face flashed in his mind.


He took in a deep breath and furrowed his brows to erase away all thoughts and concentrate on the mission at hand.


He soon got the knowledge that he was racing with a timer attached to the explosive. He had just a little over two minutes left , ebbing away now.


Shwetha had been his childhood sweetheart and they had married less than a year ago.


Marriage had changed everything. Every day when he went back home, he would see fear embedded all over Shwetha;s face; melancholy deep in her eyes.


The last time he had gone home after an assignment , he had found Shwetha shivering and shaking, almost hysterical. She never said anything but he knew that his profession was subjecting her to a lot of torment.


He had decided to call it quits and go back to his father’s business. Ten years had given him a great deal of satisfaction and he wanted to go now. He owed Shwetha’s family a lot.


Today was his last day officially. A totally unexpected mission had come up. One last!

He was now knelt down near the cardboard box, Shekar, his compatriot, seated next to him.


The seconds were ticking. There was no time to move it to a less hazardous location.


Gautam knew that irrespective of training and experience, his success depended to an extent on his intuition and of course his destiny.


There was a fair percent chance of his attempt being unsuccessful.


He took the clipper to the blue wire. In a fraction of a second, he changed his mind and shifted it to the red.


Shekar’s expression was grim yet determined. His thumbs up was a go-ahead signal.


Flash, Shwetha;s face again.


As was his habit Gautam slowly said 'Om,One, two and three'. Gautam tightened his grasp.


***************************************************************



2 pm. Shwetha’s phone started beeping.


She had been busy packing her belongings unaware of the turn of events .


‘I love you, darling’ the message read.

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