The fatal walk

by Somasiri Attanayake

The patient heard his name being called out by a female in a ringing voice from the doctor's room and he entered the cardiologist's chamber accompanied by trepidation and anxiety. The nurse, smiling in a matter-of-fact way, beckoned him to sit down in front of the doctor who was attentively looking at his patient whose gaze lingered on the stethoscope hanging down from the physician's neck like a repulsive snake with its flat head turned downwards.

The doctor scrutinized all the reports handed over to him by his elderly patient with a very grave look on his face, taking an unusually long time to go through them while the patient glanced several times at the comely very youthful nightingale who was attending on the doctor and stood still like a statue in pure white uniform, ready to carry out any order given by her superior.

Frank

"I have to be very frank with you, Mr Amaratunge. If I explain to you in plain language.... your heart is not functioning properly. But, don't think you are at the end of your life. Instead, think that you are going to have a new lease of life. Forget about your illness completely and lead a normal life, but under a certain regimen."

The doctor concluded his homily and started writing the prescription. A deep silence prevailed; so much so that, the rhythmic breathing of the nurse became audible to the patient who was sitting close to her. "Take things easy. Don't think you are a heart patient. You should not get distressed under any circumstances. Do some exercise daily. Brisk walking is very good."

The doctor dropped his pen on to the table and looked at the patient as an adult looks at a sick child. The nurse called out the name of the next patient.

Amaratunge was a confirmed bachelor in his early sixties who looked very much younger than his actual age; he was proportionately built, had a manly and brawny physique which he cherished to possess which some admired and some envied. He lived with his sister who always had a soft-spot for him since their childhood.

On leaving school, he joined the government service in the capacity of a clerical officer and got his appointment in the Badulla Kachcheri, situated over a hundred miles away from his home town, where he worked continuously for almost eleven years. Throughout the long period, young Amaratunge lived with a family as a boarder and the whole household treated him as one of their family members.

Shock

He had been in a terrible state of shock for a few days since he had come to know that he was a heart patient. Amaratunge felt that he had come to the journey's end in this world! Nevertheless, he was determined to follow the regimen the doctor advised him to put into practice.

The first thing he did was to buy a pair of canvas shoes and a pair of shorts for him to perform his daily constitutional as a part of the systematic plan recommended by the physician to restore his health. He wanted to do his walking early morning before dawn when it was still dark.

The next day, early morning, donned in special trappings, Amaratunge stepped out of the house willy-nilly. "Don't tax your body excessively at the beginning." he recalled the doctor's warning the moment he started walking and he wanted to walk about a distance of half a mile on the first day.

As he was residing in a thickly populated urban area, roads were usually lit up with street-lamps. In spite of the morning chill he plodded at first and gradually changed into brisk walk. He turned back when the first light of the day was falling; trees, houses and other things were vaguely visible.

The virgin rays of the sun streamed down through the foliage and touched him with reviving warmth. He breathed lungfulls of fresh air scented with sweet fragrance emanated from flowers.

The sexagenarian experienced a physical and mental well-being. He was light-hearted and happy. While walking he listened to the soft singing of birds that heralded the dawn of another new day. He looked forward to doing his health-friendly exercise the following day.

After practising the health promoting exercise continually for about three months, Amaratunge realised that he had become healthier than before. He met a number of health walkers of different ages who had been doing their exercises to improve and maintain their health. When a young person ran overtaking him like a fast moving vehicle overtakes a bullock cart on the road, he felt a tinge of envy prick his heart.

Appearance

"The brute brushed past me purposely to make fun of me. Rascal blast him"

On such occasions, he would give vent to his anger by cursing.

Very often, the old fellow met on the road a girl of prepossessing appearance who had left home early morning for her job in the city. The young girl and the old man walked in opposite directions passing each other almost everyday at a certain point of the road. Actually, she was a very pleasing sight for the elderly health walker.

He experienced a subtle, happy excitement when he saw the young girl's figure vaguely appear in the distance down the road and he turned his head back two three times to admire her sashaying form that gradually receded.

The following day, the old chap wanted to take a close look at the girl and he adjusted his pace in such a way that he could meet her just under a lamp post to enable him to see her properly. He succeeded and met her exactly in the bright patch of illumination cast by the street lamp. Amaratunge looked her full in the face which bloomed into a pleasant smile! She was quite young, less than twenty five years.

During the course of the day, he thought of the young girl, her bewitching smile, swaying gait with graceful swings of her protuberant posterior and her sculptured features. He thought that he had seen her before, but he failed to recall where and when.

While he was in bed retiring for the night lying relaxed, waiting to fall a sleep, unexpectedly and all of a sudden it occurred to him that the girl closely resembled the art teacher who taught the subject when he was in the senior form. The young Amaratunge had a crush on the beautiful teacher!

Exercise

The girl greeted the elderly walker with an overflowing smile every time she met him on the road. The old man liked her smile more than his health-promoting exercise. Amaratunge experienced an acute sense of frustration and hopelessness whenever he happened to miss her sight on the road as an incorrigible drug addict feels when he has been denied of his narcotic dose.

His sister's children were very fond of him when they were young; the kids were happier with him than they were in the company of their own parents. He was very close and very dear to them and his life was not empty. At this time, they had grown up; all were married and there was a vast chasm between them and him. He thought he had made a terrible blunder by remaining single. No one belonged to him; he belonged to nobody; nor did he claim any strong attachment to anybody. Amaratunge suffered from a great sense of isolation.

This merciless loneliness always hanged around him, sometimes overpowered him, terrified him and like an invisible monster, lay in ambush to devour him!

"Sir, all your hair has turned grey. Why don't you dye your hair and look younger?" The hair dresser told Amaratunge in a jovial tone of voice when he went to the salon to have his hair cut. The old man looked at his own reflection in the large mirror in front of him and realised what the barber told him was correct. He jumped at the suggestion and asked the barber to go ahead with dyeing his hair.

His blackened hair reduced his real age by more than ten years as his body had refused to lose its youthful appearance with the passing years."Why did I decide to dye my hair all of a sudden? To conceal my real age from that girl who is young enough to be my granddaughter" He confessed to himself his infatuation with the young girl. "This is utter madness on my part. Am I mad...... or what has happened to me? I should have got married when I was young and raised a family like other people. I would have been happier and contented in my old age with my own family."

Jubilation

The next morning, he met the young beauty on the road where she usually turned into the by-lane that led to the railway station. Before she deviated into the lane, she smiled lavishly and wished the elderly person good morning in a musical, soft voice. Amaratunge was as happy as a pauper who won the first prize in a lottery.

His jubilation unexpectedly took him back to his younger days when he was an exuberant lad working as a clerical officer in a government office in Badulla; boarded at a place close to his work-place.

It was not a boarding house; but a family who kept two boarders as their dwelling was a very big house with many rooms. The chief occupant had a textile shop in the town and everyday he would leave home about nine in the morning and return late at night. Their only child was a school-going fifteen year girl at the time.

After staying there for about six months, he got a severe attack of fever and for a whole week Amaratunge could not attend office. Throughout the week he stayed at the boarding-place.

The mistress of the house who was a buxom woman in her late thirties nursed the young boarder taking special care and interest as if he were seriously ill. She asked him to stay away from work for another few days as he was physically week after the illness. So, the youth stayed at home convalescing and relaxing.

The mistress became very inquisitive about the youthful boarder when they were left alone. She enquired about his family, his school days, his job etc. and in return, she revealed a great deal about herself; her happy care-free younger days spent with her parents, the monotonous way of life at Badulla; in other words, she was not happy though they were well-off. Of what she said, she was quite open-hearted even when it came to very personal matters concerning her. Certain things she said, he could not understand for he was an inexperienced youngster.

After lunch, in the afternoon the lad was in his room writing a letter to his home people.

He heard footsteps behind him and he ignored the sound thinking that the mistress was coming to take back something she had left there; he continued his writing. All at once, he was stunned when he felt two soft hands cover his eyes; he heard a suppressed, soft laugh over his bent head. Velvety tresses of long hair tickled his bare shoulders and nape and his whole body went numb.

Uncovering the lad's eyes, she fondled his chin in her cupped hands as if the young man were an innocent small child.

"What a handsome boy you are....!"

The woman's voice became thick and sticky with emotion. In a playful way slowly-slowly, softly-softly and step by step, Eve tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit!

"That slut of a woman ruined my life; if not for her, I would have got married...."

On coming out of his reverie, Amaratunge, blurted out and suddenly quickened his pace as if he were moving away from something very unpleasant. However, he resolved to speak a few words with the unknown girl next morning and his firm determination restored his peace of mind.

The following morning, Amaratunge got up with an unusual feeling of happiness and enthusiasm. While getting ready for his habitual walk, he started crooning a song to himself. Once on the road, he walked faster with a spring in his step.

In the distance, he saw vaguely a female figure moving towards him clad in white. "It is she... she will turn into the station lane before I reach the junction." Amaratunge broke into a run. He ran on and on. After a few minutes of running, he became breathless and he felt an acute gripping sensation in the middle of his chest. Perspiration ran down his body like water.

The whole world went blank for the old fellow and he dropped on the road dead.