The new Dentist

“ A mistake can change your life drastically. A mistake can make a rich guy poor and a soldier into dead meat. This was my mistake.

                                                   It all began 3 days ago, when the sun was high in the sky and the children playing in the gully of two rows of houses were so wet with sweat, that they would slip if they walked on a smooth surface bare feet. I was one of those children, and, unfortunately, the only one who noticed something unusual about our new neighbor, Dr.Sharma, who moved in the house 3 months ago. Dr.Sharma wore steel frame spectacles and had a really thin jaw. Thin like the Joker-from-the-Bat-Man-comics thin! Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but he really has a narrow face with brown spots on it. At first he seemed a pretty average fella who lives an average life… at first.

                                    I was hanging out with my friends that day when we heard three loud thuds coming from Dr.Sharma’s house. THUD! THUD!! THUD!!! First we thought he was hammering the nails or something, but, hammering the nails does not make thud sound, does it? Hammering would have made a louder sound with a clickity-clack of wood. This was something else. Something… less innocent. We were now standing in front of Dr.Sharma’s black, iron gate, when we heard the doors inside creak as he walked out. Boy, he IS a tall man! He unlocked the big lock hanging from the gate and stood before us shutting it behind him. He leaned towards us and smiled with his big, but incredibly hygienic, teeth, after-all, he is  a dentist (not a real doctor). He tied his hands behind his back and said, still leaning, “Well, hello kids! I see you are enjoying your Saturday.” To be honest, he sounded really gentle. We replied, in  a unified voice, “We sure are Mr. Sharma!”. “He stood straight, and said, holding his hands to his chest, “So, you kids are standing in front of my gate and why could that be? Oh, let me guess, you  heard three thuds, right?”. We nodded as he went on, “Well that’s nothing to be worried about. Wait here” He went inside and came back with something clasped in his hand. It could not be seen because of his wicked long fingers. “Are you good kids?” we nodded, again, in unison. “All right. You kids don’t worry about a thing, here, take it.” He tossed the object towards us. It was a TENNIS BALL! What else could a kid want on a hot summer day! We cheered him, as he said, “Now go on! Play!” As soon as he said play, a foul smell surrounded us which was now coming from Mr. Sharma’s house. The smell was like something was dead and covered in shit! “Excuse me kids, I’ve some… stuff to take care of. Go play, and remember to be good, else The Turtle will come for you.” WHAT? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? He swiftly went inside and locked the gate with the big lock he had. He gave us a last smile, which was as kind as the smiles you see on the Disney Channel. It was the Disney smile. We heard the creak of the door and its getting locked. In an instant, the smell was gone. Now there was the smell of nothingness in the air. The other kids gave it a little thought, because they were so invested in thinking what to play with the ball as they walked towards the other end of the gully. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it is very important to think what games to play- Cricket, break-the-pyramid etc. But is there a more important game to discuss about than about the game of life? I know its cheesy, but I think there’s something fishy going on inside the house. Something sinister.  I just think there’s a devil hiding behind that smiling façade. And there’s no way my friends are gonna trust me on this one… again. I know I claimed that person who was selling chicken rolls around the corner was actually a serial killer and making his victims into delicious chunks of meat between rolls… and, man, I was SO WRONG! But I had a gut feeling that this dentist was up to no good. So I planned to take a knife and a flashlight and break into his house that night like a cat.

                                                                          I was late when I returned home that night. I knew my mom would kill me if she knew I was playing outside even after the sun bid farewell and left us for a humid night, so I entered my room through my window on the first floor by climbing the iron pipes.It was risky but I was used to it. I had eaten my dinner and was lying on my bed by the window from where I could see Dr.Sharma’s house and hear the dogs howling under the clear sky filled with stars. We always knew him as Dr.Sharma. I don’t know his first name. I don’t think he even has a first name. What kind of name does a dentist (again, not a real doctor) have? Dr.Teetharus? Dr.Jawinstein? I was lost in my thoughts while looking at Dr.Sharma’s house and waiting for my mom to move into her room and watch television so that I could slip out of my window under the sound of the cops chasing criminals (is one of the criminals a dentist? Why would he commit a crime?) in a show, when, suddenly, a bright flash of light came from Dr.Sharma’s house with a scream. You couldn’t hear the scream if you weren’t listening for it because most of the scream was covered under the howling of the dogs. Those DANM DOGS!  Conveniently, right after the flash I heard my mom’s television come to life and I knew right then it was time to make my move.

                                                       I kept the flashlight in my pocket and took hold of the knife from my mom’s kitchen in my mouth as I climbed down the pipe which led me to ground. I leapt my boundary and stood in the middle of the gully which looked abandoned as the dogs were quite now. I moved towards Dr.Sharma’s house. I stole a peek over the boundary inside to look for any signs of movement. There were none. I leapt (it’s a funny word “leapt”. Say it again and again and…) across Dr.Sharma’s boundary and stood in a small nursery in front of the door which had creaked when the dentist (ok, this is getting old, but, still, not a real doctor!) had went inside. I knew the door would be lock so I practiced how to open a lock with a knife by watching some videos on YouTube. I took a pebble from the nursery and threw it towards the dogs over the boundary. YES! They started howling and barking again! I stuck my knife inside the lock and carefully twisted it. It opened and I smuggled myself inside. It looked a pretty typical looking house. I found myself standing in a living room with couches around a center table. Everything was neatly in its place. I think Dr.Sharma really likes to maintain his new house. I left the living room and continued through a gallery which had three rooms ( two on the left and one on the right). The smell came rushing back to me, which I smelled earlier that day. It was dark in here. If someone was standing at an arm's distance, you wouldn't be able to see him/her. I opened the first room on my left and discovered it was his bed room. I entered the bedroom slowly after checking there was no one inside. There were no windows in his room and only a bed with a bedside table was in his entire room. I picked up his pillow and found a handgun! A freakin’ HANDGUN! Which dentist possesses a handgun? Or do all of them have a piece? I picked up the handgun and found it was loaded. I checked the drawer and found a note inside on which was written, “You are being a BAD BOY! The Turtle is coming for YOU!”  What in the name of- I felt a hand on my shoulder and as soon as I turned, I found Dr.Sharma towering over me and grinning with a demonic smile! As soon as I saw his smile something had hit my head from behind and I fell unconscious…

                            I was standing in middle of the gully playing with my friends when one of my friends approached me. He was wearing a V for Vendetta mask. He asked me, “What happened to you, man? There’s sweat on your forehead. Are you okay?” I replied, “Yeah, I am fine. I think I had a nightmare. Or, a Daymare, if you will. I was in th”, he interrupted me, “Yeah I know.Wake up and stay away from The Turtle!”. As soon as he finished he and everything surrounding me disappeared including the ground. Now I was floating in a bright white void with nothing as far as I could see. I was dreaming. I wouldn’t say it was the first time I woke up with a flashlight in my eyes, but let’s just say it was the scariest way I’ve ever woken up. “Ahhh… FINALLY! You are awake!” I was sitting on chair with the dentist in front of me standing and, surprisingly, I wasn’t tied or chained to the chair. “Can you give me some advice on how to break into somebody’s house? ‘Cause you seem pretty good at it.” I replied him as he shook my hand, “I am not very good with advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?” Dr. Sharma gave a little chuckle and said, “We got a wise ass, eh?  Why are you breaking in my house in the  middle of the night?” his big eyes were looking as dry as dust through the spectacles he wore. I replied, “Well, you know, to ask for some sugar and have a little chit-chat with you. Let’s start with chit-chat. So… killed anyone lately? I hear it’s easy to get rid of the body this time of the year!”  “Are you applying that I am a murderer?” “I sure am!”. He was calm. He said, “I am a dentist, not a murderer young man.” “Yeah, just like you are a real doctor!” I gave a little smirk and, out of nowhere, saw a hammer speeding towards me and hit me on the skin of my right thigh (FYI, I was wearing shorts). Numbness spread throughout my thigh before you could say “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” (a lung disease). I grabbed my red skin with both of my hands, and saw something was now temporarily printed on my thigh, it was a TURTLE! TURTLE! I screamed, “YOU MANIAC!”. And the dentist calmly replied, “I am not a maniac, I am a dentist. The Turtle is a maniac!”. I took out my knife which I stuck in my shoe before entering the bedroom. Luckily, it was still there, but my flashlight was in his hand. I swiftly reached for my knife and swung it towards his leg. He got cut at the knee and screamed in pain, “YOU ARE DEAD! THE TURTLE WILL KILL YOU!”. I ran out of the room and now I was in the gallery. The dark gallery.I ran through it and exited the living room in a rush. Dentist was standing in the nursery before I could reach there. He ran towards me while crushing the small plants under his shoes. He screamed, “YOU ARE A FREAKIN’ CAVITY IN MY TEETH! I GOTTA FILL YOU UP WITH THE TURTLE!” The hammer swung towards my head but just in time I dodged it and the Turtle smashed the windshield of the dentist’s car. The car’s burglar alarm went off waking up the whole gully. Dentist ran inside his house, cursing, and locked himself inside. I leapt the boundary and as soon as I reached my bedroom window I heard people gathering in front dentist’s gate. The car’s alarm was replaced with the sirens of cops as soon as they arrived"

                                                   That’s the reason why I couldn’t complete my homework, Sir. And I think I should be excused this time.

                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                    Anurag Kashyap.

“ You seriously think I will believe this? You think I am a bloody fool?” Screamed the teacher at the student in front the class after reading Anurag’s note. Anurag replied, “No Sir, I never thought you were a fool, that’s why I brought proof with me.” Anurag took out a cropped out newspaper with the line, “Dentist arrested in Narayan Nagar, found illegal drugs and weapons in house! Dead body suspected of a drug dealer!” Teacher looked at the paper and Anurag and back again, wide-eyed. “You were there?” “Oh, yes my captain. He was a sleeper cell agent. But don’t tell anyone!” “Wow. Ok, go to your seat. Stay away from such thrills!” Anurag took a seat beside his friend, as he asked, “Wow, boy! Were you really there?” Anurag laughed and said, “HELL NO! I just happened to knew it took place in my neighborhood! I forgot to complete my homework because I was playing with some kids from my gully!” Anurag’s friend clapped his back and said, “Man, you are a freakin genius!”

                                                                             FIN