Three Stories (Compiled version)

Part I - Sid.

Sid woke up with a sudden jolt as the slap rang hard in his dream. Getting locked out of his hostel for coming late was, in his view, the stupidest rules he had encountered. The fact that he was also drunk did not seem to matter to him. The night was chilly and the sleep restless. His sleep shattering dream was a direct result of his actions yesterday. Sid knew he should not have done what he did. This would be his worst Sunday ever. Priya, his new girl friend was really pissed of at him. All his tireless calling in the night after the event bore the exact same result. "The customer you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, please try again, later." He wanted to apologize and make her understand that whatever happened was a mistake. He did not want to lose her. He felt like he had found true love at last.

With a heavy head, throbbing from his hangover, Sid decided to go to Priya's house. She will surely forgive him provided her memories of last night had dulled from her sleep. Only one flower shop would be open at this time of the day. He would pick some flowers from the florist outside the temple close to her house. He kicked his bike into life and zoomed away. The florist had just arrived and was setting up shop. Sid paid an extra twenty bucks for fast tracking his request for a dozen white lilies (signifying peace). He shoved them into his jacket and was nearing the turn into Priya's lane. He decided to try her mobile once again to try to avoid surprising her so early in the morning. The call went through, meaning her phone was switched on! Priya was awake!

"Hello?" Priya said groggily.

"Hello Priya, don't cut the call. I am sorry for last night. I really am! I want to make it up to you. Can I meet you right now? I will be at your house in some time. I want to talk with you."

"I am not interested in what you have to say, Please don't come."

"Priya, I love you and I am so sorry about yesterday. Please listen to me. I know I...."

CRASH!!!

Part II - Kumar.
Kumar snuck out slowly through the gate, pushing his bike away from the house. After reaching a far enough distance, he started his bike and rode away. Twenty minutes ago, he had gotten a call from his boss.

"Oh no!" Kumar thought, "This is going to be my worst Sunday!"

With the yearly job appraisal drawing close, he did not dare to turn down his boss' request (order) to meet at the office. The Boss was flying out to the States to meet a key client and wanted Kumar to urgently complete a crucial deck of presentation. New financial data had come in late yesterday, Kumar now had to redo all the numbers.

Kumar took pride in the fact that he was the only guy at the company who could crunch those numbers, the way the boss wanted, not today.

He was sacrificing a rare Sunday outing with Sumitha and Sunny. He had it all planned a week in advance. Sunny was so excited when he went to bed yesterday. The Circus was in town and all of Sunny's friends had been to the Circus. Kumar did not want to lose this chance of bonding with Sunny.

Kumar did not want to waste time. If he could make good time to his office, finish the job and start back as quickly as he can, he could still make it home in time before Sunny woke up. He turned into a one-way lane which cut his journey by 10 minutes. There wouldn't be much oncoming traffic at this hour of the morning. His phone rang and the auto-answer kicked in after two rings.

"Hello?" Kumar spoke into his Bluetooth headset.

"Kumar? Where are you?!!" It was his wife!

"Sumi, I got a call from office. Some urgent work came up. I will come back soon." said Kumar

"You promised Sunny that you would take him to the Circus and now you are going to office??" asked Sumitha, shocked.

"I promise I will be back before Sunny wakes up, he won't know I went to work today." said Kumar, trying to satisfy her.

"You'd better be back in time."

The call ended as a turn came up.

SCREEECHHH!! BANG!!!

Part III - Rt. Colonel Ranbir Singh.

Rt. Colonel Ranbir Singh was on a high. Happy, proud and excited as Sukbir was passing out of the National Defense Academy today. Ranbir had woken early for a quick jog before getting ready and setting out for the graduation ceremony. On his way back from his jog, Ranbir had on his mind the double egg omelet, toast and orange juice breakfast waiting for him at his house. The thought, sharpened his hunger pangs, invigorating his appetite. He smacked his lips and hurried towards his house with more vigor in his step.

"This will be my best Sunday ever" thought Ranbir, putting a smile on his face.

Crossing the road and into his lane, Ranbir saw a young kid, with a crooked neck on a bike. Ranbir realized the kid was talking on his phone. He seemed to be on a very important call. So important that the chap did not even bother to stop driving and take it. "Kids these days!! No sense of manners or common sense." thought Ranbir. Just as Ranbir shook his head disapprovingly at the kid, he saw another guy, coming the wrong direction, ram into the young kid's bike.

It was a forceful collision and made a loud BANG followed by several metal clanking and screeching noises. Ranbir could not take his eyes off from the incident. The guy who rammed into the kid flew 10 feet high and hit the road on his head. He wasn't wearing a helmet.

The young kid was crushed by the oncoming bike and his phone flew from his neck, hitting the footpath and scattering into pieces. Everything happened so fast. Both the guys lay slumped on the road. Blood slowly trickling out from under them, forming large pools.

Ranbir took out his mobile and dialed the 108 emergency number. Reporting the accident and location. There was hardly anything he could do to help them. Both seemed to be dead. Ranbir just lost his appetite.

Mobile phones are a good thing when used responsibly. Drive Safe, Drive Responsibly. Do not use mobile phones while driving.