The Fugitive Box
By: Rashmi Agrawal
Tags: Weird Memories, Rabbit, Fiction, Exulansis, Short Story

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

“So, that is my weird story. Funny, isn’t it?” Maria spoke softly; her sadness was dripping from her dark eyes.

“I wouldn’t call it weird, just… sad. Wait till you listen to my bizarre tale.”

Maria’s lips were still quivering with the pinch of the story she’d just told.

“So it is; over to you now.”

“I know. And I don’t know how should I explain but lemme try.”

She nodded, looking a little settled now, ready to ingest my tale laced with weirdness. The way she shuffled her emotions swiftly was surprising. I could never do that.

“That day about a year ago when the bell rang, I opened the door and there… sitting was a box just like an Amazon’s parcel marked with Buddy something. Don’t remember the company, never heard of them, though.”

“Did you open it? Who ordered that for you?” She appeared to be immersing herself into my weird incident so quickly, her eyes were now big, yearning to know more as if an Agatha-Christie-story was unwinding.

I had come here a week earlier to set up a three-bedroom villa as homestay close by. The task was not only tiring but legally challenging too with all the paperwork and approvals. My plan had been to return within four days. Now, it would definitely stretch until next weekend. Maria, who I’d met just last Saturday, had been helping me out with the arrangements by appointing locals for various duties. We bumped into each other on this beach while I was strolling. That first meeting and I was all smitten… with her charms and…

She shook my shoulders a little.

“What happened then? You look lost.”

“Ah, no. Nothing, I’m here. Was just thinking ‘bout things, you know, the way we met and all. Anyway, when I opened the parcel, there was a small rabbit inside.”

She embraced an imaginary bunny, while her eyes fluttered, and her head leaned sideways. Her cooing was just enough to stir my emotions to kiss her again. Composing myself, I continued, “At first, I got annoyed.”

Her eyebrows inched higher.

“I mean, who on earth sends a rabbit as a gift. I tried to shoo it away so many times, but man, that animal was a pretty obstinate thing. Every time it snuck back in and at every break-in, I found it leaner than earlier.”

“Of course, it was supposed to be fed.” She folded her arms.

“Yeah, finally, I gave in and kept it at home. Also, those days I was mending my broken heart. The girl I considered my soulmate… that bitch.”

Her eyes narrowed; don’t know if she was annoyed at the mention of my ex or cussing.

“So, I needed a shoulder to mourn at. And slowly, that rabbit became a buddy.”

“I too had a pet earlier. But I had to let it go for the greater good of somebody. And you know, we have to be kind to others.”

Ahh, the typical… kindness lecture, reciprocating love stories.

“Hey! Where is the bunny now?”

“Yeah, the rabbit…”

Her fascination for my weird story was growing, like my affinity for her bewitching pristine eyes.

“Slowly the rabbit grew; double its size in just three months as if someone pumped air inside it. But, you know, my life was sorted now and better because the pain from that so-called soulmate was fading in the shadow of peace that was engulfing my life. And during one of those days, I quit my job and laid the plan of setting this homestay here. Hey, by the way, did you find a gardener for me?”

“Are you thinking about a gardener when a gorgeous girl is next to you?” A bit of arrogance crept over her cheeks; the shade matched her dress’s color. Peachy pink or wait… it was similar to the tint that the rabbit had in its ears and face. Exactly the hue cotton candy has, even everywhere but with unexpected freckles at a few places.

“Do you wear any other color?” I asked

“No, not often. Let’s meet the gardener in the evening at my place.” Her peachy-pink cheeks started turning rosy. Oh my, they were just the color that could excite any man. And then I realized why that flush seeped in.

“Appa has gone to Goa for some community meet. I am scared to sleep alone.” She pulled a loose curly strand around her finger and played with it.

Damn. I had plans with one of my friends, but the invitation was too tempting. So, should I fall sick? And then, I’ll send a Johnnie Walker to his room. My tongue stuck between my jaws in happiness. I kept gawking at her when she caressed my face with a dried coconut leaf. The prickly touch felt silky like a feather was rolling all over my skin.

“Now, don’t get distracted. Finish the story fast because I have to go.” She was about to get up.

“So, my life, that was a mere piece of shit for many weeks, suddenly became a breeze flowing at a seashore. All so pleasant and calm with my business plans coming to reality. I had already arranged the funds for a small homestay in Panchgani. The day after I finalized the deal, the rabbit vanished from my home. No one saw it. Not even my neighbors. I was out, in Panchgani for the previous thirty hours, and the house was locked. But it… it just vanished in thin air.”

“Someone must have seen it? The neighbors, the security guards? Anyone?” She again sat cross-legged on the sand. “What was the name again?”

“Right, I called it Candy. But wasn’t that weird? Its sudden disappearance and people even denied its existence. No one ever saw it, not even in those three months I was fostering it. Rather, Candy fostered me and pulled me out of despair. Somehow, it revived vigor in my scraggy life. Yet, I never found Candy again.”

“Makes sense.” She shrugged. Makes sense? What, how? “I hope Candy is fine wherever it went to.”

“Do you think Candy actually went somewhere, or was it even real? Because, the way it appeared at my doorstep at bad times and then vanished one good day and no one, just no one saw it. I…” Unlocking the screen and showing her a few clicks, I continued, “Look, Candy was not imaginary. But how it went unnoticed…”

“Things that you see are for real, but they may not always be what you perceive them. Remember, whatever you experience happens for a reason.”

“Like you.”

“Eh, what about me?” She sulked at my words.

“I mean, I never thought of liking someone I met so recently this deeply. Just in a week.” I leaned in close and pecked her inviting mouth quickly. A wave just washed my feet, leaving me relaxed as if it was approving my kiss. She responded with a deeper one and got up, brushing the sand off from her dress.

“Remember, 7 in the evening.”

I kept staring at her silhouette, shrinking into a flickering mirage amid the trees.

My heart flipped at my luck of being able to shrug off the pain and despair I had when I started this place. Mom’s untimely death a month back had left me orphaned in the world. My plans were crumbling down, so were my hopes. And then Maria had come as a chilled, soothing lemonade to a parched throat. Taking away all the dryness and the blandness, she was saturating me in her citrus.