Under the Stars

Ajay

" We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they were inside of us. "
                                                   -Joker
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Ajay was intelligent, quick to make decisions and very sharp.

His only fault? Being super lazy.

As lazy as one could get. Tell him to go fetch his prize for being the winner of  laziness award, and he would still send a substitute.
 
He was only moved by tricky cases, and anything less than that would never be able to get him out of his aloof and ever yawing attitude.

He didn't mind transfers and neither did transfers mind him. They were like the best of friends.

Already in his 15 year long record, he had been to 15 different cities, leaving an lasting impression on each city that he visited.

So, as a gift on his 16th transfer, he was sent to this small town on the outskirts of Shimla. It was calm and quite in this part of the town with crime rate almost down to a minimal.

The news of the arrival of a new officer circulated like wild fire in the section. Everyone was in anticipation of an efficient officer, with the previous one being completely incompetent and hopelessly fat.

But, anticipation mostly results in disappointment. And, arriving 2hrs late to the scheduled time, Ajay lived up to the disappointment.

In his defence, he merely said, "Man, the traffic today was terrible. Hope I didn't miss much."

Humming a song, he then  proceeded towards his cabin, leaving everyone behind irritated and amazed in equal parts.

The senior officers cribbed at his, I-don't-give-a-damn type of attitude. But Ajay being who he was, didn't give a damn.

He spent the next two hours pondering over old case files,  hoping something at least would catch his attention.

Skimming through the pages, a name suddenly popped up.

Aahana Roy.

The name brought back to him memories of his sister. She too, shared the same name.

He felt his thoughts pushing him back...long long back, and then a smile...a gap-toothed smile of a little girl....all of it seemed like a dream now.

Eyes closed, Ajay clutched his head hoping to stop the chain of thoughts. And, after almost ten whole minutes, they finally halted.

Looking up, he was greeted by curious looks from his colleagues. Ignoring them, he decided to give the case a good read.

Spending a good fifteen minutes over the file, he was sure that this was more than just a mere accident.

His inner instincts were telling him that the case was not as simple as it was pretending to be.

Something was off.

What could it be....what could it be....think damn it.

Unable to find anything  substantial, even after rereading the file from cover to cover, he was beginning to feel more and more frustrated.

So calming himself down, he turned to his stress reliever. Gobbling down two twenty rupee pack of Blue lays, his brain cells again started to work sanely.

He thought about reopening the case and proposed the decision to all his colleagues. Most of them were skeptic about the decision and didn't quite agree.