Ripudaman : Story Competition

Wrote this for the story competition at work, then was asked to be the judge ! So the story went out of contest.. hence posting it here:

Ripudaman

The thinnest hand of the clock kept moving smoothly across the glazed white surface of the clock oh his desk.  Ripudaman was lost in watching it – the motion seemed slowing down. He was sitting on his desk, just completing the assignment he needs to submit to Madam Bapat tomorrow. Its done and he can rush off to Surnagini’s birthday bash as soon as the clock strikes 8 PM. And he remembered the strange vision he had a couple of days back, and it started happening again. The second hand of the clock started slowing down, the world around him started to vibrate and shimmer as if resonating with some supernatural music; and he started seeing the same scene being played in front of him again.

His trance broke with the sudden loud noise of the breaking news coming from the TV his dad was watching in the other room. Observers from NASA have confirmed that there is now just a faint chance of the rogue asteroid hitting earth. But now Ripudaman knew what does repeated scenes he saw meant. He knew that the asteroid is definitely going to hit. The explosion of a thousand Hiroshima obliterating all life on earth, taking them back to prehistoric era of killer fishes roaming the oceans.

His mobile rang – its time, and he ran off to the party, dancing his way to oblivion; forgetting all about the asteroid, explosion and his visions. He was totally sloshed, and was seeing pink elephants while walking back home. And then it came back – the faint vibration, the resonance and this time a glowing haze in the sky. The asteroid has turned and coming hurtling towards earth, while its inhabitants slept. The resonance kept increasing– till all his cells were vibrating to the tune; a surge of energy and his vision tunneled into a hundred different paths. Each ending with a nuke at its end located at a different part of the world. He just knew what do be done. He just needs to will. Like an Iron trap catching those nukes, he pulled them in, at the speed of thought. They appeared around him as the tunnels merged into a different path – looking straight towards the asteroid – the nukes flew. It was an untimely Diwali, as people came out to see the divine blessing that saved the earth, not knowing about the unknown hero – Ripudaman.