How could you do that? How could you commit such an act!!! This is murder, a heinous crime. You didn’t think about the family, even once.

Crying inconsolably, Mamta rushed out of the bedroom. Aney stood there stoned with the weapon in his hand. He didn’t know what to do.

It was five in the morning.

Mamta, still crying, called up Renu, her friend. Unable to speak clearly due to her tears, she started talking to Renu.

“He committed murder, so stone hearted the family. What will they do?. He was so young; I can’t take this”.

Renu was still in bed. And after hearing the word “murder” she started wondering, whether this was a dream. She pinched herself. Well, this was MURDER!!!!…..NO…Aney couldn’t do that. He might get angry at times but to this extent.

Renu was in fact not worried about the dead but was wondering!. What exactly led Aney to such a drastic step.

Mamta was still crying and just repeating the same words again and again.

No one could bring anyone back from the dead but what about the ones who are alive. Renu tried to get more information from Mamta. Aney was mumbling something in the background. In a loud tone, Renu asked Mamta to explain the whole thing properly.

Mamta uttered, “He should have killed in this manner. That is heartless. Could he not find a less savage way to do that.”

Renu puzzled. Well, it does matter how you kill someone? How much pain, but unable to comprehend the situation. Renu got scared.

What had Aney done???
What would be the consequences???

How can Mamta be more concerned about the method of assassination rather than the fact that someone was no more?

Mamta expressed in a very sympathetic tone, “He could have thrown him out of the balcony or maybe used a spray to kill…. But so barbarous ?”

Renu, by now, was at her wit’s end. She just wanted to get the whole thing now. It was getting too woozy.

Unable to take the suspense any longer, Renu shouted, “Tell me the complete thing….whom did Aney kill? And why?”

Mamta sobbed, “He killed the young cockroach with my SLIPPER. All his interiors came out. It was such a bad sight. I can’t take it. I can see it in front of my eyes. What would happen to his family?”

Renu didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She asked,” Are you sure it was a cockroach and not a lizard.”

Mamta replied,” I saw it. It was a cockroach.”

Wondering whether Mamta had some affinity towards cockroaches, Renu implored, “How would using an insect killing spray be better?”

“At least, the cockroach would not be smashed badly!!” exclaimed Mamta.

Would it have pained less to be sprayed with an insect killer, or was a sudden whack, an easier death?” Renu inquired. On hearing this, Mamta suddenly stopped crying and may be started pondering.

The Death Of A Cockroach…….in times when even Human life doesn’t hold much value…., Renu ruminated.

Could there be a better start to a day?.