The Fatal bite

                    Hurrying  to his office, Ferris crossed the road  and went towards the office. The sun added to his fatigue as he walked down the grey concrete road.As he walked towards the road, he saw a list of shops down the way and glanced at them. They were displaying their wares with the owners waiting for business to happen. The bustling activity was coming to a close as the sun was beginning to set down and the skies turned to a pale blue. He brought a few things that were necessary as work would still take some time. Then as the sun turned into a crimson red, he started walking towards the office.

               As he walked top the office, he passed by a lake. A lake that had vegetation all arount it and as he walked towards the lake, he brushed against a big bush that was in the way. The bush was thorny and it pricked him on the finger. He pulled his hand back and looked at the finger.He had a thorn on his thumb, .. which he pulled out watched the blood trickle down his thumb . He wiped the blood off and continued walking to his office. He wore a casual look on his face as he walked towards the grey building.

           The computer faced him as he sat in his workbay, as he was typing data for the project that he had to submit. The office atmosphere was hectic, and people were rushing about to get their jobs done. The coffee mugs lay cold and stained as time progressed. The clock struck twelve and the boss arrived to check on his work. After checking the work, the boss told Ferris that the work still had to be fine-tuned and to get it done by the end of the day.

         The break was given and the employees started walking towards the canteen. Ferris got up to get his lunchbox . It was in the opposite bay where he kept it. As he started moving towards the bay, he felt a sharp pain in his arm.He clutched his arm with a slight shout, but retained his composure.The pain started shooting up his arm, and he could feel like someone had grabbed his arm. So he ran to the washroom and while he had run there midway, the pain stopped. He felt like a big stone was lifted off his arm.

     Releived, he wondered what had happened . What was this thing that had come up so suddenly, and had caused such a problem? He had never experienced such a thing in his life. What had happened ? He went off to the lunch room now that he was alright. He sat in the quiet corner of the canteen and began to have his lunch. During lunch , he looked into the mirror and saw his face, which had paled down, probably from the pain.

     Finishing his lunch, he washed up and started to move towards the door, when he suddenly had a thought. Could it be waht he thought it was ? of all the things in the world, considering it was the city, this was one of the wierdest things to think about. A snake bite, was it!!! He had much doubt in his mind, but didn't want to leave anything to chance. So he decided to find out. Some how, though he knew it was right to seek medical help, he felt embarassed. He didn't want to feel like a joke if this thing turned out to be something mild.

     But how was he to find out if he was bitten? thinking about it, he remembered a programme he had seen a few days back . I talked about a method to find if a person had a snakebite, the traditional way. It involved taking a chilli and putting in on the tongue to find out if they if were bitten by a snake. So Ferris walked to the canteen supervisor and asked for a chilli who obliged. Going to the washroom , he put the chilli on his tongue.

    If the tongue had become numb and he did not fell the pungent taste of the chillies, that meant he was bitten as the poison had spread in his body, and that is what exactly happened when Ferris put the chilli on his tongue. Ferris didn't know what to do. His fears had come true, and he had no idea what to do. He had started sweating, and his face had become yellow. He tried to walk but he felt numb on the leg, and could not take a step ahead. He didn't know what to do.

With the only working leg, he hopped to the toilet basin and sat down on the basin. Oddest place to be sitting down in such a circumstance. ( but really not that odd!)

 He suddenly started feeling the effect of the poison now, as he felt it closing on his body. He shouted for help, but no one could hear him through the thick door and also he had started getting paralyzed.Ferris saw that he had been bitten on the leg and the area had become black. He tried to scream, but in vain. The poison had suddenly started moving fast and he thought that his time had come. From one corner of his eye, he watched the lights black out.....

     Bump, a sharp hit on the head brought Ferris back to his senses. His boss was standing with doctor besides him, and they splashed some water on his face. Ferrris could understand everyhing now . He looked in the mirror, as foam had flowed out from his mouth. With a tired gesture, he wondered how he was still alive. The doctor examined him and found the snake - bite marks on the body, but was surprised that he was still alive. He said he would take his blood to the laboratory and check how this had happened. His boss was left wondering as he never had any problems from this employee.

    Ferris got up on his feet and refreshed himself. His boss offered to leave him home, but Ferris declined saying he had to find out why this had happened to him. He left the office and started walking to the same place where he was bitten, As he reached that place, he saw two boys crouching down below the bush. He was curious to find out what it was and  looked

in the bush. A huge snake was lying there, and it was dead. The boys started pulling the snake out and one of the boys said " This is a very poisonous snake"

    A Poisonous Snake!! and yet Ferris had not died. At that moment, a thought flashed before him- he worked for a big company, he swindled documents, he bribed authorities, he changed laws, he slept with women for information and deals.He had been doing for the last six years, and this corruption had entered his blood. And it was so poisonous, even a snake's venom did not affect it. Like they say, "The snake bit the man , and the snake died" and this happened right before his eyes.

Ferris raised his hand, and looked to the skies , his eyes gleaming with delight and said "Yes, a corrupt man living in this world am I."