It was winter of 1984. I was waiting for my classes in medical school to start. I had gone vacationing to a hill station, about 250 miles from my home town. My mother was with me and I was driving my car myself. After staying there for about three days, we wee returning home. We left during late evening hours.
My mother had spent her youth in that region, and she knew a shortcut to our hometown. Upon her suggestion, I took that. However, it did not prove to be a good idea as it was almost midnight when we reached a part of the road which was single and was hardly used by anyone. It was cold outside and the road was edged by thick bushes on both sides. So thick were the bushes that no one could enter them without getting hurt. My mother fell asleep on the front seat while I was driving quite vigilantly. Suddenly I saw a man coming out of the bushes, almost naked and raised his thumb as if he wanted a lift. However, I did not stop and the car zoomed by him.
However, a realization came to my mind immediately. It was so cold outside in the month of January but the man I just saw was wearing just a small lungi (a type of loin cloth worn by village guys in my country). Also, the bushes on the sides were so thick that nobody could go in or out of those easily or without getting hurt. I immediately looked in the back view mirror... I saw the center of the road in flames. Despite being my claims of being fearless, I was shivering and I drove the car over the ton. My mom woke up and I told her what happened. I was not able to find a logical explanation of the scene. Maybe someone reading this can! Thanks for your time.
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