Holidaying in London

The first time I had gone to London was many years back. Subsequently I have gone there many times, the last being a couple of years ago. Every visit has been remarkable, thanks to our friends Sunipun and Asha Sen with whom we have been staying right from our first visit
During one of our visits, my daughter (who was a little girl then) and I had gone to see Madame Tussaud’s Museum. As we entered the hall I was taken aback by the life-like wax statues there. One could hardly tell the difference between a real human and one made with wax.. They were so exquisitely crafted that an inspection from close quarters too did not help me in identifying any distinguishing feature by which I could tell the difference. Passing through these halls we reached the Chamber of horrors. Inside this dimly lit dingy place , was an exhibition of waxworks of notorious murderers and other imfamous historical characters, creating an atmosphere of dread.

I started to feel a little queasy but since there were a number of visitors there, I decided to quickly glance through the whole room before moving on. We got so engrossed that at one point of time I realised with a startle, that besides the two of us there wasn’t another person present in there. Holding my daughter’s hand firmly in my grip I started looking for the exit door. In my panic it took me a while to locate the door. As I was rushing out, I bumped into a strange man who looked very familiar. He was thin and had features like that of a girl but his eyes were very shifty. He had a cadaverous-like paleness on his face. No matter how much I racked my brain I couldn’t place him.

Once out of the building felt I a sense of relief. We walked briskly to the nearest tube station and boarded the train to Lewisham. The journey ,as always, was very pleasant. Every time the train surfaced it passed through green fields brimming with flowers. Some tree branches laden with white blooms arched over the railway track. We reached the station in an hour’s time. As we were getting off the train I again caught sight of that man standing at the platform and staring at us. Being in a foreign country I was not sure of approaching an absolute stranger for help. Except for an old lady all the other passengers, just two or three people, had already left the platform. Stations in the outskirts of the city are very lonely, especially in the evenings.

From there my daughter and I nearly ran to our friend, Sunipun’s house which was just a short distance away. I even looked back a couple of times, but there was no trace of him. As I was opening the garden gate, suddenly he was there, standing across the road. I ran in and rang the bell hoping someone would open the door. As luck would have it, no one had returned home from work. I quickly went to the rear end almost dragging my little daughter. Fortunately I had a duplicate key to the rear entrance . We immediately went inside and made sure that all the doors and windows were securely bolted. Peeping out of the window I found him still standing in the same place looking toward the house. I was in a dilemma, thinking what to do…whether to wait for our friends to return or call the police. I decided to confront him. Seeing me preparing to go out my little daughter started crying. After pacifying her I went out.As I walked to the gate I could feel myself going numb with fear.I should have atleast brought the kitchen knife,.I thought. What if he attacked me?Putting an end to my trend of thoughts,I spotted him trying to open the gate.Without losing any more time I plucked up courage and asked him what he wanted. Without even looking at me he muttered something under his breath and slinked away.
Soon after our friends arrived ,I narrated the whole incident. Just as I had feared, they said it could be Jack the Ripper and that it was extremely risky to go near him. Those days London newspapers were filled with gruesome stories of how he killed his victims and then ripped them apart.

Whether it was Jack or Tom or Bill is a different matter. I am glad that my act of bravery paid off. We never set eyes on him as long as we stayed in London. I felt free at last….. free from the clutches of fear..Needless to say London seemed even more enchanting after that.

About the Author:
I have been a homemaker, bringing up my only daughter who is now doing well in her field of work. I am interested in gardening,painting, cooking and writing poems.  Basically I am an amateur writer, submitting articles to journals and entering writing contests.

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