Who would believe that one man, an old man at that, could out run a cyclist. No; not a man on a bicycle, a motor cyclist. Vishnu had the embarrassing record of accomplishing just that. It all happened on a full moon night when he was on his way to work.

Vishnu worked on the Sugar Estate. He was tall with feet a size larger than WOW. His hands were gnarled and blistered from years of wielding his cutlass savagely when cutting cane, which he later loaded into punts. He had an accident on the job and lost a few of his fingers. He was given the job of watchman.
Every night he would walk to work along the side line trench. If his skin was dirty he would jump into the trench and take a ‘fresh.’ His journeys were always uneventful bordering on boring. That is, until that faithful night.
The night in question saw a brilliant full moon. It lit up everything and gave life to inanimate objects. Trees came alive dancing in the silvery glow. Little shadows and dark shapes moved this way and that. None of this bothered Vishnu in the least. He had made this trip many times before. Tonight would be a repeat performance. Or so he thought.
It was while he was slowly walking along the dam that he became aware of a disquieting detail. He was not alone. Three shadows were walking along with him. He swirled around in near panic. There was only emptiness there. He hesitated then continued. The three shadows did likewise.
Now Vishnu was a brave man and little frightened him. This current situation however was swiftly becoming the exception. With quiet determination he started a steady jog towards the Estate. Three other joggers kept pace. Looking up, he noticed three people standing in the dam ahead. He headed straight for them with relief on his now sweating face.
“Good night.”
“Hello lad.”
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“To work, I work on de Estate.”
The three looked like old cane harvesters but Vishnu did not recognise any of them. They exchanged knowing glances.
“Go back home Vishnu.”
“Don’t go to work tonight.”
Vishnu did not tell them about the shadows that had been following him. He was quite relieved that the three spooky things had stopped a short distance away. Going back that way was not an acceptable option. He failed to realise that they somehow knew his name.
Vishnu happened to look down and nearly got a heart attack. In the brilliance of the moonlight, when everything large and small had a shadow, the three strangers had none. It was time to press the panic button.
“Turn back boy!”
“We gon leave yu now.”
With that they began to drift slowly away. The relieved man was filled with glee. They were leaving. But there was still one nasty surprise left. The three shadows were now heading straight for him. This was quite a shock. His mouth formed the scream but no sound emerged. He stared dumbly as the three dark patches came at him, and then went right past him attaching themselves to the three figures that had come to a halt effectively blocking the dam and his passage to work. They need not have bothered.
With a huffing and a puffing, Vishnu took off for home and security. When he looked over his shoulder, the three were following at a distance. Vishnu used up all his reserves and sped off at top speed. He heard the beat of an engine and expected to be passed by at any time. To his surprise he had just dashed past a P-50 motor cycle which was going at top speed. The frightened man crashed through his door and into the startled arms of his wife.
Next day the village was buzzing with news of a tragedy on the Estate. It seems that there was a robbery there the previous evening. Two of his colleagues were shot dead. One of them had replaced Vishnu due to his absence. Vishnu stopped cursing the three Spirits and quietly thanked them.

(By Neil Primus)