Quagmire

He had placed unalloyed trust in Raj and that was a mistake.

Raj was a simple boy, from a poor family. He was not well educated and had been hired to do routine clerical work. But he was hard working and sincere. He was ever eager to learn something new. Soon he had won the confidence of everyone in the office.

He had begun to trust Raj, not because he was a distant relative, but because it was in his nature not to distrust anyone. Impressed by his performance and desire to learn, he had allowed him to handle the accounts. Raj was a fast learner and, within weeks, he had started handling financial statements.

Exactly one year later, to his shock and dismay, Raj vanished with everything that was in the cash chest. He was the custodian of the cash. But, for last few weeks, he had allowed Raj to handle it. He had conceded his folly when he was confronted by the investigating police officer.

“Don’t you worry, we will catch him,” police officer had said with a glint in his eyes.

‘Why should he do such a silly thing? Why did he commit such a serious crime for a petty amount of fifty thousand rupees? What will become of his family if he is caught? How long can he evade the police? He is so young and he has spoiled his life, why? How could I be fooled by such a simple follow? Or was he just pretending all these days?’

He felt bogged down in a quagmire of doubts and unanswered questions.

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A post for A to Z April (2015) Challenge

Letter Q for Quagmire

You may like to read my earlier posts

P for Plan

O for Outrage

N for Nightmare