Riding a Tiger (ePub)

...As they looked at each other in consternation, a man appeared in the doorway wearing a black uniform and balaclava face mask..."I am told that you feel very cold at night. We have come to fix some heating for you...," he added with a taunting chuckle, signaling his men to enter...The room soon reeked of petrol fumes as his men backed out, leaving a thin trail of the fuel...They watched in fascinated horror as a cold blue flame crept through the doorway like a slithering snake and split into two to encircle them. There was a whosh of sound and the blue turned to an orange as the flames engulfed the curtains and furniture. The inferno crept rapidly towards the terrified trio—their cries muted by the duct tape over their mouths.Soon there were only orange-red flames and crackling sound and the smell of charred wood and cloth and flesh.Two boys, leading normal lives in two separate towns, are lured by circumstances to join an extreme rightist organization. They come together to help the organization increase the membership of its political arm. Over the coming years they are driven to actualize their individual ambitions and take their Party and the country by storm, with the help of rampant false promises and rabid roving gangs. They do not realize that it is always dangerous to ride a tiger—for it has its own ravenous appetite and desires.