News flash

It was 12.14am, on 20 February 2009 and like the other 12.14am in February 2009, B. was in the office, on the twenty second storey of a thirty storey tall building in the middle of the city; his brows knitted with a slight but perceptible clench, staring at alphabets on the computer screen, and crafting a precise sentence. Short words rather than long, expository rather than descriptive but never sensational. And always objective.

Then B. disappeared.

The news of B's disapperance bothered many of the readers of the daily paper on Friday, and for months after, it was the talk of town. After all, the headline in the papers on 20th February 2009 read:

"Newspaper writer decides newspaper writing not for him"

The photograph of B., properly supplied under the headlines, showed a man of about fifty, reservedly suited with a blue shirt, and gray tie; but his thin bony features and unblemished skin under the complimentary glare of the flash made him look youthful - the sort of picture taken for one's resume. The caption, properly supplied under the photograph, one of the most succient captions ever written by B.,  was, off to better days.