Canine Terrorism

Today I had to reach my office very early in the morning. I had to reach there, at a 03:00 am. I usually cover the 08 kms distance, to my office on my scooter. But driving at this unearthly hour is very rare.
The road is generally dark and deserted at this time of the night. All you will find are dogs everywhere. I call them "The Sentinels Of The Streets". These mongrels, who seem so timid and wretched in the mornings, are just as ferocious when the nocturnal chimes sounds. And they do look menacing enough, when the head-lights of the vehicle hits their eyes.
Having previous experience of, these kind of situations doesn't really help. It is still as scary as the first time (I have done this quite a few times). Today was no different. I went out of the house, with a prayer on my lips. Hoping against hope that all those canine lords are miraculously drugged or something. I reached my garage, opened it with minimum fuss, rolled out my vehicle, put it back on stand and went to close the garage door. All the while fearing for my dear life. I was trying to be mobile as fast as I could, before getting into the line of sight of any of those marauders lurking in the dark. Luckily, I started my scooter without much ado and the moment the engine revved up, there started the series of barks and howls from all directions. Before loosing my orientation, I put my vehicle into gear and just sped. From my past experiences, I have learnt that going slowly is like playing into their hands. They just jump at you and dis-balance you. Once you fall down, then its just Game, Set and Match to Mr. Dog or a Miss. Bitch. So, speeding up and being faster than these animals is your only bet. That's exactly what I did! Here I must thank my partner - MY LML Vespa scooter, for it has never betrayed me in those tricky moments. These fellas are great athletes. They follow you with all their swiftness. The sight of a open jawed dog, with its tongue out and following you.......it still gives me goosebumps. These creatures have another strange behavioural pattern. A single dog will follow you only until a point. From then on another takes over, so on and so forth. A sort of relay race, with you being the baton to be exchanged. Without any effective 'Family Planning Programmes' in place, you do have to confront many of them. So there I was racing for my life, unmindful of all the bumps and potholes on the road(and there are very many of them). You have to be watchful, as to where from the next raid is going to take place. Somehow, today i reached my office, without any mishaps. It took me only 06 minutes, to reach there (it takes about 10 to 12 minutes normally). I parked my scooter, went to the cooler. I just needed that glass of water, to cool my nerves...