The House of Eight Mirrors

          This story started ummm……..about 250 years ago. Yes 1790.
          French revolution had just begun.
          Henry Benzima.
         Well, he was just a normal soldier and I was his closest friend. We knew everything about each other. No secrets. That was what I thought, until; well until he was taken into custody.
        So one night we were sleeping at our camp. The war had died for the meanwhile. Just then, at about 2 a.m. someone literally banged at the door. I got up to look into the matter. As soon as I opened the door a stranger entered. He was wearing a mask and asked for Henry. By then even Henry was wide awake. They both went out and talked in whispers.
       After about ten minutes Henry came to me and said he had to leave immediately for some important work and would be back soon.
       And……after that night I heard nothing of him. Though I tried to find him but was unsuccessful.
       Six months had passed after he disappeared. One day, eight men just broke into my house and deliberately took me with them to some dark dingy place. They threw me at the feet of their so called master who they called by the name “Jaguar.”
       I wasn’t told who they were but by their accent they seemed to be English. So, that Jaguar had caught me so that I could give him information about Henry.
      I tried my best to explain that I had no idea at all but he refused to believe.

    “Sir, I swear, I have no knowledge of him since the day he has left.”

    “When did he leave?”

    “About six months ago.”

    “Well, he was our man who had taken him but about two months ago, he just disappeared and we have been looking for him since then. We were informed you are quite close to him.”

     I had no idea what was going on but at last after a long conversation, I was allowed to leave. They said they would keep an eye on me.
     I came back to my house at 11p.m. It was quite dark, but I could see a man standing at my door as if waiting for someone.
     On reaching, I was just about to ask who he was, when he handed me a box and walked away without telling anything. I tried to stop him but he didn’t listen. He just turned and said,

    “All your answers are in this box.”

     Although I was quite tired after what all had happened that day but the box gave me excitement enough to stay up all night.
     I went in and opened the box. It contained six thick old sheets with some unknown language written on them and a very large brown key. On carefully checking the box, I found a hole which had a rolled piece of paper inside it.
      I took it out and unrolled it realizing it was a letter in Henry’s writing.

“Dear Friend,
        
                        I may not be alive when you would get to read this but your help is quite important. I’m sorry for never letting you know the knowledge I held inside me.
                        All the manuscript you have found inside the box needs to be deciphered since it has in it, mentioned the way to the place where the national treasure is hidden.
                       Finding it would prove to be quite beneficial for the entire nation and you my friend being a person with great knowledge will surely be able to decipher it.

Thanks,
Yours Henry.”

     This letter made me more curious as I did not know the inside story but whatsoever may happen I had to find a way if it could help my country.
     I started my work the very next day. I went to various libraries at various cities to collect all information I could about the manuscript.
     The box I kept hidden in an underground locker about which only I knew and took it out only when I needed to study.
     About three months passed and all I could find was that there was a great treasure hidden in some “House of Eight Mirrors.” The treasure comprised of documents of national importance and other precious items like gold, silver and platinum coins and also a great deal of precious jewels.
     But this was just one and a half sheet. The rest I still had to unveil.
     One night, after work, I kept the box at its safe place till I would have dinner.
     Just then, there was a loud knocking at my door. I didn’t move. I guess I was terrified since something made me think, something bad was going to happen. I thought whether I should open the door or not.
     Before I could even realize, they broke the door. This time there were three men and they without talking or anything just dragged me out and took me again to that Jaguar.

    “Where is the box?” he asked.

   “Which box?”

    “Don’t try to act smart! We have been informed you have it and until you don’t hand it over to us, you will be tortured.”

     Of course, I could not reveal to them anything.
     For a month they kept torturing me and it was unbearable but I did not open my mouth until one day when that ruthless fellow came in and what I saw was shocking. He had that box in his hands.
     Before I could speak anything, he ordered his man to cut off my head. I was given no time to beg or anything. Everything just went dark.

                               ********************************** 

      They were not able to decipher the manuscript. It is said that it has now been deciphered but a major clue is missing and people are trying to decode it.
      Well, who knows?
      Many have lost their lives while trying to find the House of Eight Mirrors but still, still there’s no story of success.

  

éternité

Hold the hand,
Stand near.
Gaze at truth,
And shun the fear.
Make a dive,
Don’t shed a tear.
For if you’re a broken soul,
There’ll surely be someone to stitch the tear.

The class was going on. English class to be precise.
Half studying and the other half trying to do this tedious job.
 
Just then,
the door flung open and she enters, sunlight herself and ohh I  melted as she sits beside me. Awestruck.

Everyone was gaping! Was she a princess or some angel who had lost its way to heaven!?

     Long black hair, brown eyes, perfect face, and the calmness like a mountain—yes she was an angel undoubtedly! And for now I was at least in love with her appearance but I knew she was the same at heart in fact much more angelic.

      Just then as I was busy observing her, she spoke in her sugar coated voice and introduced herself. Her name was Rose and she even smelled like one and I was going crazy! Her smile, oh I would do anything for it…! 

     Okay! So let me refine my previous remark…..I was in love with the whole of her….!!

     Coming out of that beautiful trauma, I introduced myself “Hey I’m Jake…you can call out for me anytime for help.” And with a little giggle she replied “Oh for sure.”

    I being in that state of trance just blurted out “Are you some angel!?” She again giggled with that sparkle in her large eyes.
 
This was the first time I had met her and what was in store was a fairy tale……….

    
 As time passed, somehow this one sided infatuation turned to both sided true love—pious! We were like 24x7 together. We travelled, played, went to amusement parks, studied lot, did all assignments—but together and everything was so great.

  We talked, she caressed me to sleep. It was divinity on earth.

                                                            **********************

     One day as usual, we were sitting on the terrace at night tracing constellations. She was caressing my head and the only thought in my mind at that moment was “This girl, I’m never ever gonna leave her.”

   Just then I heard my mum’s voice…... “Jakeyyy please, please, please not again!! I beg of you, go and sleep in your room and stop talking to yourself.”

   To be true I couldn’t just understand what was up with my parents since the past few months, they thought I was turning into a lunatic and the reason...well I never wished to know...I just never listened to what they said.

   Before my mom could say anything else, I held Rose’s hand and said “Come on my damsel let’s go off to sleep now.”  She being an exchange student couldn’t find a decent place to live in this city so she lived with us and was very much a part of the family.

   So the next day the psychiatrist was going to pay a visit for my checkup god knows why.
 

                                                                ***********************

 

  I truly did not want to talk to anyone except Rose, she was too good.

 “What should I do?” I asked her the next morning.....the psychiatrist was there.
She didn’t say anything; just looked at me lovingly with those angelic eyes .
    I don’t really know what happened then but I held her hand tightly with tears streaming down my eyes “Please be there beside me, always.”

    She replied in that soft tone wiping my tears “You know I will never leave you. I’ll always be there....to protect you, take care of you....And you should now go, your mother is looking for you.”
Then I went out in the living area where everyone was waiting for me as if I was some special guest who was late.

   There I sat with my parents and The doctor who was here to ‘cure’ me. She stood right there at the entrance of my room. Only I could see her that way and just the mere look gave me strength.

   I kept gazing and smiling while my parents and the psychiatrist talked on and on.
 

                                                                ***********************

  “So Mrs. and Mr. Parker please explain in detail the condition of your son before I talk to him,” the doctor Mr. James said.

  “There has been this girl called Rose who had been living with us and we considered her a part of our own family. She was an orphan. Jake and Rose had been getting along great together. In fact around four months ago in May, they were going to get married. But the event could not take place.

Rose met with an accident an hour before the ceremony was to occur and she could not be saved,” narrated Mrs. Parker.

  “Oh my! This has been too tragic an event,” the doctor replied with a sad tone and then he went on asking the scene after that.

  The further narration was continued by Mr. Parker. He told, “After all this happened, our son was in trauma and stopped talking to everyone. But we noticed after sometime he used to keep talking to just no one!”

 “Mmmm....let me try to talk to him,” said the doctor.

                                                                ************************

“Jake, Jake!! Can you hear me!?” Dr. James called out to Jake who was sitting right in front lost in his own world.

Rose indicated him to speak to the doctor. He looked at him blankly.


“So Dr. you are here to cure me of what!?”

“Listen Jake I know times have not been good but you have to......”

And this sentence was broken by Jake’s reply “Listen doctor it’s nice to see your concern but times are pretty good and I’m happy”

And Jake just got up and went away.

His mother started crying.

The doctor said “You get him to my clinic. We’d like to keep him under medical supervision.” And with that he took a leave.

 

                                                              
                                                               **********************

I went straight to Rose and said “What do they want from me!? Can’t they just see I’m well.”

She didn’t speak anything.

“Please Rose help me. And why does my mom cry so much because of me. What have I done!?” and this time again I found even myself crying.

She just didn’t say anything.

“Please speak! I know only you can help me.”

    For a moment there was a gush of silence and then she spoke holding my hand tightly, “I’ve been too selfish but now it’s time for you to move on and take on a new path. It’s time for me to go back for we can never be united.”

This was some new stuff I hadn’t heard before.

“I need you Rose!”

“I am there always! And yes even I want us to last till eternity but some things....”

“What some things..!” I just blurted out.

“I have to go now Jake. I love you.”

                                                                 *********************
 

   And this was the one story I was narrating in my class when the door flung open and who entered was the sunshine herself. Everyone was gaping at her angelic form.

“Ohh God is this possible” is what I thought because she was just the same as I had imagined the Rose of my story.

My story had been still incomplete...now what!?!

She came and sat beside me and said in her sugar coated voice, “Hey I am...........”

Life doesn’t bring eternity,
You get it.
So clasp tightly,
But let the soul free.
And maybe in front there’s the end,
But you’ll never reach there.

The Story Untold

It's a short story about misery in life due to drug abuse. Hope you have a good time reading.:)

“Dear God,

                   Thank you for calling me, I’m coming. I don’t want anyone’s love or anyone’s hatred cos I don’t deserve one and can’t tolerate the other. I hate people who make me cry but I think I don’t realize that it’s ultimately because of my own mistake. I always expect what I can’t get but it’s really difficult to endure each and everything.

                    I want to be alone forever because it’s becoming impossible for me to keep everyone happy. I wish I could spread happiness but the only thing I do is make others sad and then cry myself too. There are so many I try my best to preserve but they end in the most unexpected manner. I don’t have control over my own mind and I’m really sick of myself. I’m really sorry everyone who has/had to bear anything because of me.

                 Specially Mom and Dad, I love you a lot but I don’t know why I make mistakes again and again and that too knowingly!
               Apologies”

              She could not stop sobbing as she read the same letter for the fifteenth time but what could she do now. Everything was over at least for her. She had lost the most precious gift of her life.
 If she would have known, she would have never said him anything.

             Rahul, 15 years of age and a student of tenth grade had been the only son of his parents Deepa and Raman. Although being the only son, he was not so pampered, just a little moody or he could rather be called intelligent and understanding but he was a little careless and sometimes used to become so upset that he would just become the most stupid creature of all.

                He always cared more for others than for himself. His problems were always gulped down by him. No one could ever understand him.

                                                                                ****************

Rashi, his best friend had not come to school that day. She was the only person according to him who understood him the most and they both shared each and everything. There were somethings that Rashi did not want to tell him but he always came to know and obviously there was a strong bond of trust in their friendship. Today she was absent and Rahul did not have a clue, why. It had never happened before.

The next day they met, Rahul was told that how there was an unexpected death of her grandmother and she had to put off her school, while telling this, she started crying. Rahul tried his best to comfort her and finally she returned back to normal.

That day in the evening he called her up. Rashi’s mother received the call.

“Hello”

“Good Evening aunty, it’s Rahul here. It was really sad to hear about the death of Rashi’s grandmother”

“What!? How!? When!?” was the reply of Rashi’s mother as if she was totally unaware.

Rahul too was surprised to hear such a reply and for a moment he could not find any words. In the most sane tone possible, he said

“Aunty, today when I asked Rashi about her absence, she told me that her grandmother was no more and she started sobbing.”

“But Rahul she attended school yesterday.”

“How is this possible, we both are in the same class, in the same section but I didn’t see her the whole day?”

“There’s some really big misunderstanding. Let me find out what this girl has been up to.”

“No aunty, you needn’t worry, maybe there is a really big misunderstanding. I will find out. Thank you”

With this he put down the receiver, shocked. He went blank and could not understand what was happening. He could not believe that Rashi lied to him, not telling something was even tolerable but this time…............how could it be possible!?

This was really a bizarre situation.

He made up his mind that he would ask Rashi the next day and she will have to tell him. But she didn’t come the other day too. This time Rahul had decided not to call her but talk to her face to face.

  Three days and there was no sign of her.

Rahul was getting impatient, but he waited and the fourth day he finally got to see her.

He was going to burst on her with questions but something made him stop.

It was the condition that Rashi was in; swollen eyes, pale face and a staggered way of walking as if she hadn’t slept since days. She didn’t talk to anyone the whole day.

Rahul thought of finding out himself and came to know that she was under the influence of narcotics. He felt like someone had stabbed him from inside. This was something impossible. How could the best girl on earth be affected by hallucinogens. She hardly came to school now. Her parents were called but they said that she used to remain sick quite often.

Rahul couldn’t tolerate all this. He had to do something about it. Hetried his best to stop her but he was too late.

She died due to overdose.

This was the greatest setback, the 15 year old boy had ever suffered. He stopped talking to everyone, didn’t go for outings or playing and hardly had any food.

The worst thing in his life was now the words of his mother.

She would say to him “This is all because of your so called friend or maybe friend who used to be. I think you too were under her spell and are doing something wrong but I will catch you boy.”

Generally he prevented replying.

  One day after his school got over, he saw someone peeping from behind a tree outside the school.

No it couldn’t be her, it couldn’t be his mother spying on him but unfortunately his doubts were all so correct.

Taunts and scolding were something different, but this was the limit.

He was very much hurt this time.

He went home and asked his mother what was all that spying for and she gave a casual reply that she was just checking as she did not trust him at all.

“When have I broken your trust Mom?”

“You’ve never been trustworthy.”

“Can you just narrate one incident?”

“How can I narrate one when tehere are thousands. I can’t remember them all!! You are just a big liar just like that Rashi. I know you too were indulged in the same activities. I will spy on you until I catch you red handed.”

“This is enough of it Mom. How can you be so inconsiderate? How can you ever doubt my loyalty?” Rahul shouted with tears in his eyes.

“I don’t need any explanation. It’s my responsibility to keep a check and I am doing my duty.”

“I wish I would have never been your son.”

“I wish the same; at least your father and me would have taken breaths of satisfaction.” Said Deepa in an angry tone. But these were just words slipping out of frustration, which were like arrows piercing through Rahul’s heart.

He could hear no more. He just went back to his room and bolted the door from inside.

The only thought coming to his mind was that life without Rashi was just impossible.

Why did she do so!? Everything was so fine, thought Rahul; broken down.

The only thing he could think of this moment was that he could not endure anything or anyone now; he had to have peace in some way or other.

And today, Deepa just has the last piece of writing of her son in her hands. Reading the page over and over, she just can’t stop sobbing.

She would never forgive herself; but what to do she did not want to lose him like Rashi’s mother did.

But today some way or the other, she had lost him.

Unfortunately, just like sand, love if too tightly held tends to flow away.