The Book of Enchantments

I was taken into a room by two strange celestial beings. They held my hands and flew me inside. A sense of profound calmness had descended on me. I did not struggle to free myself. I felt as light as a feather sailing in the breeze. My mind was devoid of all thoughts. As the door opened, a white light engulfed my eyes. The light was bright yet it did not blind me. The celestial beings carried me inside and dropped me gently on the floor. They left as soon as they had carried me inside and shut the door.

I was left alone in the room. The room had no walls. It felt as though I was in the middle of nothingness. I looked around me but could not find anything. I turned back to look at the door. But, the door had turned invisible and there was nothing left but white light everywhere. It felt as if all the directions had conjoined into one. I felt like a tiny speck of grain in this vast white ocean of light.

I started walking. My feet could not feel any ground beneath them. I felt like I was walking in thin air. I tried to remember what had happened before. I remembered arriving at the ashram in a dilapidated state. Filled with anger, regret and hunger my soul longed for love and mercy. The Guru had taken me into his arms and promised to show me the right path. I turned into a devoted disciple and entrusted my life into meditation. Every morning, the Guru would entrust me to clean the ashram. As I swept the dust and scrubbed the floor, I felt a magical transformation inside me. My mind felt at peace and I sensed tranquility. Meditation had helped to repair my damaged soul. I experienced a divine relief. On the day that my Guru departed for his heavenly abode he summoned me. “My time has come, Chandra”, he said to me. “It is time for me to hand over my secret knowledge to you”, he said and handed me an ancient scripture of enchantments. “You must use this knowledge well. It is time to redeem yourself”, saying this he breathed his last. I performed his last rites and set out to fulfill my destiny. The scripture called “The Divine Secrets” had secret enchantments to fulfill any desire. These enchantments were the ancient prayers which our ancestors used to communicate with the Gods. With time, the humans had become arrogant and had forgotten to thank the Gods for their generosity. They started using the enchantments to fulfill their greed and lust. So, the great gods decided to take this knowledge back and hid the enchantments away from the eyes of all evil men. The task to hide the enchantments was entrusted with a few mystics who had still not lost their way. The mystics had protected the ancient scriptures ever since then. My Guru was the last member of this society of mystics called “The Divine Guardians”. After his passing, I had been entrusted with this divine task.

I opened the divine book and scrolled through the pages. There were enchantments to bring rain, to cause thunder storms, to summon divine weapons, to grow crops, to become invisible, to become large or small, to enter dreams and what not. But, the one enchantment which caught my attention was “To cleanse the Soul”. In my life, I had only known greed, jealousy, anger, lust, hate, and sorrow. Life had not been easy for an Orphan like me. My encounter with my Guru has transformed me. Life was now calm and serene. Tranquility had descended on me and my inner being radiated with a divine joy. I wondered if the Guru had used this enchantment to cure me. I opened the page which contained the enchantment. I started reading the enchantment and by the time I was done, I was no longer beside the book. Two strange celestial beings were carrying me in the air by holding my arms. They were strong creatures and their bodies smelled of a nice perfume. Their foreheads were adorned with blue rubies which gave out a celestial radiance. They did not look at me but kept flying. They carried me over oceans and mountains and finally into a huge cave. The cave was decorated inside with beautiful lamps. There was also a pond with several lotuses floating on it. That is when I saw the door. It was a huge wooden door and the celestial beings opened it with their strong hands and carried me inside and dropped me there. As I remembered my past and forgave myself, the veil of white light started to uncover itself. A path showed itself and a bright sun shined outside. I stepped outside into the world with my heart cleansed of all the sins. I picked up the book of enchantments and embarked on my life’s mission – “To spread peace in the world”.

.

The End

The Hostel Room

I was so excited. I had managed to secure admission into my dream college Adarsh Academy in Kanpur. I had chosen Nuclear Physics as my major subject. My plan was to join BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) after completion of my two years’ master’s course. My dad came with me to Kanpur and checked if the hostel facilities were adequate. I got a room on the second floor of the Hostel building. We checked the room and seemed satisfied with it. My dad left by the evening train and said “Neha beti (beti is daughter in Hindi), I am proud of you my child. You have made us so proud. Please take care of your health and keep calling us.” I was in tears as we departed and promised that I would call home every day.

I had dinner in my canteen and returned to my room completely exhausted. My luggage was stacked in a corner. But, I did not have enough strength left to take out my clothes and arrange them in the wardrobe. So, I went straight to the bed and slept immediately. I was woken up next morning by the house keeper. She introduced herself as Laxmi Bai. She was a middle-aged lady. She was a short lady and little bit overweight. She was dressed in a bright sari and liked to laugh loudly. I took an instant liking for her and used to address her as Laxmi Mausi (Mausi is Aunt in Hindi). Laxmi Mausi cleaned the house and left.

It was a Saturday and my course was due to start on Monday. So, I had enough time to settle down. The hostel rooms were still unoccupied as most of the students had gone home during the summer and would be returning on Monday. So, I was alone in my room and switched on the television. I browsed the channels and finally put on some music. I began to unpack my stuff. I always hated this kind of work. At home, my mom would have taken care of arranging all things neatly. Oh! How much I missed her already. I opened the wardrobe and started to arrange my clothes. As I was arranging my clothes, the music coming from the television stopped suddenly. I turned back to check what was wrong and saw that the television channel had automatically switched to History channel. They were showing the Romans beheading a prisoner and I immediately ran and switched off the television. I thought that there was some glitch in the television. I finished my unpacking and decided to take a bath.

It was summer month, so I decided to take a cold shower. I like to sing while I take bath. I started humming my favorite song from the movie 3 Idiots “Give me some sunshine, give me some rain, na, na, na,”. As I was singing I suddenly had an uneasy feeling as if somebody was watching me. I looked around in the bathroom. There was no one. I just thought that I was feeling anxious as I was still not used to staying in the hostel.

I went out and had lunch at a local Punjabi Dhabha (a roadside food stall). The delicious food reminded me of my mom’s cooking. In the evening, I took an auto rickshaw and went shopping in the local market. At the garment shop, I met Sumit. Sumit is now my boyfriend. He is a charming and good looking guy. He was looking after the shop that day filling in for his dad who had gone out on some errand. During our conversation, I came to know that Sumit was my senior in college. He was doing his major in Organic Chemistry. So, we hit along very well and I took his number so we could be in touch in college.

I spent the next day, shopping for academic books and going over the course material. On Monday, I woke up early as my classes were starting at 8 A.M. I took my bath and collected my books and went to the college. I reached my class about ten minutes before the time. There were few students already in the class. I sat next to one girl called Shruthi. Shruthi is now my best friend. Shruthi was a sweet girl. She was a bit like myself. She wore thick glasses and wore simple salwar kameez (a type of Indian attire for ladies). She seemed friendly and spoke nicely to me. Our professor Prof. Khurana came soon after and after a quick introduction started the lecture. I enjoyed the lectures. Most of my professors were textbook authors. I was relishing the fact that I was taking lectures from such prominent professors. It was a dream come true and I was very happy. Shruthi also shared my feelings.

As the days passed, Shruthi and I became very good friends. I also met Sumit in the campus and our friendship blossomed into a relation. Sumit took me around the city during weekends and I enjoyed his company very much. I also made sure to call my parents every day and inquire about their well-being. But, from the time I started staying in the hostel, a strange thing started to happen to me. I started getting the same dream every night. I dreamt of a big house. The house had huge gray walls and a big iron gate. There was thick green grass all over the place. There were ferocious dogs guarding the house. I always found myself outside the house near a small pond. For some reason, I would be crying inconsolably. Suddenly, I would see the figure of a person come out of the gate. He would release the dogs and they would come running at me. I would scream in panic and jump into the pond. As I don’t know how to swim I would begin to drown and become breathless and started moving my arms and legs hysterically and this is when I would wake up. I would wake up soaked up in sweat and shivering with fright. I would wake up every day sharp at 4 A.M. I narrated my dream to Shruthi and she said that I should pray every night before sleeping to ward off any evil. I narrated my dream to Sumit and he said that I should not neglect my dream. He said he would take me to a good Psychiatrist Dr. Dinesh Chanda.

I told Sumit that I would consider his advice. I went back to my room. As I opened the door, a cold gust of wind swept my face. I noticed that the temperature in my room always used to be very cold. There was no air conditioning in my room. Yet my room always felt cold. I took out my glasses and kept them on the study table. I opened the wardrobe and took out my night clothes. I went to the bathroom and took a bath and changed into my night dress. When I returned, I almost screamed in panic. I remember keeping the wardrobe door open so that I could put my clothes into the hangar. But, the wardrobe door was closed and the keys were lying on the study table beside my glasses. I was shivering with fright and remembered Shruthi’s advice. I started praying loudly and after a while calmed down enough to go back to bed.

After some days, Laxmi Mausi was in the room cleaning and laughing loudly as usual. I was studying for my exams which were starting next week. Just then, a loud explosion came out of the bathroom and we both rushed inside nervously. The noise had come from the bathroom geyser. The geyser had caught fire and it had resulted in the explosion. Laxmi Mausi rushed outside and called the hostel warden. He brought in a fire extinguisher and sprayed the carbon dioxide over the fire. The fire was soon killed. We were all very surprised to know that the geyser was not switched on at that time. I decided that day that I would be following Sumit’s advice and would visit the Psychiatrist.

I and Sumit went to Dr. Dinesh Chanda and narrated my problem to him. He said that there was an old memory trapped inside my subconscious mind and that he would need to hypnotize me to understand the problem. I got slightly nervous. But, Sumit held my hand and said it would be alright. So, I consented. Dr. Chanda started the procedure. He took out a pendulum and started swinging it in his hands. He asked me to stare at the pendulum. I had seen this procedure in movies before and it seemed funny to me. I often wondered how could someone just hypnotize another person using such a stupid technique. And, here I was staring at the pendulum. But, suddenly I started feeling dizzy and my eyes started closing. I soon fell into a deep slumber. I had asked Sumit to capture the events on a camera so that I could watch the procedure later. After some hesitation, Dr. Chanda had consented. He had asked Sumit to place the phone near the table and go out of the room so as not to interrupt the procedure. Sumit had setup the video recording on his phone to ON and left the room.

After about half an hour, I came out of my trance. I opened my eyes to see Dr. Chanda smiling. As I turned my head, I saw Sumit walking up to me. “How are you feeling now, young lady?” Dr. Chanda inquired affectionately. “Doctor, I have a slight headache,” I answered with my hand holding my head. I was still feeling quite dizzy. The doctor took Sumit to a corner and provided him some instructions. Sumit dropped me to the hostel. Shruthi came to receive me. She took me to her room. Apparently, Sumit had called her and requested her to keep me in her room till another room was arranged for me. Shruthi ordered some pizza for me and we both kept talking till late evening and finally slept. The next day, I woke up feeling fresh and my headache was gone. I smiled as I had slept peacefully for the first time in several months. I did not get any nightmare that night. I woke up and saw that Shruthi was already taking bath. I checked my phone and saw Sumit’s message. He said he had seen the video captured during my medical procedure and wanted to show it to me. I replied to him that I would meet him after the classes that afternoon.

Sumit came to pick me up after the classes. We went to the coffee shop and he showed me the video that he had captured on his phone. He looked quite anxious and said he had seen something very eerie in the video. He was stammering. Sumit always stammered when he was very nervous. So, I held his hand and asked him to play the video. We saw the clip starting with Dr. Chanda asking me to look at the swinging pendulum. I saw the part where I clumsily went into a trance and lay on my chair with my eyes closed. After a while, Dr. Chanda started asking me questions. There was some noise in the coffee shop so I put on my earphones to hear the sound clearly. I put one ear piece in my ear and the other one in Sumit’s ear. Dr. Chanda asked me to narrate my dream to him. 

I told him about the house and the dogs chasing me. I also told him about the feeling of drowning in the pond. Dr. Chanda then asked me since when I started seeing this dream. I answered that I started seeing them since I started staying in the hostel room. Dr. Chanda then asked if this was one of my old memories. I replied that no it was not my memory. The doctor asked then why was I seeing this dream. I replied that it was because she is showing to me. I started breathing heavily when I saw that I had raised my hand and my finger was pointing to someone behind the doctor. Sumit and I exchanged nervous glances. We could see that the Doctor too turned back nervously. His face was pale and he took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brows. The doctor continued to question me “Who is this person? Do you know her?”.

I appeared to be smiling and said “Yes. She is Shwetha”. “Who is Shwetha?” he questioned me again. I answered that it was the girl staying in this room before me. “What does she want from you?” the doctor asked. I answered that she wants me to die and suddenly I opened my eyes and started laughing hysterically. I jumped in my seat and threw the earphone. I gave out a small scream and the people around us started staring at me. I was shaking with fright. I looked at Sumit and he too was looking disturbed. But, he smiled at me and held my hand and made me sit. “It’s alright if you don’t want to watch the rest of the video. I know it is quite disturbing” he told me gently rubbing my hands. “No. Let’s watch it. I want all this to end” I said with resolve and put my earphones back and resumed the video.

The doctor immediately ordered me to stop laughing and ordered Shwetha to speak to him. “Shwetha, leave this girl alone. Let her leave peacefully.” There was silence for about a minute. Next, I saw that I started speaking in the voice of a child. “Papa, please get me some candy! Please, papa.” The doctor got up and seemed to be quite shaken. He did not speak anything for the next two minutes but kept staring at me in a state of panic and horror. Somehow, he gathered his courage and broke my trance and asked Sumit to come inside the room. We next saw that Sumit came and switched off the video recording. I looked at Sumit and asked him what did the doctor instruct him afterward. He replied that the doctor told me that he had heard me speaking in his daughter’s voice who had died last year in a car accident. I stared at Sumit as he said this and clutched at his hand in fear. Sumit said that the doctor had advised him to move me out of the hostel room immediately and it was no longer safe for me to stay there anymore. That was the reason why Sumit had called Shruthi and requested her to make me sleep in her room. After that day, I never returned to that room again. I found another room beside Shruthi’s room and all my nightmares stopped after that.

#Present day

I have just finished writing this article to remove the weight which was lying on my heart for such a long time. Signing off my dear Diary.

With Love,

Neha

Neha goes into the room where Sumit is watching the television. She picks up the coffee mug lying next to him and looks at the television. She suddenly turns pale and screams. Sumit jumps and catches her just in time as she faints. When she wakes up, she is lying on a bed and Sumit is nursing her forehead with a wet cloth. “What happened darling? Are you alright?” Sumit asked her fondling her head. “Sumit, I just saw that house.” “Which house dear? Where did you see it? I don’t understand” he answered in a puzzled tone. “I saw the same house which I used to see in my dreams in the hostel. I just saw it on the T.V.”

The End

The Pendant

John woke up startled. He heard the deafening sound of a mixer grinder coming from the kitchen. He looked at his bedside clock. The time was 2 A.M. The sound of the mixer grinder continued which scared him. There was no one else in the house at the time beside him. He gathered his courage and slowly removed his blanket and got up from the bed. His room was on the second floor of the house. The Kitchen was on the first floor. He opened the door slowly and switched on the lights of the hallway. As he switched on the lights, the sound of the mixer grinder ceased. He climbed down the stairs from the hallway to the first floor cautiously. He carefully switched on the lights of the kitchen. Everything was in its proper place. He went to the mixer grinder to check if he had kept it on my mistake. To his horror, the mixer grinder was disconnected from the power plug. He got terribly scared and ran back to his room. As he ran on the stairs, the crashing sound of the mixer grinder rang through the house. John got scared out of his wits, tripped and came tumbling down the stairs.

Blood started dripping from his forehead and his head started spinning. As he lay dazed on the ground, his blinking eyes saw the image of his Mom at a small distance from him. “Mom!” he exclaimed utter in shock. “John, my child, it’s me”, she replied softly and with so much affection. “It’s impossible, Oh God, how is this possible?”, John exclaimed in horror. “My child, don’t feel scared of me. I won’t harm you” she replied trying to calm her son. “But M-Mom, you are already dead. Are you a G-Ghost?”, John managed to stammer the words. “Yes, my child, that I am. But, please don’t feel scared of me,” she replied gently and moved closer to her son. John stood up now but his feet still shaking in fear. “Why are you here Mom?”, he asked her without any fear this time. His mom came close to him and handed him a pendant. John took the pendant and looked at the gleaming blue ruby inside. The stone shone brightly and he could see his multiple reflections inside it. “Why are you giving me this pendant, Mom?”, he asked his mother’s ghost. She warned him “My child you are in great danger. An evil force has cast its spell on you. Give this pendant to your wife on the first night of your marriage. This will protect you both from evil forces. Remember that she should never remove this pendant. If she removes it a great danger will befall you both”. “I have to go now my child. Remember what I told you. I love you,” saying this mother’s ghost started to disappear. “Mom, no, please come back,” John ran after his mom’s ghost but she disappeared. John stood confused and looked down on the amazing pendant which his mother’s ghost had gifted him. He remembered her warning and kept the pendant securely in a locker.

John never heard back from his mother after that. Slowly the years passed and he became a Psychology professor. He fell in love with one his students called Elizabeth and married her. On his wedding night, he gifted her the pendant given by his mother’s ghost and asked her to wear it always. His wife loved the blue ruby and pendant and was enchanted by its beauty. She promised him that she would always wear the pendant as a token of their love. Many years passed and everything seemed to be going very well. John had almost forgotten about his encounter with his mom’s ghost. John and Elizabeth became parents to two beautiful girls. The younger daughter was named Sally and she was five years old. The elder daughter was named Stella after John’s late mother and she was eight years old. The two girls loved to run around and play in their big house. The girls were very mischievous and liked to play little tricks on their parents. One hot afternoon, when their mother was sleeping they decided to remove the pendant from their mother’s neck and hide it somewhere. They knew their mother would come looking for it and then they could pretend to help her in searching it. When they find it and hand it over to their mother they would ask her for some new pair of sandals. The younger girl kept a watch over the door as her elder sister sneaked inside slowly. Stella moved silently and slowly like a tigress waiting to pounce on its prey. She sneaked up to her mother and very gently removed the pendant from her mom’s neck. Her mother turned around and Stella got scared thinking she had woken her up. But, Elizabeth’s eyes were closed. Stella heaved a sigh of relief and stepped back carefully. She came out and instructed Sally to close the door. Sally closed the door gently and ran to her sister. The two sisters sneered, proud of their naughty achievement. They ran to the basement and hide the pendant in an old trunk. Having finished their prank, they ran outside to play in the garden.

Elizabeth who was sleeping in the bedroom woke up shivering as she felt a cold chill run through her spine. “I have you at last,” she heard a nasty voice whispering in her ears softly. She tried to scream but could not find her voice. She tried to run but her feet were frozen. A rope appeared out of thin air and twisted itself around her neck and started pulling her up. As she rose from the ground, she struggled to remove the rope tied to her neck with her hands. She closed her eyes and prayed to God for help. Just then the door opened and John entered inside. He looked at what was happening and pulled out his Holy Cross “Leave her you foul beast”, he commanded to the evil spirit. The spirit seemed to be scared as it gushed out of the house crashing the window panes. As the glass shattered, Elizabeth fell to the ground and lost consciousness. John noticed the missing pendant and called out to his girls. The little girls saw their mother lying unconscious and got scared and started weeping. They confessed to their mischief and returned the pendant. John tied the pendant back to Elizabeth’s neck.

After sometime Elizabeth regained her consciousness. She opened her eyes and saw a doctor nursing her. John and the children were by the side of the doctor. “John!”, she exclaimed weakly as John held her hand kissed it gently. The girls ran and kissed their mom. The doctor left soon after and suggested John give her the prescribed medicines on time. John assured him that he would and returned to his wife. That evening after the children had slept, John told his wife about his encounter with his mother’s ghost and her warning. When she asked her why he had not told her before, he said that he did not want to scare her. Next day, John and Elizabeth approached a famous Psychic called Emma. Emma visited their house and sensed something evil. She advised them to vacate the house immediately. Emma carried out an investigation and discovered that there was a family staying in the house before John’s mother had bought it. Apparently, a husband and his wife used to stay in the house. They quarreled often over small issues. One day there was a huge quarrel among them and the husband had strangled his wife in her sleep. He had later shot himself. It was a very grim story. John and his family vacated the house and vowed to never return ever again.

The End

The Pickpockets of Jaynagar

Hari stood at the bus stop waiting for his regular bus 60A. He took this bus every day from Vijayanagar to reach his college in Jayanagar 4^th block. The colleges had just resumed last week after the summer vacations. As such there was a huge rush of college students during the morning peak hours. The buses were mostly overcrowded and people were dangling from the foot boards. Hari did not like to commute in such a dangerous manner. So, he preferred to wait for the bus which at least had enough space to stand comfortably.

It was the month of May and mercury levels had soared up to 37 degrees Celsius. In the morning, the only relief came in the form of the cool breeze which makes the city of Bangalore so famous. Hari had been waiting about ten minutes chatting with his college buddies who had joined him at the bus stop. They were talking about the Bahubali movie which had been released that week. “What amazing graphics! You have to watch it, dude,” Hari was telling his friends. Just then, their bus arrived and they all boarded it hurriedly. They all got some seats at the rear side. The Bus stood at the stop for a couple of minutes and soon it got crowded. It finally moved from the bus stop.

The bus conductor was moving around asking people to purchase tickets or show their bus passes. Hari and his friends were regular bus commuters and all of them had bus passes. As the bus stopped at subsequent bus stops it got more crowded and people were standing in a congested manner. But, since everyone was used to the morning rush nobody made any fuss about it and cooperated with each other. After about one hour’s journey, Hari’s destination arrived. As he was getting down, some people in a hurry pushed him and he almost lost his balance. He turned around to see a short, stout man with small mustaches dressed in a white formal shirt. Hari was upset and gave a stern stare to the man. The man did not even bother to say Sorry and instead feigned complete ignorance. “Useless fellow,” Hari said in a low tone and got down from the bus.

His friends joined him and they started walking to their college which was half a kilometer away from the bus stop. They stopped at the juice stall which was on the way to their college. Hari put his hands in his jeans pocket to take out his wallet. His face revealed a strange confusion as his hand fumbled but failed to find his wallet. Hari was now feeling very uneasy as he realized that someone had picked his pocket. He told this to his friends. His friends empathized with him. One of them told that last week one of their other classmates had also been pick-pocketed while traveling along the same bus route. Hari guessed that maybe the guy who had pushed might have pick-pocketed him. One of his friends paid the money for his juice. Hari was upset that he had lost his college id, bus pass, and around five hundred rupees. He decided to file a police complaint.

That evening, he went to the police station with his dad and filed a police complaint. His Dad knew one of the sub inspectors in the station. The sub inspector Mr. Khan told them that a notorious pickpocket gang was on the prowl in the city. Several incidents of pick-pocketing had been reported in the last two months. Police had nabbed around ten pickpockets but still, the new incidents continued to be reported. It seemed that there was a big gang operating in the area. Mr. Khan said an undercover police team had been investigating the incidents and he would inform them if his wallet was found. Hari and his dad thanked Mr. Khan and left the police station.

Hari and his Dad returned to their home and had dinner. Hari was still upset and he was thinking of a plan to nab these culprits. He kept thinking about this for the whole night and finally devised a plan.

Next day, he called his friends and explained his plan to them. They all agreed and made the necessary preparations. Hari and his friends traveled from the same route every day and after about a week Hari received a call from one of his friends Subhash. Subhash told him that someone had pickpocketed his wallet when he got down at the Jayanagar bus stop that morning. This time instead of feeling anxious a smile crossed his face as he listened to his friend and asked him to wait for him at the Juice stall.

This was the call that he had been waiting for since the last one week. His plan was in motion now. Hari’s father worked in a telecom company and had shown him how to build micro GPS chips. Hari had built few micro GPS chips and placed it in the wallets of each of his friends. They could track the location of the wallet using an App that one of his friends had built for him.

Hari borrowed a motorbike from one of his friends and picked up Subhash from the Juice stall. Hari and Subhash now followed the pickpocket on their motorbike. They spotted the Pickpocket from a distance and took his photograph. The Pickpocket was sitting in a tea shop and talking to someone on the phone. The Pickpocket was soon joined by few other men and after some time they left the shop in an SUV. Hari and Subhash followed the SUV while maintaining a safe distance and they wore helmets to protect their identities. Hari was transmitting all the information to his other friends back in the college so they could alert the Police in case something went wrong. The SUV stopped outside a big house in a remote locality and the men entered the house. Hari noted down the address of the house and returned to his college.

That evening, Hari and his friends went to the Police station and explained everything to Mr. Khan who was amazed by their courage and presence of mind. That night, Police raided the house pointed out by Hari and they could nab most of the gang members including their kingpin. A lot of valuables were recovered from the house and were taken into Police custody. Next day, the Police Commissioner called Hari and his friends and personally thanked them for their brave act, and announced a cash reward of ten thousand rupees for them. When Hari’s father heard of his son’s courageous act, he hugged him and said that he was so proud of him. As for Hari, he was happy that now everyone could travel safely without any fear of the Pickpockets.

The End

Master

I remember his husky voice “Hey Max, I love you, Max”. The old master loved me so much.

I remember the day when he took me home for the first time. I ran around in the garden. I smelled the roses. I sniffed the lilies. I ran after the bees. I dug the bones in the backyard. It seemed so wonderful. I barked in delight.

Master fed me pumpkin and chicken. He took me for long walks. He used to throw a ball at me and would say “Fetch!”. I always ran and brought back the ball to him. He said he loved me more than his children.

Sometimes he wept alone in the park. I licked him to make him feel better. He would say “Why? Why did you leave me so alone Alice? I miss you so much.” I would quietly lay my head on his feet and wait for him to feel better. After some time he would wipe his tears and walk me back to home.

One day the master tied me to a leash. I protested. But, the master would not listen. I saw a girl enter the house. I snarled at her. She got scared. The master hushed me up and took the girl inside the house. After a while, the girl started shouting and started throwing things around. This made me angry and I barked ferociously. “How dare she threaten my master?”. The girl left the house soon after and the master released me from the leash.

I ran at full speed to the gate. As I raised my head, I saw the girl leave. I barked at her angrily and the master called me back. He said “Max! Good boy! Come back!” and fondled my neck as I returned to him. “That was my daughter Max,” he said with pride. “Do you want to know why she was angry?”. I woofed. “Well, I never told her before that I was dying. I have got Cancer, buddy.” I woofed again. The master started weeping. I sat there quietly. I bent my head and placed it on his knees.

Master started coughing badly every night. Sometimes he woke up with blood in his mouth. One day he fell in the park and did not wake up. I licked his face. I started barking and howling. Some lady saw me and came running. I became scared and started whining.

People came in a van with shining lights. They carried master on a bed and I followed them. People in white clothes took care of the master. Someone tried to feed me. But, I was sad and did not eat. I stood outside the master’s room. They would not allow me inside. Finally, the master opened his eyes. He saw me outside and called out to me “Max. Come here, boy. Sorry about that old fella”.  I ran inside and he fondled me. I was happy that the master was awake and I wagged my tail in delight. He fed me with his own hands.

After some time, I saw his daughter outside the room. I snarled at her and Master woke up and said “Easy Max, Easy!”. I became quiet. His daughter brought him some flowers. She kept them on the table. She kissed him on the forehead and asked “Pa! Are you Alright?”. She started weeping and said “Forgive me! I have not been a good daughter.” Master held her hand and caressing it gently said: “You are the sweetest daughter in the world, my child”. I woofed. After some time the people in the white dress came and took me and the daughter outside the room. We waited for the master outside the room.

That night master started vomiting blood. He experienced so much pain. The people in the white dress took care of him. I shivered in fright. I jumped and barked. After some time a person with the white dress came outside the room and said: “Sorry, we could not save him”. His daughter rushed inside the room and I followed her. Master was dead. I cried as I saw his soul resting by the window. “Max! Good boy! Stay with my daughter,” he said. I barked and rushed to the window. But, he disappeared. I wished I could see the master again. His daughter hugged his dead body and wept the whole night. I sat by her side and lay my head on the ground.

They buried the master the next day. I followed his daughter everywhere. She took me to her home. It was a small flat. A tiny room with less space. I sniffed around and it seemed funny. But, she fed me well and gave me a bone. “I loved my dad Max,” she told me. “I did not call him for five years. I could have saved him,” she said and started weeping. I rested my head on her feet and said “Woof”.

The End

The Midnight Train

I waited patiently at the platform for my train to arrive. I did not have too much luggage with me just a small suitcase with all the essentials packed for a day’s stay. I am a cardiac surgeon practicing in a small country side. That evening I received an urgent call from the doctor of the neighboring village of Waterville. A patient was complaining of severe chest pain and a bypass surgery had become necessary. I was the only reputed cardiac surgeon in the country area of more than 500 square kilometers and was asked to rush as soon as I could to perform the surgery.

The small village of Waterville was located about 150 kilometers from my village and it was approximately a two hours’ train journey. My train was scheduled to depart at midnight and I reached the station a good one hour before the departure time. The platform was quite deserted and there was no else in the platform. I could not spot the station master also. I thought that maybe he would arrive a few minutes before the train’s arrival. I took out a cigarette from my pocket and lit it with my lighter. As I took a puff, I thought what my wife Elizabeth would have said to me if she saw me smoking. The thought brought a smile to my serious face. I paced along the platform to while my time. It was about 11:30 pm in the night and my train was not due until the next half an hour.

As I stood smoking my cigarette, to my utter surprise I heard the loud rhythmic chugging sound of a train in the distance. As I looked in the direction of the sound, I spotted a train arriving slowly like a giant dark serpent blowing its loud horn. I looked on as the train came to a grinding halt and stood on my platform. The train looked dark and I could not spot any people inside. I quickly checked my ticket to check the train number. The train number was “67532”. Since it was dark I took out my pocket torch and threw the light on the train. The train number was indeed the same. I was little surprised that the train had come well before its departure time. I walked to my bogey B4 and checked the passenger list. As I scrolled the list of passengers’ I found my name printed at the bottom “Dr. David Jones – Age 55 – B4 – Seat 13”.

I went to the door and opened it. It opened quite easily and I boarded the train. As I walked along the aisle of my first class Bogey I saw that all the compartment doors were shut and there was pin drop silence.  I imagined it was quite natural considering that most of the passengers were tight asleep. But, it was rather unusual to not hear anyone snoring or to not hear any other sound. I found my compartment and opened the door gently so that I would not disturb any other sleeping passenger. I was slightly surprised to not find anyone else in the compartment. I placed my suitcase on the luggage rack and took my seat. To my utter surprise, the train came to life suddenly and started moving again. The loud whistle of the train alarmed me. It seemed like the train had only been waiting for me to board it. I took out my pocket watch and looked at the time with the light of my pocket torch. The time was still 11.45 pm and it was a good fifteen minutes before the scheduled departure time.

The train picked up its motion and started traveling at a monstrous speed. I could see the dark outline of the country side flashing past me. The only light outside was coming from a half moon which was looking majestic at this unearthly hour. I spread the bed sheet and took out a blanket from my suitcase. As I prepared to go to bed, I heard a loud rap on the door which alarmed me. The door opened and the familiar outline of a Ticket Conductor stood in the half-opened door.  “Dr. Jones, glad to see you here Sir,” the conductor expressed his relief at seeing me. “Mr. Conductor, can you please explain to me why the train arrived early and left before its scheduled departure time?” I inquired from the conductor.

“I apologize for the inconvenience Doctor,” the conductor apologized and continued “As you are aware Sir, Mr. Statham has fallen terribly ill and needs urgent medical care. So, the family doctor had called you this evening. Due to heavy rains, there have been several landslides in the country side and the roads are not safe for travel. So, Mr. Statham’s family bought the entire tickets of the train to get you there as soon as possible.” “Bought the entire tickets of the train, you say?” I asked with utter surprise. “Who is this gentleman?” I asked with amazement. “He is the grandfather of our President Mr. Lincoln, Sir” the conductor informed me.

I was quite taken aback after hearing the family background of my Patient and the importance of the assignment at my hand. My entire medical career was on the line for this surgery. Every newspaper in the country side would carry the details of the surgery in two days’ time. I reached the village of Waterville in little less than two hours. A car was waiting for me at the station and I was immediately rushed to the hospital. I performed the surgery and could save the patient successfully.

I was happy that I could save the life of such an important patient. The President’s family thanked me profusely and I took leave from them the next morning. I took the afternoon train and reached home by evening. That evening the President called me and thanked me for my service.

The End