Retribution
By Divya Ashish Mohanty
Chapter-I
Chapter-I
We were just children,
ignorant about the things around us and the only thing that mattered was only
that we were together, and best friends forever. During problems she could help
me and I could help her. In our childhood it was awesome. We used to sit under
the same mango tree that we had planted together, in the backyard of own house,
which also had my favorite red hibiscus tree. We used to enjoy the springs and
the summers there, which changed as we grew up .We faced problems that no one
had faced ever before and I still miss her and she misses me too.
Very well then
let's get back to the beginning and allow me to share my story, with you. Well though
my teacher always insisted, that I am very special I always thought otherwise.
Oh! I am so sorry by the way my name is Robert Thompson, and I was born in the United
States, in the year 2016 and presently I am 12 years old. And I had some powers
that were special.
Knowing that I am different from others I stepped into
the real world feeling angry and sad about having such supernatural powers. I can
see dead people walking in and around places like streets and malls. I realized
this problem 7 yes ago, when I was five but I was very scared to talk about it.
This problem started bothering me, and became acute till I was all of 8 years,
but now its stable. Due to my powers, which I prefer to call as a curse and my
abnormal behavior my friends started ignoring me but except one, her name is Siara
Williams who is also my neighbor. I shared my secret with her, and thus she
became the first one to know about it.
Immensely happy that she acknowledged my problem and
figured out that I had a gift from the Almighty and it
wasn`t a curse and rather a gift, my behavior underwent a change and became
more rational. I followed her suggestions but the torturous gangs continued. I asked
them the reason and they laughingly said I was innocent and simple and accepted
their actions without complaining. I was just another normal boy with interests
ambitions and goals, but generally failed to achieve any because of a stupid
curse or the so -called gift.
I always behaved politely and
smartly in front of others, which wasn`t very easy for it`s quite hard actually
to ignore the faces and bodies moving around you. I always tried to accept them
normally but had never tried talking to them. Miss Jordan my language teacher
had once said seeing a ghost is not a matter of grave concern but ignoring it
is. She was the third person to have known about it.
Now that my brief introduction is
nearly complete I hope you have understood me and the problem that I face lets`
proceed.
Chapter
2
Ah! At last it seems a fine and bright day and the sun was at its
glorious best. I could see them clearly, while roaming around in the
neighborhood like pages of an extremely bad book, which I hated. Suddenly I saw
a person covered with a white cloak on him and I felt that I had seen him
before someone very familiar and therefore I ran towards him. It was my late
Uncle Sam who had passed away three years ago after being killed by some
unknown people. Completely shocked to see him I stood in front of him literally
rooted to the spot, breathless and curious to know about the enormous hole in
the head above his right ear.
All of a sudden my surroundings became pitch- black and we were the only
two, facing each other. I tightly clenched my sweaty palms, and tried to wipe
the sweat off my brows and saw that Uncle Sam did not run away. Then he replied
me in a very soft voice" I was not murdered I committed suicide." After
hearing that I actually felt faint and nearly did on the pavement for the death
certificate and the newspapers mentioned
that that the cause of death was due to the pressure on his neck. As I was
going to ask further he faded away just like a curl of smoke fading away in the
dark.
I recovered myself as two people
helped me up and saw the sun again. I ran with the speed of light towards the
house and found Saira and narrated the whole incident to her. Counselling me to
ask my parents about it, a suggestion I never agreed to, I requested her to keep
it a secret from everyone, knowing her abilities to preserve secrets keeper.
After dinner when my father sat on his favourite armchair and my mother
reclined on the couch I repeated the whole story taking care not to reveal my
secret powers.
“Mom and dad, I think you are hiding something from me like the death of
my uncle Sam."
They looked up the surprise evident on their
faces .I could see the thin line of sweat
on Dad`s forehead and her eyes getting misty. I repeated my question. At first
they consoled me and asked if I was sure that I could handle it. I replied yes.
So they told, and after listening to which believe it or not, fainted again.
My Uncle Sam was an honorable and
respected man who never took a single penny from anyone. He started a business
for which he borrowed some money from the bank but the business didn`t do well
as expected and he came under a pressure to repay the loans. With time the
horrible bankers started threatening due to which he was deeply saddened. So,
to seek some financial help he came to his brother my dad who had disowned him
earlier and was thrown out of the house and was denied any help too. Dad was
upset that he had taken loans and brought shame to the family name. Rejection
and failure added to the misery and that night in his house Uncle Sam shot
himself dead.
I felt deeply sorry for my uncle. And wanted to meet him again so I
waited and waited and waited then one day at last I saw him, again.
And ran towards him and hugged him
and said sorry from my father’s side he accepted it and said to me, "Use
your powers wisely son and beware of the danger waiting ahead and stay alive
till the end. I hope I see you soon bye. Love you!” Then he faded again like
before. Something felt strange, for I felt, like he was taunting me.
Chapter-3
I still could not forget the
incident about Uncle Sam. I really felt truly bad for him. Some days passed my
and life returned to normal. On a Saturday after I ate breakfast I went to
Saira’s house. After talking for hours I decided to just take an outing around
the neighborhood. We went to the park where we talked for almost 2 hours about times
when we first met and how we burnt the old Uncle Manny uncle’s trousers once. We
decided to meet later in the tree house in the old apricot tree with Tom a friend.
We met and over glasses of chilled lemonade made by Mom we talked of for
going off a camp in the Dark woods of San Francisco. It took a lot of
effort for Saira to convince me to talk
about it I with parents. After reaching home I saw my parents drinking tea and
watching their favorite show on the TV, which was ‘The little Chimpanzees’. In
which there would be very cute and cuddly baby Monkeys who would be trying to
pull each other’s underwear and I still do not know why my parents love this
show. I possibly could not disturb them while they are watching their favorite
show; I took the chance the next day. “Mom” I shouted extremely loudly and she
too replied “what”? Also loudly telling me that she was not in a mood to listen
but I really wanted to go to San Francisco. I found the courage and said the
completely thing to my mother because ‘she is a soft hearted person’ at heart but
I did not know that she was so soft that she could faint on hearing this.
When she woke up I was sobbing
with tears [it was just acting] but she believed it and allowed me to go to San
Francisco. After completing Level I moved on to level two, my DAD. He was in
office at that time. He returned home late and was too tired to talk about
anything, so I decided to wait. The next day he was in a good mood so I thought
he listen to me patiently. Summing up all the courage I had I went near him told
him and continued with my ``Please, please, just please allow me to set out for
the camping trip, I saw his face turn purple, for a moment I thought that he
was about to scream but then he took a long breath and said “Son you can go
wherever you want” but what is the cost of the trip. I replied hesitatingly $500
only and he agreed .I was on top the world when he said that. I hugged him and off
I went to pack my belongings.
Chapter
4
My parents came to send me off and
after bidding the customary goodbye to them I joined Saira and Tommy. During
the flight we were only focused on the navigation of such a huge city, and how
to reach our hotel.
At First, we were planning to hire
a taxi from the nearest taxi booth or just a normal cab from the highway and
reach the hotel. After freshening up a bit we planned to zoom around and have a
look in the city. After the sightseeing we would take a bus to the forest where
the camping site was. After the camp we were scheduled to return home.
The airplane had landed and we got off. We ended up in the Francisco
airport. I could feel excitement as I felt the air touching my cheeks. The sea
of unknown faces were always with me and I could see even my uncle was with me
but I wondered why. So, I asked him for his presence in my trip. He replied
that he wanted to keep me safe. In between this conversation I almost forgot
that I was also with the living and who were staring at me weirdly. We hired a cab
and Saira paid the fare and we checked into our rooms. I got the room number1313
Saira
got the room number 3131 which I thought was a strange coincidence. After
freshening up we set off to say hi to San Francisco. Later eating a in a food
joint we gorged on the awesome cites in the city which was just awesome. The
huge buildings with stylish facades, the parks and museums were pretty
impressive. But who knew it would be my last journey.
Years ago, as a child I used to see dreams of
dying where I could not save myself. That dream used to bother me a lot, because
I could not see me dying in front of my eyes. This led to a big depression in
my mind and I was forced to tell this to my parents. They were shocked and
replied that dreams don’t come true. But still that dream still bothers me a
lot. Once, I asked one psychic about this too who on hearing said that “The day
it occurs it would be your last day”.
Later in the evening as we were
about to enter to our hotel rooms a sudden noise in Tommy’s room caused a stir.
As we opened the door a tiny mouse came up the bed and Saira lost her cool and
calm self and shrieked. After a lot of comforting she calmed down.
Chapter 5
By 6:30
in the morning we left the hotel and set off for Dark Woods Forest, which was
almost 42 kilometers away from San Francisco. During the travel we enjoyed
munching on the packed food we had bought yesterday, from the Frachisca
grocery. After half an hour, we reached the beautiful spot called the Dark
Woods; well dark seems to be the name of a bad and selfish soul but it seems to
be ok in my mind. Shortly we reached an ideal spot for setting of our camp. We
set the tents we had bought along. Tired after the exercise we made a small
fire with the dry pieces of wood lying around and warmed the tinned soup, which
we relished with the tuna sandwiches we had packed. After some activities and
singing songs and a game of dominoes we were just about to sleep unexpectedly
we heard a noise that terrified Tommy, Saira, and of course me. I came out of
my tent and everything went blank…
But I could hear the screams of my friends
Saira and Tommy. A little while later I found my uncle near me he was trying to
calm me down and said” it’s time for you to sleep son to fulfill my revenge,
goodbye”…
When I woke up I saw myself lying dead near a
dark tree. I ran to the campsite and found out that no one was there. To my
surprise I saw my uncle and went to kill him, but could not after all he was my
uncle. He replied this is just the beginning son………..
Meanwhile
Saira’s condition in USA at her house after the missing report of Robert
Thompson,
It was the first thought that came to her
as she woke up. He was gone. And, soon, this bedroom, the house in whose
eastern corner he sat, and the tiny garden outside with his gnarled old red
hibiscus and the half-grown mango tree they had planted together, all those
would be gone as well. It was the strangest feeling ever for her and also for
me as the writer of the story.
I am wondering where is he…
-Divya
