Pause and Resume - Part 5

The sun rays shined brightly. The alarm rang incessantly. He kept tossing on the bed but didn't bother to snooze the alarm. After lot of coaxing, he got up from the bed unwillingly. His head was breaking due to lack of sleep. He dragged himself up and got ready for the day. He skipped the breakfast because he was in no mood to prepare food.

Dina woke up to the day with freshness and great zeal of life. There was motivation and positive vibes within her to start the day. She had never felt  relaxed and good until today. After persistent questioning from mother and 'I told you so' conversation with her dad, she was dead tired. She didn't realize when she was asleep while she was lying on the bed. But today she was up for any challenge. She now realized how much baggage of emotion she had carried when she came home. 

But her new found energy turned sour when she saw her phone. There was no messages from her husband. She was furious at him that she didn't care to check whether he had texted or called her or not. She didn't bother to even call him or text him. Why would she? It was he who had done the wrong. She had decided that she wouldn't call him or text him like she would do every time they had fight.

She threw her blanket aside in anger and stomped towards bathroom to freshen up. Warm bath didn't calm her mood. Even her favorite breakfast didn't calm her down. Nothing calmed her. Instead it raised her fury. She snapped at anyone she laid her eyes on. She came home tired and emotionally drained. She didn't speak to her mother or dad during dinner. She played with her food for sometime though she was hungry. She slept on her bed with empty stomach. 

Sleep didn't arrive immediately like yesterday. She constantly thought about Amit. "Why didn't he call? Is ego more important than his wife? ", she wondered even though it applied to her as well. She tossed on her bed with agitation. She watched her phone to check for messages and calls. There were none from him.  

Amit reached to empty house from work. Everything lay on the same place he had left during the morning. He felt lonely. He looked at his phone. There were no calls and messages from her. He was about to dial her number when his friend ,Nitin called. After several times refusing the invitation to go out with his friend, he allowed Nitin to crash at his place. He didn't mind a company. But when Nitin arrived, he didn't realize that his friend would bring in others too. Soon his house was crowded with unknown people. 

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 4

Amit was confused when she banged the door. He wondered what wrong did he do this time. He pondered on the activities he did while she was there during morning. "Is it because I got up late and she had to prepare breakfast for herself? Or is it because I left straight to bathroom without giving her morning kiss?", he wondered. But his ego precluded such thoughts. 

"Why should I say sorry? I didn't do anything wrong. Why do I bother? She will come back home tonight with better mood and make up with me. I know her well. She can't stay mad at me for longer.", he said to himself. Fights happened before. Dina had left home before. Hearts were broken many times and bandaged several times.  But they could never stay away from each other any longer. 

The day passed quickly. Amit arrived home quite early than last night. He had neither received any messages from her nor did he message her back. His bruised ego never let him though he would check his phone several times. When he arrived home, no one was there to welcome him. She had not come back. But it wasn't too late for her not to come back. 

He was strangely relieved that she was not there and there was no drama surrounding him. Silence bothered him still. He wasn't too tired to cook food for himself but he was used to her serving him hot food. So he ordered food from outside. He watched news after changing several channels on the TV. When food arrived, he waited for some time. "What if she came home!", he thought. 

Several hours passed. She didn't come. He gave in to his hunger. He devoured the food. Outside food always seemed tastier than food prepared by her. It had become tiring for him eat her food without making a single comment on the taste. He felt peaceful tonight while having dinner. There was no one to bother him by asking silly question about how food was. He was free. 

He jumped on the bed. He felt euphoric. He would get the entire bed tonight. The thought of sleeping anywhere on the bed, any position he liked made him, having the entire blanket to oneself and switching on the AC to lowest degree made him feel more excited. "Freedom!", he exclaimed. He remembered the times when he would never get the blanket because Dina would cover whole blanket to herself . There were times when he would be kicked to end of the bed by her. Tonight it was going to be different. As he closed his eyes and proceeded to sleep, he opened them abruptly.  For the first time, he felt difficulty to sleep. After tossing several times on the bed, he didn't realize when the night turned into day.

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 3

The morning was no different. The cold vibes between husband and wife couldn't be melted by the warm sun rays. Amit hated silence. His wife, Dina hadn't spoken since yesterday night. He was early riser but today was not his day. He woke up late to find Dina had already woken up. He was always the first one to prepare tea for both of them. Yesterday's uneventful happening tossed his routine. 

After freshening up, he waited for Dina to prepare him breakfast and tea. Few minutes later, he dragged himself to the kitchen to see that Dina's cup lying on the sink. The workstation was clean and the vessels were empty. Amit felt subdued as he prepared tea for himself. He didn't understand woman. His ego inside him fueled his despair in him by speaking against her, "It should be her consoling me. I have to console her for what? If she doesn't want to speak, let it be. I won't speak to her too." 

He had his food silently while she got ready for work. As she was about to leave with an airbag, she said solemnly, "I won't be coming tonight. I will be staying at my house."   He didn't respond. He was feeling strangely relieved for the first time. He didn't know whether he should be happy or sad for that. She waited for few minutes for his response. When there was no response, she banged the door. 

As she descended the building, thoughts fluttered in her mind. "Why does he do that? Why is he cold? I do everything for him and he doesn't react. He is always focused on his work. Does he really love me?" She checked her phone to see whether there were any messages from him. There were none. Later she checked taxi hailing app to see where her designated cab was. When she saw it had reached, she got inside. She left home with thoughts still bothering her.

The ride to her paternal house was bumpy one. There was huge traffic jam and took over two hours to reach a 20 minute ride destination.  Her paternal house was like a heavenly abode to her. Unlike the plush apartment she shared with her husband, the house was palatial. The rooms were huge and corridors were longer. The house reflected the hard earned wealth of her father. 

Her mother welcomed her when she entered the hallway. "How come my sunshine is up in the morning?", her mother asked cheerfully. "I fought with Amit yesterday. I will be staying here..", she replied. "For few day?", her mother asked, rolling her eyes. "I am not sure.", she said as she walked towards her room, leaving her bag on the floor.  Her mother motioned the servant to carry the bag to Dina's room. "They fight like kids. No wonder she hasn't learnt to grow up. She still throws her stuffs here and there.", her mother complained to herself.

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 2

Her eyes were red. Her mouth was curled into disgust. She wanted to spank him badly. She held her both fists tighter. "Why did you do that? What is your problem? Don't you love me anymore? Did you find someone else? Is that why you are late?", she growled, holding his collar. He released her grip and pleaded, "Please stop your drama again. I just had a bad day at work."

She didn't listen. She went on and on about the list of complaints she had in her mind for the week. Amit put his hands on his hip firmly and shook his head in defiantly. He wondered "How does she come up with such a list?" He didn't speak or stop her in between. He let her speak while his mind wandered around what had happened during the day. 

When she was done, she looked annoyingly at him. "Are you done Can I go now? I will go change and why don't you serve the dinner. I will right back.", he said coolly. "Did you even listen to what I said?", she started to speak. But he interrupted her in between. "Please! I had difficult day today. I need rest. Let's talk about this tomorrow.", he said while walking towards the bedroom. 

"I also had difficult day. I manage work as well as home. But I don't come home bringing tensions from work. I thought I would bring back the romance in our life. But you don't seem to respond at all. You have become so cold after marriage. You only bothered about work ,work and only work. I don't exist in your world at all.", she cribbed. It was true that their life had become standstill. They were more distant than together during the most trying time of their life.

"Your work is different than mine. You are boss in your boutique. I on the other hand have to prove my worth to my bosses. At least in the end you make nominal profit while sometimes I don't get anything at all from the work I do", he said sulkily. "That's why I told you to join my father's business. But you never listen.", she argued. "Now enough !Serve me dinner soon. I want to sleep.", he said. 

"Serve yourself! I am not your maid.", she sneered at him and stomped back towards room. She hit herself on her arm after colliding with the door. "Ahh!", she cried and turned back to his reaction. He smiled. "Laugh!Laugh! You love to hurt me.", she said, banging the door on him. He waited for sometime before heading to kitchen to feed his grumbling tummy.

(To be continued)

Pause and Resume - Part 1

It was already past midnight. The sky was clear and stars shined brightly. The lone dogs howled at the sight of the full moon on the empty street. The road was empty except for the bright red Toyota Vios. Amit hated it. Silence disturbed him.  The silent road reminded him of his worst possible day. He had left home for office today with hopes of big promotion. He came back home with broken dreams and hurt ego. One of his colleague who loved to lick bosses's ass got the promotion.

Whenever he thought about the day, his anger shot up and banged the steering wheel. He had worked hard for it. He even cancelled the holiday plannings with his wife last moment to work his ass off. He took the brunt of his bosses. He worked with laziest reportees to get that promotion with bonus pay. He never complained for the additional work he was handed. He simply did with hopes of getting something big in return.

He reached his apartment after long mind battle. As he parked his car on the allotted parking, he prayed there was no drama from his wife. He had planned to sleep after dinner. Sleep was the only thing that could help him to come out of it. He slowly walked towards the entrance and pressed the lift. The lift door was open but his mind was still in the office.

He walked inside after few minutes. He pressed the lift to fourth floor. The cold air blowing from the fan in the lift couldn't cool him down. He wished the journey to the floor didn't end so quickly. He brought himself to the door with great difficulty. He heaved a sigh and rang the doorbell. No one opened. He rang once again. When there was no response again, he took out the spare key mechanically. He opened the door.

He was welcomed to a dim lit scented candles and soft romantic music. "What was she upto?",he wondered. When he realized what it was, he muttered softly,"No today!" He looked for her. There she was, leaning seductively on casing of the door. She wore tiny black lacy camisole matched with black shorts. She was looking like goddess. But it didn't spur any interest in him. He was in no mood for any play.


She danced towards him. She seductively moved her hips and placed both her hands around his shoulder. As she proceeded to kiss him, he released her hands from him and pushed her aside. She felt insulted. A voice spoke in her mind, mocking her failed attempts to seduce her husband. It also sympathized her  for making efforts to spice up the relationship and blamed him for not appreciating her efforts. She spun towards him and growled, "Why did you do that?"


(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 29

Everyone were enchanted by the appearance of their beloved Lord. Their eyes didn't leave the sight of the God for even a one second. They felt as if their purpose of their life on earth was fulfilled. They had no aspiration, dreams or desires. The demons felt that their pursuit of being demon had come to an end. They felt relived. After years of torturous retribution, a silver lining appeared.

They waited for Lord eagerly. Their chance for redemption would arrive soon. "The same way your family paid for actions last birth, the demons have been paying for their sins over many decades. They have completed their term of punishment. They were searching for pure soul to lead to me. You, Sakshi were the pure soul who bought them to me.", Lord said.

Everyone stared at Sakshi with bewilderment. "I , Lord! How can I be pure soul? I was just helping my family out of this trouble. I was an atheist before all this happened. I didn't know what else to do except come under your protection. Vicky was the one who discovered these demons. Isn't he the one who led them to you?", she exclaimed. Lord smiled and said, "This is the reason you are the pure soul. You took care of your family without thinking about your own children. You didn't mind your own business instead  you helped your brother and family irrespective whether they needed you or not. You didn't bother your safety. You kept your family and children's safety first. You could have turned blind eye towards your brother and your family. But you didn't . You chose to help them. You are truly pure soul."

Vicky put his hand around his sister's shoulder proudly. "Now it's time for me to do that for which I have come. King Shantanu and Queen Dhami, you paid for your sins. You have given up ego, ignorance, greed and possessiveness towards your unborn child. Your devotions during your life as human has bought me here. I am here to take you back with me. You are no longer tied to chain of birth and death cycle.", Lord said. The appearance of demon changed into pious souls. They had similar appearance of the Lord. They submerged and become part of Lord. 

While all this was happening, Vicky and Sakshi quickly rushed towards mother. They tried to wake up mother. Lord appeared next to mother. He touched her forehead gently. Mother slowly opened her eyes. She was surprised to see Lord next to her. Suddenly she let out cry,"Hey Ram!". She quickly got up to embrace her Lord. But Lord was gone. However Vicky and Sakshi were happy to see that mother could walk and talk like before. 

Everything became normal eventually. Sakshi shifted her children and started living with her family. Vicky now permanently shifted his base to his family abode. The hidden room was no longer hidden. It became room for religious activities used by family and priests of the temple. Shekhar recovered from his grievous injuries. Sheila and kids no longer remember the treacherous day. Mother was better than before. After that day, family's belief on God became stronger.

       *******  The End ******

Mind Your Business - Part 28

Vicky questions made sense to Sakshi too. His friends were innocent just like their mother and Shekhar. The demon killing them or torturing them made no sense. Was demon hiding something? Was this just cooked up story to buy away time? The demon said,"Your friends death was resultant of their past sins. You have to pay for all your actions- be it past or present. They paid their price this lifetime."

The demon's word struck him like arrows. What he said made no sense to him. He got up with anger and stomped towards him. His fear had vanished in thin air when he heard demon speak against his friends. He stared hard at the demon. There was no fear. There was only anger in his eyes. "Don't say anything about my friends! Don't speak of sin and karma when you have committed a grave sin ! A sinner talking about such things is like joke.", he growled. Sakshi calmed him down and said,"Calm down! He will pay for his actions soon. You don't dirty yourself by messing with him. Pallavi is here to take care of him."

"Okay! I will calm down. But why did he torture our mother and brother? What did they do? ", Vicky asked. Pallavi intervened after remaining aloof all this time, "Stop bickering! Calm your brother, Sakshi. Humans were designed such a way that they don't remember the activities they have done exactly past seven days, forget about seven lifetimes. Regarding your mother and brother, they were the innocent souls who forgot about the Lord's grace and needed to be woken up from their slumber. Ha! You forgot about the ending of demon's story! Would you remember what you did during your past life? I remember what you did. I remember what you did today, yesterday and all births you have taken in this earth. I also remember your family and entire world's activities as well as mine."

Vicky, Sakshi and the demons stared astonishingly at her. "Who was she?", they wondered. "Did I bring another destruction to the house? I thought she would save us.", Sakshi thought. Pallavi stood at the center surrounded by everyone.  She disappeared and formed ashes from which a light shined. It rose up and there stood the Lord Vishnu himself. His face was calm and wore a smile that could enlighten all the souls. His lotus eyes were sparkling with pride. The colour of his skin was like blue sky. He held Sudharasan chakra in one hand, conch in another hand and lotus in third hand. His strong legs stood firm on the earth, cleansing the impiousness from the land. The room lit due to thousands rays emitting from the Lord. The garland of fresh Tulsi leaves and jewelry decorated his chest.  His head was covered with massive golden crown. His wavy black hair hid behind his back.

Everyone stared amusingly at the appearance of Lord. They felt blessed to see the Lord's appearance this lifetime. It was miracle to them. Many sages perform stringent austerities to see Lord and they did nothing of such to get this blessing. Everyone bowed down in front of Lord to take his blessings. 

"Vikram (Vicky), I understand your disappointment. But death is part of life. One who takes life in this earth is sure to die. Your family paid for actions they did last birth. Your friends died miserably due to actions they did during last birth. Your life, your decisions, your emotions are controlled by actions you do.",  Lord Vishnu said. Vicky understood the bitter truth behind the answers to the question.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 27

Vicky stared at the demon. Thoughts such as truth in the story and integrity of demon king raced in his mind. He looked at his sister as well as his mother who was lying down on his lap. The question - why did the demon torture his family still remained mystery. He listened with hope to find the answer. He wondered when his mother would be fine and when his family would be saved from the tortures of demon. He hoped the kids were fine with Sheila and his brother Shekhar was recovering.

The demon continued with his story, "We begged Maharishi for forgiveness. But he was firm and said, "What is the use of forgiving now ! My daughter won't be alive again." He took the head and carried the body on his shoulder. He performed the last rites and came with us to our kingdom. When we met the priest, I grabbed him by his neck. "Why did you do this?", I asked. "I wanted your kingdom. I wanted power. I knew I can get both by misleading you to kill Maharishi's daughter.", he said with evil laughter. His laughter taunted me for my innocence and greed."

The demon yearned for the happiness and dreams of parenthood. As he thought about Purohit's trickery, he growled and stomped hard on the floor. A tiny crack appeared on the floor where he stood. Vicky and Sakshi got scared and shrieked. They held themselves as well as their mother. Pallavi was unaffected. She stood firm and strong. The demon continued, "I was angered but I stopped. The thought of committing another sin stopped me from killing him. "I was aware that you wanted the child and would do anything for the child but you didn't know that you weren't destined to have the child.By tricking you to kill Maharishi's daughter, I could make Maharishi powerless. I knew very well about Maharishi's anger. I knew he would curse you. With that curse, you would lose the kingdom and I would gain it.", he revealed his evil plan."

"I released the clutches over him and fell down on the floor. My wife cried, realizing that we had lost everything we had. She blamed herself for being too blinded over the love for the child and causing me to be doomed. "You fool! You think you would get your desires fulfilled by tricking innocent people. You are blemish to Brahman society. After studying Vedas and scriptures, what did you learn? To trick! To use god gifted intelligence for such tainted activities.You disgust me.", Maharishi said.", the demon said.

He was at end of his story. He narrated the climax," I was shattered. My wife was crying uncontrollably while her well wishers consoled her. Maharashi looked at us and said, "I understand I made hastily action.I cannot reverse back. But I can at least amend what I said before. I was blinded by love for my daughter like you. I want to give you a boon. A boon that can help you suffer less." We watched him as he spoke, "You will serve as demons after the rays of sun touches the earth next morning. Your kingdom and people will perish into dust.You will eat flesh of tainted souls and torture the innocent who have forgotten the essence of God. An innocent soul will lead you to Lord. You will get salvation at hands of Lord. " We bowed down to him and took blessings. He left. We turned into demons next morning. Purohit , our kingdom and people perished into dust like he said."

He spoke about the years of suffering. The demon didn't have easy life. He and his wife had moved places to places, feeding on tainted souls. When the end arrived, they were locked into a small room of a house that they were haunting by a godman. "So why did you kill my friends? My friends weren't tainted souls. Why did you torture my family? You almost killed my mother and brother. How should we believe you?", Vicky asked. His doubts were still the same where it was when the demon had started narrating his story.

(To be continued) 

Mind Your Business - Part 26

Everyone watched intently as the demon unfolded his past. There was sorrow mixed with pain in his voice. "The forest was vast and thick. We spent nights and days, finding that golden deer.  We didn't find one. After days and nights of hunting for that deer, we were losing out on food. We started to feed ourselves on wild berries and raw meat.", he said. remembering days of hardship.

"We were collecting water for the night at the riverside one day. There, we found the golden deer. It was wandering other side of riverbank. We had never seen such spectacular being. The deer shined like the Sun. It had strong antler and body. We got ready to attack sneakingly.", he said and paused. 

The silence was haunting. "We used our best archers to get it. But it realized our attack as soon as the first arrow was released. It ran and we chased. The chasing went on for weeks. Then our luck struck, we injured the deer. As we cut it's head mercilessly, it shrieked. It's cry was loud and could be heard throughout the forest. Since the time I started with this mission, I didn't feel anything right. I should have followed my insight rather my emotions.", he said with a sigh.

"As we continued to return back home,  a voice stopped us. "Where are you going?", the voice asked. We turned back to see who it was. A furious sage stood firm. His eyes were bloodshot. The tremors could be felt in form of anger in his voice. "Where are you going after killing my daughter?", he asked again. We looked confused. "After years of devotions and tapas, Lord Rudra gave me boon in form of daughter. A daughter who was half deer and half human. But you took it away.", he said. We were astonished. We were unaware that gold deer was actually a human.. a daughter. We felt immense remorse taking away a child.", he said with guilt.

"The sage walked towards his daughter's body. He knelt down and touched it gently. Then he looked up at us. "I, Maharishi Sadhanand curse you for your sin. You will lose your kingdom and pride. You will never get what you want. You will turn into demons when the sun rays touches the earth next day.", he cursed. We had done unspeakable sin. We took away the child from a parent to satisfy our love for child.", he said 

"We bent down and begged him to revoke the curse. We accepted our mistake. "As per our royal priest, Purohit's order, we were asked to sacrifice the golden deer. We were not aware that she was your daughter. Please forgive us. Please revoke the curse on us.", we begged. "Purohit! He is your royal priest! That scoundrel used you to destroy me.", he said surprised. We were astonished. We didn't know that we were used as bait to kill  Maharishi's daughter. What was Purohit motive behind all this bothered us.", he said 

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 25

Pallavi smirked. "Saintly people! What big sin did you commit? ", she mocked them. Sakshi and Vicky looked astonished at each other. "I was King Shantanu and she was my Queen Dhami", the demon said, pointing it's long bony finger at the shadow emerging from mother's body. "Hmm! So you were hiding inside the poor old woman's body. Who is the other shadow?", Pallavi snarled.

"There is no other shadow. We are only two demons. The other shadow is illusion created by me.", the demon said. "Hmm! So what is your story, King Shantanu ? How did you become a demon? Why are you terrorizing the poor humans? How did you get yourself locked in the room of small house? Tell me everything.", Pallavi said.  The demon continued with it's story of hope, past life memories, determination and sin.

"I ruled my small kingdom with principles of dharma and justice. There was peace and prosperity everywhere. Our kingdom had abundance of wealth, food and shelter. No one was poor or hungry or homeless. Our kingdom was bound by laws of the God. After several years of contentment, my wife and I longed for a child. We had everything. Our people loved us. But we missed a careless laughter, curiosity and innocent mischievousness of our child. We wanted our  own child.",  King Shantanu reminisced.

The memories pained the demon as well as his wife's heart. The longingness of one's own child haunted them deeply. He paused to recollect his emotions for few minutes and said, "We did every possible to get the child. We did all kinds of rituals, yagnas and tapas. We sacrificed many things and donated wealth among the needy on outskirts of our kingdom. We begged every Gods and Goddesses. But our luck was hard on us. Maybe we weren't destined to get the child."

Sakshi felt the sorrow of the King and Queen. Tears welled in her eyes while Vicky calmed her down.  She understood their pain as she missed being with her kids most of times. "Our royal priest recommended us to adopt a child. My wife declined the suggestion. She wanted to enjoy the motherhood of giving birth to our child. He also suggested me to marry second time. I couldn't do it. I loved my wife very much. I didn't want to share my love with another woman for sole purpose of the child. Later he suggested something unthinkable which seemed okay to us that time. We wanted a child desperately. We were ready to do anything except adoption or second marriage."

The King's eyes glowed with anger when he started to continue with the story. "I should have adopted a child. At least being parent to orphaned child was good karma than doing this sin. I was so blinded by the love for having my own child that I was ready to do  this sin. As per my priest's instruction, my wife and I headed towards the forest, guided by thousand soldiers. In the forest, we were asked to bring the head of golden deer for the sacrifice. Had we known the repercussion of what we were going to do, we wouldn't have done it.", he said.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 24

The shadow snarled at Pallavi. It didn't have any effect on her. It snarled again. Pallavi didn't budge from her place. She stood still with her eyes closed. It didn't stop snarling. It kept circling Pallavi, trying ways to scare her. Unlike other humans, she wasn't scared.

Sakshi ran towards her brother. She hugged him. She caressed him. "Are you fine? Where is mother?", she asked. Vicky pointed up at the ceiling. Sakshi looked at the direction he pointed. She screamed, watching her mother strolling on the ceiling on a crab position. Mother looked at Sakshi. She laughed ghoulishly. She then stopped laughing and was about to sprang on her.

Sakshi rolled herself and her brother over to safer place. Mother missed her target. Nothing harmed her. She was fit and fine. She got up on all fours. She twisted her arms, hands, shoulders and every muscles in her body. Sakshi and Vicky stared at her with fear. Mother positioned herself to attack them.

Pallavi opened her eyes this time to look at the shadow. Her eyes were filled with rage that could kill the demon if it was fire. "Who are you?", she hissed. The shadow didn't answer. It kept circling her. "Why are you torturing the poor family?", she asked again. The shadow didn't answer.  She asked again, "Who are you? What brings you here? Tell me." There was no reply.  "You won't reply. I know how to get answers from you.", she said firmly.

She chanted a sacred mantra and blew the ash she had held in her hand. The shadow felt force making it stop and pushing it to center to face her. Mother fell unconscious before she could reach Sakshi. Sakshi and Vicky started to rush towards mother but were motioned to stop by Pallavi. The shadow slowly formed into ugly monster. "I am here to attain eternal bliss. I am here to complete my term of punishment for sins I did.", the demon said in monstrous voice.

Sakshi and Vicky watched the demon with confusion. "Eternal bliss! How can a demon like you achieve salvation? What good deeds have you done to achieve this eternal bliss? Instead of doing good deeds, you are torturing innocent people.", Pallavi mocked the demon. "We were not born as demons. We were cursed to be one. We were saintly people who believed in God. But one big sin changed our lives.", the demon said.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 23

Vicky lay hopelessly on the floor, trying to revive his body to get up. His efforts were futile. He felt frustrated for not moving even an inch. He lay on the same floor for hours he couldn't remember. He growled. He scowled. He frowned. But he didn't move. Mother laughed. Her laugh sounded like slow clicking sound of bush cricket.

As Sakshi walked, her mind was focused on well being of her brother and mother. She wished they were safe. The thought of two demons torturing them made her skip a heart beat. She reached her mother's room. She looked around for the door that would take her to her family. She didn't remember mother talking about the room. She shifted the furniture and knocked every wall. She even tapped the floors to find the hidden door. She only made fool of herself.

"Check under the bed. You will find the way",  Pallavi said. Sakshi did what she said. She crawled underneath the bed to find a knob on the floor. "I found it.", Sakshi squealed. She got out of the bed. Later she pushed the bed to a side so that she could open the knob comfortably. Then she slowly lifted the knob up.  It was trap door to the hidden room.

The door led to staircase to the hidden room. She slowly stepped down the stairs followed by Pallavi.  The steps again led her to a narrow passage. "Will this ever end?", she thought. She walked unaware of what she would see. She prayed that they were safe and alive. When she reached the end of passage, she took deep breath.

It wasn't pitch dark. Tiny candles lit the room. It was neither bright nor dark. It was enough to make people see. To her horror,she saw the black shadow was on top of Vicky. It looked like as if it was pulling his tongue out. Her mother was laughing and walking up and down the wall in crab position. Her heart stopped beating for a moment. She was petrified. The sweat beads slowly dripped from her face mixing with the salty tears drops.

"Vicky! No!", she screamed. Vicky looked at his sister at the corner of the eyes. He was relieved and nervous at the same time. The shadow stopped what it was doing. It turned it's focus towards Sakshi. Before it could do anything, Pallavi intervened. She raised her palm towards the shadow, motioning it to stop. She closed her eyes and started chanting sacred mantras. The shadow stopped and snarled at Pallavi.

(To be continued)

Mind Your Business - Part 22

Vicky lay unconsciousness on his back on the hard floor. The two black silhouettes circled around him like hungry vultures. The room  was dark and empty. It was a hidden room in the house. No one ventured here. No one really cared about this room. They never remembered existence of this room.

Slowly Vicky opened his eyes. After few minutes of blurry images, the vision became proper. His heart jumped and a small shriek came out of his mouth when he saw one of two ghastly shadow coming closer to him. He looked around to see where he was. He blinked his eyes, thinking it was one hell of a nightmare. When he looked up, he almost died. His mother was hanging on ceiling on crab posture.

Suddenly the shadow flew, covering the sight of his mother hanging. It was too close .. too close that he could smell rotting smell coming from the silhouettes. The smell caused his bile to come up. Due to fear, he forced himself not to vomit. He drank his own bile.

While in other part of the house, Sakshi and Sheila watched Pallavi do the rituals. The kids hugged Sheila tightly as they were scared to see what was happening around them. Sakshi worried about mother and Vicky. She wondered where they could be.

Pallavi adruptly turned towards Sakshi and said, "Mother and Vicky are at the room hidden in your mother's room. The demon has held them captive there."  It seemed like as if Pallavi read her heart. Sakshi immediately started towards the room followed by Sheila and the kids.  But they were stopped by Pallavi.

"Wait! Let Sheila and kids stay here. I will escort you.", she said firmly. Sakshi and Sheila watched her with confusion. "You cannot jeopardize the safety of the kids. You are facing a demon, not a human. You would need me.", Pallavi said. Sheila motioned Sakshi to go while she stayed back with the kids.

(To be continued)