The Gift
Page 5
Chapter Five
“Why would I kill you?”
“No idea."
Sarthak craned his neck and stared at the surface of the lake. He shook his head. “Why would I kill your father?”
“No idea.”
Sarthak rubbed his hands furiously, placed them on his face. “Why on earth would I kill Mr. Mehra?”
Rajan couldn’t resist anymore. He finally burst his frustration out. “I bloody have no idea about it!” A moment passed and he felt the buzz of people he was hearing had ceased. He looked around and found parents along with their children came for an evening stroll at the lakeside were staring at him. Embarrassed, he again slumped his head. “I said what I saw.”
“Wait.” Sarthak leaned so that only Rajan could hear his words. “You said that first you saw your father being murdered. Well, that was usual. I mean you have been suffering that memory from a long time. And then you witnessed another dream of me murdering Mr. Mehra, right?”
Rajan nodded.
“A dream inside a dream,” Sarthak scratched his chin. “Were you watching Inception last night?”
Rajan looked at him with disbelief. “What?”
“Inception,” Sarthak docked his head. “Nolan’s masterpiece…”
“I know it’s a movie!” Rajan cut him off in mid. “And since when did a person like you have started watching movies?”
Sarthak smiled. “You need to do something to kill the time. Remember, retirement sucks! I am missing those days.” He sighed. “Enough of an old man’s rambling. We have a problem of yours and we have to deal with it. I just wish your uncle was alive. He was the person who exactly knew what to say something that can encourage you. I am afraid, Rajan, I cannot be like your uncle.”
“It’s okay.” Rajan said with a renewed enthusiasm. “What you have taught me in these years had shaped my entire life. And that is something even uncle would fail to teach.”
Sarthak’s eyes lit up with pride. “You have started playing with words.”
Rajan beamed and then his smile again turned into a sneer. “Does these dreams make any kind of sense?”
Sarthak pondered for a while. Something struck him. Pulling out his phone from his pocket, he started looking for something in its browser. “Last night I stumbled upon this guy’s blog. He had written something on dreams. As per his research, he claims that everything you notice in your dreams has come connections with your present or your future. Have a look.”
“Unfolding the dreams,” Rajan read the title of the blogpost. He quickly skimmed through its content. As mentioned by Sarthak, the blogger had distinguished the items and wrote what it implies in the real life. Rajan’s eyes stopped at one such item. “Death. This indicates a long life. But a sick person dreaming of death has positive results.” He looked at his mentor. “This is a crap!”
“Hey,” Sarthak snapped. “You are suffering and you always see death in your dreams. And this time you were dead twice. What if that indicates that you are going to finally find your answers.”
“Do you really believe in the crap he writes.” Rajan tossed the phone back to its owner.
“Nope. But sometimes our minds ignore and fails to showcase the truth in our dreams. A mind is restless and vulnerable when it is alone.”
Rajan stiffened.
“Enough of this talk,” Sarthak said. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home and rest? I can drive you to your place.”
Shock stabbed Rajan.
“Rajan,” Sarthak clamped on the shoulder. “You look as if you had seen a ghost.”
Closing his eyes, Rajan tried to suppress this sequence of the events. Whatever Sarthak had spoken in last few moments were the exact words he had quoted in Rajan’s dreams. For a while, Rajan considered what he had read in that blogpost. Could dreams be linked to reality?
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Let’s get home.”
Sathak drove the car towards the other side of the city, crossing near Mr. Mehra’s mansion. Rajan squinted through the window and found Mr. Mehra and his beautiful wife sharing a private talk in their garden, while their son was playing with servants beside them. Everyone seemed happy. “So it was just a dream.”
When they reached at Rajan’s home, Sarthak stopped him near the door. “Rajan, I want you to be mentally prepared before what you see inside the room.”
Rajan frowned. Again Sarthak had quoted from his dreams. Before he could ask something, Sarthak pressed the bell.
The door swung open and Rajan’s heart missed a beat.
Inside the room was her mother along with Chitra, each wearing a dazzling smile. “Happy B’day!” They both shouted with glee.
Rajan smiled and was about to reach Chitra, he realized her mother was too there. He immediately turned his feet and hugged her. “Maa,” he whispered in her ears. “This was surprising!”
“It was your girlfriend’s idea,” she whispered back.
Rajan jerked back, smiling sheepishly. “Thank you, Chitra.”
“Not a big deal,” she winked with a mischievous smile. Maa coughed as to announce that she had noticed what was transpiring between the young ones.
Sarthak smacked his back with a thud. “Happy B’day, Rajan.”
He grinned back.
“Rajan,” Maa stepped ahead. “Your uncle left his last gift before he passed away. He told me to provide it to you on your birthday. I have kept it in your room.”
Realizing the affection his uncle had showered upon him, Rajan ran for his room. He excitedly opened the door and the gift, a size of a thick book, wrapped with a brown paper was waiting for him on his bed.
Fido, his pet dog, lifted his head, noticed his master, and again went to his sleep.
Rajan found an envelope near the gift. He tore its edge and slipped its content in his hand. Unfolding the letter, he began to read.
Dear nephew,
I know you’d be thinking why I wrote this letter and why I told your mother to place this gift in your room. I had no son, and for a reason, I remained unmarried. But while taking care of you and my sister, I enjoyed every luxury of being with a family. Thanks for making my life purposeful. Now, it’s your b’day and doctor had already predicted that I had a couple of weeks to live. Till now, on each birthday, I had gifted you books and tools that could sharpen your skills and improves your life. And this, being the last gift, I wanted to share something that can help you, something that I had used. Tell your mother, I had done everything for her. Forgive me for not attending your birthday, nephew. Happy Birthday. Stay blessed.
Forgive me.
Yours lovingly,
Uncle Amit
Tears began to slip from corners of Rajan’s eyes. He unwrapped the gift and his eyes shone with surprise. He lifted it up, towards the window. And for the first time he noticed the light instead of churning darkness filering through sockets of the gift. The golden mask.
###
About the Author
Currently I am pursuing MBA in Construction Project Management from RICS School of Built Environment. A fantasy fanatic and an avid reader of thrillers, I dwell at a small port named Jafrabad, nestled near Arabian Sea. In my spare time, I flip open my laptop and starts filling the barren documents with my imagination. For me, writing is fun. It succors my soul.
Fortunately, my short stories have published in various anthologies. From heart pounding thriller to flying butterflies romance, from nail biting mystery to spine chilling horror, I've written on various genres.
Blogging, random photography and devising philosophies are my favorite ways to kill the time. In short, I am eccentric and ambivert.
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