Skip to main content

Karattoor (The Red #4)

 

“I would take one single – large”

A week has passed. Now I am here in this mountain village, Karattoor. I have isolated myself completely.

I have flown to this country, India. This hotel is by far the best that I can find here in this town. The reception guy looked to tall and too skinny. When I asked him about the availability of a single large room, he looked me up and down. Then, he asked me to fill the details in a registry. When I done filling the details, he looked at it. As he was checking my details, I asked him, “Can I get a corner room with balcony please?” – I saw the balcony outside this hotel, and I hoped it was available.

He never acknowledged me. Is he deaf or something? Then, he turned back and reached the key hanger. When he returned, he had a tall and slim key just like him.

“Ummm! What about the corner room I just asked? Is it available?”

“…”

He started reading something else as if he didn’t hear anything that I told him. I confirmed that he was deaf. There’s no use to argue with him anymore. I looked the key and the number sticker glued on it!

It was Room No 13. I grinned when I saw that number. Its on the top floor. When I reached the room, I was pleasantly surprised. It was the corner room after all. So, that guy wasn’t deaf. Whatever. I just got the room that I wanted.

I unlocked the room and it was so clean. I never expected this. But the room was so small. I unpacked my bag on the table. I placed my laptop on the table. 

I thought of Helena.

My watch showed 11:30 PM. The journey had been an exhausting one. I can feel my legs going numb. I dropped my shoes and socks. Turned off the lights and fell on the bed. Helena came again on my mind. What can I do without her? I must finish this draft. I should able to do it. I have done it before. And my eyes started shutting down slowly.

01:00 AM

All I could hear was the sound of crickets chirping. What is this place? I couldn’t able to identify this place. It is too dark and dense with grass and trees. What am I doing in the middle of this forest? Am I dreaming? I should be dreaming. The last thing I remember was falling on the bed and thinking about Helena. So, I must be in my dream. But I don’t like this dream. And who is that? I can feel somebody else is here with me.

Hello!!! What? I can’t able to talk. Where’s my voice? What kind of weird dream is this? I tried shouting once again. I can’t able to get my voice out of my vocal cord. But I can able to hear sound in a distant. I closed my eyes and listened to the tune. I can’t able to recognise it. So, I wanted to know where its coming from. I closed my eyes again. I can able to hear it now clearly. Or did the sound got amplified? It’s coming from…

Behind me! I slowly turned to know the source of the sound. But all I could see was the bushes and trees. I started to walk towards the music know. As I passed the bushes and the trees, I can see now. I was in the forest located in the back of this mansion. I heard that this mansion marks the end of this town. So, anything behind this mansion was just trees and bushes. At the end of this forest, starts the slope of this small mountain.

The music was getting louder and louder as I was walking towards the mansion. I can clearly see the mansion now. Straight to me was the balcony of my room. My room’s lights were turned off. Am I really dreaming? But still, I can’t able to find the source of this music. It was getting louder and louder though. Then suddenly I saw that. I felt something odd about my view in the front of me. The mansion’s backside was full of balconies of the room. All the lights in those rooms were off except one.

The room where the lights were on was my nearby room. And this room was where the weird music was coming from.

My legs stopped moving on its own as if sensing something that warned it not to move. But my eyes worked just fine. Something was not right about my neighbour room. I could feel it. I just don’t know it. Then it happened.

The music suddenly stopped. Someone unlocked the balcony door and came to the edge of the balcony. I looked closely on that person. That was a woman for sure. On seeing the woman, I had a sense of familiarity. I want to know who it was. That resolve of mine made my legs to work again. As I neared the balcony, I can able to see her clearly. Then the horror struck me.

“Helena” – I can hear my voice again. But the most important thing was how Helena know where I was. And what was she doing on that balcony. I screamed her name and walked swiftly. She looked at me. She is my Helena. She smiled at me. Her smile became laughter and then it turned hysteric. I could able to hear her laughter louder and clear from that distant. I started running towards her.

She suddenly stopped laughing and,

I never in my wildest dreams would’ve imagined something like this…

She had just jumped from the balcony.

Labels:
Location: Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

முதல் முத்தம்

முதல் முத்தம்  சிறுகதை  நவீன் செல்வகுமார்   இன்று(சனி)..  தனது PULSAR150ஐ, அதிகமான கார்கள் மற்றும் சில ரேஸ் பைக்குகள் நிறுத்தப்பட்டிருந்த பார்க்கிங்கில் ஒருவழியாக கிடைத்த சிறு இடத்தில நிறுத்தினான். அன்பு தன்னுடன் அலுவலுகத்தில் பணிபுரியும் அமித்தின் ‘BACHELOR PARTY’க்கு வந்திருந்தான்.இரவு எட்டு மணிக்கு வரவேண்டிய அமித்தின் 'BEACHHOUSE'க்கு 8.20க்கு வந்தடைந்தான். அமித்தின் BEACHHOUSEஐ சில வினாடிகள் ஏக்கமாய் பார்த்துவிட்டு வீட்டினுள்ளே நுழைந்தான்.செல்வராகவன் திரைப்படங்களில் வருவதுபோல் சிவப்பு பச்சை மஞ்சள் என வண்ண விளக்குகள் மின்ன ஆங்கில ராக் பாடல்களுடன் வெளியில் இருந்து பார்த்த அமைதிக்கு நேர் மாறாக அந்த அறை இருந்தது.அறை முழுவதும் மது வாசம் வீசியது. குறைந்த ஆடைகளுடன் பெண்களும் ஆண்களும் மதுகுவளைகளை கையில் ஏந்தியபடி ஆடிக்கொண்டிருந்தார்கள்.சிலர் தெய்வநிலை அடைந்த நிம்மதியில் சோபாவிழும் தரையிலும் கிடந்தார்கள்.அமித் அன்புவை வரவேற்று மது பாட்டிலை குடுத்து உபசரித்தான்.அன்பு அதை மறுத்துவிட்டு ஒரு மூலையில் போய் அமர்ந்தான்.அன்புவிற்கு மது பிடிக்காது.மது போதைக்காக இங்கு அவன் வரவில்ல...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aftermath of a trip is worse than a hangover

  The Wrap Up The Ooty trip had taught me too things! One – To spend minimally. Two – To plan stealthily. I brought a Jumbo Loan immediately after my Ooty Trip. After my discussion with my mom, it was inevitable for me to take a loan. The loan helped me to pay my credit card, my brother’s last year college fees and we had bought a water purifier too.  Surprisingly, I decided to take a 10 Year Asset Insurance plan and started saving 60k each year. I started saving for my Kanyakumari trip too. So, I have created an RD account for 6 month (I am going to break it out in 3 months... DUH!!) and started saving 3000 a month. Though it had its disappointments, the Ooty also had its fair share of enjoyments. It was a great beginning for the year 2021.   I had never imagined that I would watch two Selvaraghavan’s films on a new year (that too back-to-back). It had happened this year. Even completing a one-day Ooty trip was also an achievement of some sorts, excluding its...
Post a Comment
Read more

AWOL (The Red #2)

  “What the Hell, Ed” “Hey Babe! You look good” “Aff! Don’t call me Babe. And you look terrible! Wipe that cocaine off your mouth” “You got me Babe.” – She liked when I call her babe. Rolling her eyes, she helped herself inside my apartment. She knows all about my apartment. It was not long back my apartment was called our apartment. “This has to be something good, Ed. I never wanted to see you again. And I am tired reading all your drafts for all year.” – She never looked at me since she entered my apartment. She thinks that she is the reason for my lack of talent. She sat down on the sofa. “Babe. I know you feel guilty because you were the one who broke up with me. But it’s not your fault, Babe” – I can feel that it triggered something inside her. She suddenly looked at me, eyes blazing. “I feel guilty? Or I should be feeling guilty?” Shit! She took it in the wrong way. Before I can open the mouth, she started shouting. “It has been one year since we broke up. A...
Post a Comment
Read more