Wednesday, January 10, 2007

THE SICKLE

Disclaimer:All the characters are work of fiction.Any resemblance to anyone Living or Dead is purely Co-incidental.

Note:- This is my second attempt at writing a story(serious one).And another warning - it is terribly big, may be bigger than the first one.So hope you have the patience to read it and enjoy it.

October 13-Year 1999-Saturday-11:30A.M.

Aakaash always loved this time of the year.It was the period looming just before the harsh winter.There was rain in the air and he always loved it's sweet smell.His mom had warned him to carry an umbrella but he always wanted to get drenched.It had been a long week for him.He was struggling to cope up with the demands of his new job.He had been so engrossed in work that he hardly paid notice to the rain that was there all week.He had stayed back at his friends place the previous night as he had got too late to go back to home.It was 11 by the time his swollen eyes managed to open.He was feeling fresh, and happy that he had a 8 hour sleep after a long time.It was time to go back,he thought.Wearing his T-shirt and pulling his jumper over he started to trot back to home,as he thought it would be a great feeling to get drenched again.As he was passing by a local Pan Shop he noticed someone familiar in his vicnity.He could see her long platted hair fall gracefully over her back.Her silhoutte was something very familiar and striking.He recognised her instantly and was about to call out to her "A.....", when he restrained himself and thought "Why not I just sneak up behind her and surprise her?".So he slowly started to dilly dally his away among the crowd and was doing all this unnoticed.He felt something bad about the way she walked.She loved the rain just like him,but today she seemed to be too bothered by it.She was walking at break neck speed and he was finding it tough to keep up with her.He thought she was going to stop at the Kulfi palace to have her share of kulfi.She always loved the Kulfi's.But to his surprise she dint even seem to see it.She looked as if she was someone possessed.This was unusual.She dint seem to be even going to the tailor."Now where is she going?.I have to find it".She kept walking through lanes he had never been in before and he was surprised by her geographic knowledge.He always thought she dint seem to know much about the city.As each second passed by he was becoming more and more apprehensive."What is she doing going through such places?".As if by magic his querry was answered.He could see an old bungalow standing on it's own in a wide deserted area.It seemed vaguely familiar.He had seen it somewhere.He was unable to place it.It seemed very familiar but his memory wasnt helping him.At a little distance off there were huts which housed the families of those who worked at the coal mines.But not a single person in that area would have been aware of her presence.To his surprise she had the keys to the bungalow.She opened it as if in a trance but in her anxiety forgot to take the keys out along with her.He was feeling scared at this point."Should I go in?...I have to go in..I have to find out what she came for to such a place..".With such thoughts he entered slowly into the bungalow.He almost vomited the moment he set foot into the bungalow.There was this unmistakable stench of death emanicipating from somewhere inside.His pulse was racing "Has anything happened to her?...no nothing would have happened",he said to himself "If anything happened the body cudnt decompose so quickly".As he nudged himself to the stairs,he was relieved to see her.As he was about to ask her what sort of a game this was,he froze.He froze at the sight of an old sickle in her hand.Even more frightnening was her stare.She was staring intently at something.And there he saw it.Lying in a corner was a small girl around the age of 5.She was gagged and seemed to be unconscious.He could not believe what he was seeing.This was the woman he loved the most and all things were only pointing towards only 1 thing-She was a killer.His worst fears were confirmed when she dragged the kid from the corner and placed her in front of a huge portrait of Goddess Kali.He had to act and had to act fast.

October 13-Year 2000-Friday-04:30A.M.

Life had come a full circle for Aakaash.All his dreams were shattered on this same day an year back.It seemed so far away.He had forgotten what life was all this while.Now he realised what life is.He hadnt slept the whole night.His time was coming.There was precious little time left with him and all he could was reflect.But when your time comes you have a strange feeling,in the way that you can sense it.He knew the warden might might be here any moment.And there he was.This was no Bollywood movie where the law enforcers came late.He behaved the same way even today.The Lathi rattled away at the iron bars.Aakaash looked like a caged animal."Come out,Your time is up.",the warden barked."Just a moment",he replied back.He had managed to hide a photo of her's up his ass.That was one place were they could never search.He gazed at it and kissed it for one last time."What's that in your hand?" asked the warden."It's a picture of the woman I loved the most",he said.There was a sad look in the warden's eyes."Why did you have to do it?you seem to be a straight fellow.."

October 13-Year 1999-Saturday-12:45P.M.

His worst fears were confirmed when she dragged the kid from the corner and placed her in front of a huge portrait of Goddess Kali.He had to act and had to act fast.Her hands were raised like a Cobra's hood ready to strike."Amma please dont it...",he begged.She seemed to be electrocuted when she heard his voice."Ammaaa... please ma dont do it... v'll get this all right ma...v'll get all the help that is needed..I'll protect you..I am your son..please trust me",he sobbed.She started to weep profusely after seeing him.She was a terminally ill woman.Now aakaash was getting the picture.His dad had once told him "Aakaash you know why mom and I love you so much?"
Aakaash:Y dad?
Dad:When you were very young you had a sister called Aakaansha....I think you remember that much...you were only 3 years of age at that time...She was just one year of age when she was brutally murdered by our house maid.
Aakaash was shocked."Did my sister die at this same house?",he asked his dad."No dear at that time we used to stay at an old bungalow in this city.Dont u remember?The one with high towers adn which stood deserted among the mines....But after Aakaansha's death,we left it for good.We dint even bother to sell it.We dint want anyone else to inhabit that cursed house"
"How was my sister killed dad?" asked Aakaash."Her throat was slit open...",he said amidst tears.Everything seemed to be coming back to him.Now he realised why the house had seemed so familiar...this was his house...it was not just a house..it was a slaughter house.He felt a shiver run down his spine.His mom had killed her own daughter.He was very lucky to survive these many years.He had to shake the feeling off from his head.He had to save one life.That was of foremost importance,he thought."Amma please hand it over to me..everything is over...give it back...".She was lost in a sea of emotions and was wailing.Her shoulders dropped and her head stooped low.The sickle was hanging periliously close to the child's knee.The only saving grace was that the child was unconscious and she dint have to see all this.It was then that Aakaash thought"This is my chance..she is feeling helpless now..this is the best time to take the sickle out her hand...".As he took a couple of steps towards her she swung the sickle like a whiplash.He was too shocked to react and it hit the spot on the left shoulder.It was a sickening feeling when he felt the sickle go through his shoulder.He could hear the swoosh from the swing and felt its sharpeness as it cut through him.Blood was oozing all over his shirt and biceps.He just collapsed in pain."Amma please ma...dont kill me..I am your son...",he begged."I wont kill you..I have to kill her..it is kali's wish and I have to honour her...you are a man so I wont kill you..".With this she took a couple of steps towards the child and twisted her neck upwards and sent the sickle down in a spiral.There was a momentary gasp from the child even though it was unconscious.The child was gone.The sight of the dead child sickened him.He felt tears flow down his cheek.He felt his world come crashing down.He saw his mom kneel before the portrait of Goddess Kali and pray.There was a sudden rage inside him.He couldnt let this go on and on.He stood up gingerly and found a broken bathroom tile by side.He cudnt think too much.He had to do it.His mom was still kneeling down and praying.She hadnt seen him stand and pick up the tile.Aakaash took a deep breath and swung the tile down with all his might.He could feel the skull crack open with the impact.She collapsed without a word.It wasnt done yet,he thought."It has to end the way it started".He picked up the sickle and almost instantly had a strange feeling.The feeling to kill.He looked at her for one last time and swung it.It had ended the way it started.He found himself lying beside his mother wailing.He loved her so much and it had to come down to this.He had killed his mom because he dint want her to be humiliated by the Police,the Judiciary and the people.He knew they would sentence her to death and their family would be cursed for ever.His father would be broken if he ever knew that his wife was a serial killer.He dint want to kill himself.He wanted to protect the honour of his mother.What ever she was she was his dear mom.He hit his head against the walls for having been forced to kill his own mother.He prayed that such a situation should not arise for an enemy also.He felt guilty.He wanted to be punished.He had taken away the life of the person who had given birth to him and showered him with love.There was only one way out.He had to create a situation where all the blame would befall him.It helped that his finger prints were all over the place and even on the sickle.He rushed into the bedroom and saw bones all over.From the no of skulls he estimated that there were around 4 bodies in there.He had devised a plan.He would create an impression that he had this fantasy for killing right from his childhood when he first smelt blood killing his little sister.No one would doubt a 3 year old kid of slaying his own sister with a sickle.As his age grew so his desire to kill.This would be an ingenious story and with the right amount of research and lies he could get the jury to turn on him.

October 13-Year 2000-Friday-04:45A.M.

."Why did you have to do it?you seem to be a straight fellow.."
"Take me to the gallows...I want to be hanged..."
"Cant you even repent at the time of your death...you dint say anything at the court also..."
Aakaash remembered the court only too well.The court was like a naked dance bar where one danced to a fool's whims.He remembered the court and the court scene.

Court Room:

It was 4 months since the trial for the sensational serial killings had begun.Aakaash had fooled the CBI into beleiving that he was the killer.He was lucky in a sense.The Narco Analysis tets were not prevalnt in India at that time.Had this incident happened a couple of years later the truth serum would have gotten everything out his system and he would have never been able to save the honour of his mother.But by God's grace everything worked to plan.It was the most awaited day of the judgement.The judge was about to deliver his verdict.The judge had an inclination for histrionics.
"Based on the clues collected and the own Confessions of Prime Accussed,the conclusion that can be drawn from this case is A sickle controlled by a mind that is fickle is dangerous and so.."
"Cut the crap you b******,you are an even more sick person than me, who derives pleasure in making one listen to vocabulary shit before he dies"...Thud came a rifle which banged into his head from behind..his mind was filled with pain and he was blacking out...he dint have to hear to rest of the verdict.... But he had to hear it from his father..."I wish I could be like you,just take a sickle and slit your throat,you b******"
"Dad,dont insult mom..she was never that kind of an woman and I am not her illegal child",he said evenly
"F*** you b*****,dont ever look into my eyes again..i am very happy that you have senteced to death..rot in hell..you are not my son..",he said choking...
"Dad stop insulting mom"...Aakaash was crying within..he wanted to reach out to his dad and tell the truth..but his love for his mom stopped him..He had to act like a cold blooded scoundrel before his dad...it was hurting inside...it was hurting bigtime....

October 13-Year 2000-Friday-04:45A.M.

"Cant you even repent at the time of your death...you dint say anything at the court also..."
"Take me to the gallows...I want to be hanged..."

He was shoved away to the podium where all arrangements were made for him to be with his mom.The doctor checked his pulse and said "Your pulse is racing...Are you scared?"...Aakaash smiled at him and said "No I am very excited...I am going to be with my mom again.."There was silence everywhere.Couple of reporters from the press,a father of one of the victims and Aakash's father were among those who were present to watch the execution.
"Any last wishes?",he was asked...
"Tell my father that I love him a lot and also tell him I have never let him down..not even now...."
"Anything else?"
"No"
He was led towards the place.The rope was placed around his neck.He felt the smooth colour of black all over him.His face was covered.He felt the noose tighten."Mom I love you",he said to himself.And then it was over....

P.S:Happy New Year