MANIAC'S MIRROR, antim abhay [learn to read activity book .TXT] 📗

to see that it was hollow from inside and was filled with Diamonds and so were the other books too. The police arrested Dom. Araaya confused and scared asked Karen, “Please tell me what’s going on?”

Karen answered, “Dom has committed two murders, its better you ask him.”

Araaya looked at Dom, who stared at the sea quietly, then he spoke, “Miss Karen is right, I murdered Tucker because he raped and killed Mili, the girl I loved, and he killed her father the studio owner when he protested.”

“Tell us why you murdered the artist?” Karen asked.

“I murdered John, so that Tucker’s men and the Mafia couldn’t track me. I wanted to leave no trace of my identity here in the Island…” Dom stated.

“So he destroyed the photograph and killed a man who could have made his exact sketch” Lamper cut in.

“Why Mafia or anyone would want to come after you?” asked Araaya.

When Dom didn’t say anything Karen explained, “Mr Tucker had connections with Mafia as he was into money laundering. Dom was his accomplice in this; everything was going fine until the village girl came between them. Mr Tucker used to hide his diamonds in the thick Ledger books, and Dom was aware of this, after killing him he wanted to run away with the diamonds. You can ask Mr Lapian he also knew about this but being afraid he never told this to anyone”.

“Dom would have ditched you after leaving the island, believe me Araaya”, Lamper added.

“That’s why Mr Lamper was following you… look he is right over there hiding behind the lamppost” Karen told Araaya. Araaya saw Mr Lapian who slowly started coming towards her; he was confused about what was going on.

Smoking his cigarette while relaxing in the apartment Lamper asked his friend, “How did you come to know so much about the case?” Karen who was reading a book said without looking up, “I guessed there could be two suspects, Lapian the banker and Dom, as they were in the photograph, only they would want to destroy it, so that no one could send anyone after them once they flee after committing a crime. My attention was on the banker because he had good reasons to do so, I thought he might run away with the bank’s money, but I realized I was wrong, he is a good man, and then I focused my attention on Dom, but I couldn’t find any evidence to prove his crime. When Dom mentioned leaving the Island then it was very easy for me, and I caught him red handed, rest of the story he told himself. The two ruffians who terrorized Dom were from Mafia, who beat Dom because of some unfair deal, Dom just made the story to cover the truth from Araaya… Maybe it was God’s wish that we go to that island, that’s why he sent her to us… However friend I am really sorry for you, she is indeed a good lady… she’d be happy with the banker… meanwhile, you can mend your broken heart with this…” She took something shiny from her cardigan and dropped it on Lamper’s palm, leering at the stone Lamper let out a smile and continued smoking his cigarette.

 

***

 

Merry go round

 

A boy and a girl went to a fair. This fair was not like any other fair, and it had just one ride, a merry go round and it wasn’t functional. There were also three shops which were closed too. There were other kids who were wandering here and there; no adult could be seen in that place. Suddenly a voice came from a loud speaker near the merry go round, ‘the ride is going to start in few minutes, and kids can grab a seat in the ride.’ The boy and the girl with all the other excited kids ran towards the merry go round and grabbed a seat. All of them were surprised to find out that the number of seats in the ride was exactly the same as the total number of kids present in the fair. Everyone eagerly waited for the ride to start.

 

The Merry go round started; it went clockwise. All the kids shouted with joy, but the boy felt sick, he noticed the girl is enjoying. And suddenly the ride changed its direction and started to swing anti-clockwise as a result of which now the girl was feeling sick, and the boy started enjoying.

 

After some time, the ride stopped, and everyone got down. The three shops were open now one selling food one sold books, and one was empty and dark. The boy and the girl went inside the empty shop and slept. Other kids revelled the whole night.

 

Next evening the loudspeaker announced the same words again. The kids again ran and grabbed a seat, but two seats stayed empty this time as the boy and the girl were apprehensive, the Merry go round didn’t start this time as if it was waiting for the two kids. Then the girl took the boy’s hand and both took their seats in the ride, this time they didn’t find seats together but they could clearly see each other’s faces. When the ride started the boy again felt sick, and he saw the girl enjoying but to his surprise he saw that like him, rest of the kids were feeling sick and this time they were not enjoying. Then after some time when the ride changed its direction of rotation boy started feeling light and was enjoying and as the boy thought the girl got sick now. The rest of the kids still not feeling well were shouting to stop the ride. After sometimes the ride stopped, and everybody went to the empty stall and slept.

 

 

***

 

 The wise farmer and the wild bear

 

This is an old story belonging to those ancient times when the animals had the ability to talk like humans. Story begins when an old farmer has a dispute with his landlord over the land. The landlord seized his farm just before the harvesting time. He was left only with a hoe, a harrow, a bullock and a cart.

 

The farmer had no family and lived alone; he was a very quick witted and hardworking man. The farmer had faith on god, even after what happened, he didn’t lose hope and planned strategy to earn for his living. He sold the harrow and bought some food to last for a month and dry radish seeds. He then took the seeds and his hoe to a nearby forest, there he started digging the land with his hoe. A bear saw him and came towards him running. The farmer didn’t even flinch and ordered the bear to stop. The bear came to halt right in front of him and growled, “I will break your bones and eat your flesh.” The farmer replied to him calmly, “You can do that, but don’t you see I am growing vegetables here, they will mellow in a month then there be a lot of food for both of us to last whole summer”. Hearing this, the bear said “I will not eat you, but since this forest is

 

 

mine, we will divide the yield equally”. The farmer said, “You can keep the stems, and I will take the roots, but you see I am very old and this is taking a lot of time, you have to help me dig the forest”. The bear agreed and dig the forest land with his strong claws very soon while the farmer rested under a tree. After the ground had been dug, the farmer sowed all the seeds. The farmer then went home.

 

One month later, he came back to the forest and saw large radishes. Suddenly, the bear came over, they both harvested the yield and as per the deal the bear took the stems and farmer took the roots. The farmer loaded his bullock cart with the radishes and went to the market. He sold all the radishes and made a lot of money. The farmer bought a piece of land and sowed wheat in it. On the day of harvest when the farmer arrived at the farm, he saw the bear waiting there for him. Seeing the farmer, the bear growled, “I will rip you apart, you cheated me. I ate some of the roots that were lying on the forest floor, and they tasted a lot better than the stems, now I will eat you.” The farmer calmly replied, “If you liked the root you can take all the roots this time and I will take the stems.” The bear agreed and took the roots, and the farmer took all the stems and quickly departed. Bear chewed and chewed the woody roots and injured his mouths. The bear writhed with pain and cursed the farmer, from that day till today, bears and farmers are known to be arch enemies.

 

***

Author's note

No one can tell exactly when the sufferings would end in our world, the way no one can tell when a life would end. I cannot tell who I am, the way I cannot tell where everything comes from. But I can say everything will be alright the way I look at the clock and tell the time.

 

Hope my work helps you find peace.

 

antimabhay@gmail.com

 

 

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 also by antim abhay:

 

 

* The Toolshed

 

*Temple of the Machine

Imprint

Publication Date: 12-16-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
to my parents and fufu