Friday, April 14, 2017

41. From Scratch to Thud

I was locked in a dungeon. There was a black cat near me, blood dripping from its mouth, licking its own injured tail. It looked at me with a vicious smile. I tried to run, but stumbled on a giant glass with image of Sethu looking at me
I woke up to find Sethu with a concerned look

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I came to stay with my cousin Sethu during my one month stint in the city. Sethu’s routines were strange, and he had his own weird theories on everything.
‘Don’t speak with neighbours. Be as inconspicuous as possible’. He said. His landlord had a no visitor rule.

He had a withered tree in his backyard. “It’s my cat Britto. I used to tie him on the tree. One Friday 13th he disappeared, and this scar appeared on the tree.” He explained with utmost seriousness.
It should have been a lightning, and the scared cat ran away. ‘And who’d tie a cat?’  I wondered.
But I couldn’t explain the scratching noise the tree made

He breaks his mirror regularly. “It broke even before I dropped. I saw Britto appear in it.” He’d say
“It’s ancient magic, needs two people. If only someone believes me, I can bring him back” he used to plead with me

It was Friday 13th. I was leaving town that day. “Please stay this night with me” he pleaded
“You are afraid of this, See nothing happens” I ran and touched the tree. BANGGGGG

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I am caught in this dungeon since that day. Whenever Sethu looks at a mirror, I could see him, starring helplessly. He stopped using mirror altogether nowadays.
One day I heard him plead a friend “Trust me, my cat and my cousin are still on other side of this tree”
“The cat ran away. And we all know you had no roommate” his friend dismissed. My torso banging the dungeon wall made no difference


People nowadays hear a thud when they pass by the tree, instead of a scratch. Thud… Thud…. Thud….

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