A Lesson to Remember

The hot afternoon sun blazed through the canopy of trees and rays of sunlight filtered through the dense vegetation. Even the animals had gone into hiding, away from the blistering sun. Yet, Aurushi and Akash were unwavering in their meditation even though the walnut tree under which they sat, barely provided them a decent shade.

Today is their eleventh day in the forest. They left their monastery in search of inner peace and were promised to be met by their sage. Not a leaf moved as the wind refused to blow its cool breeze. Suddenly, they heard the twigs breaking and the leaves rustling. A frail boy appeared and pleaded for some water.

Akash immediately warned Aurushi, “We don’t know when our sage will arrive. We might not have enough water, so…” he turned towards the boy and tried to shoo him away. Aurushi’s heart sank. She could not bear the sight of the heat-tormented boy and refused to ignore him. Her humanity was stronger than her own survival, so she poured him her share of the water for the day into a wooden cup.

To their surprise, the young boy drank to the last drop and returned the cup to Aurushi. “What?” she exclaimed in shock, looking at the cup filled to the brim.

The young boy smiled and revealed his true form. It turned out that he was the wise sage they had been waiting for. He bestowed blessings and timeless wisdom upon Aurushi and promised her that her cup will never run dry. Before walking away, he told Akash that God is formless and you should see God in everyone and anyone.

A Horror Story - The Town's Secret

“Where on earth have you been? I have been worried sick!” Mrs Di Laurentis looked worried as Wren walked in with a brown paper bag overflowing with groceries. “Mum, I’m almost 18! I can handle myself!” and started stocking up the fridge.

                        

That afternoon, Wren left a note on the kitchen counter that he was stepping out about some college application and headed out to meet Toby Cavanough. They took the bus number 27B to Riverdale College. As the driver turned into Walner Street and drove past the houses, the boys couldn’t help noticing Mrs Marin sitting by the porch, sipping her iced tea. She had snow-white hair and the iciest blue eyes with which she cast them a spine-chilling glare. Her gaze was fixed on them, even if the bus faded into the distance. They looked away.

                        

“Hi, I’m Spencer Hastings, a senior here. I’ll be helpin-” the skinny girl in a blue sweatshirt paused a moment without finishing her sentence. Wren observed her lower lip quivering and immediately pointed to a different senior in a different table.

                        

“Hi, I’m Emily Fields and I will be helping you with your college application,” said the girl at the table. She looked a little frightened but still advised him anyway. Wren wondered why they were all so afraid of him. As he was leaving, Wren heard Emily talking to Spencer about some kind of sign and what had happened 18 years ago.

                        

What happened 18 years ago was history in the small town of Riverdale. It was never really clear, but Wren had enough. He wanted to know what happened 18 years ago that made the whole town shut up. He and Toby tried to figure it out and even asked their own parents but no to avail. They just changed the topic.

                        

On the way to Toby’s house the next morning, Wren saw police outside of Mrs Marin’s house. Her corpse, which had a stab in the stomach, was being carried out into a minivan for investigation. Wren tried to ask Officer Holbrook to let them see the house but he wouldn’t let them. “It’s not important,” he shrugged. Wren managed to sneak in the house and saw that there were signs drawn on the walls messily in blood. “She must have done this when she was murdered! This was the sign Spencer and Emily were talking about yesterday,” Wren thought to himself.

                                                                              §

                        

Two days later, Wren woke up to a birthday banner and breakfast in bed from his mum. “Happy 18^th Birthday!” she said as she kissed him on the forehead. He thanked her and had some quality time with her till the evening. Mrs Di Laurentis said that she had to go for a work dinner with her boss and staff.

                        

Wren was really bored that night so he decided to clean up the house. He took all the boxes filled with books and placed them in the attic. Once the attic was filled up, there was no more space to keep things so he went down to the basement, which he had not been to for years. As he carried the heavy boxes into the crammed, damp basement, he heard loud chants. He tried to hear where they were coming from. He stumbled upon a lid of a trapdoor. “I didn’t know we had a trapdoor,” he thought to himself. He opened the lid and walked down the old, creaky wooden steps.

                        

The moment he stepped in, he saw that it had been transformed into a dimly lit chamber. He saw his mum, Officer Holbrook and nearly quarter the small town sitting in a big circle with the sign Mrs Marin drew on the walls of her home the night she was murdered. There was also a big fire at the edge of the chamber. The moment they acknowledged Wren’s presence, silence fell across the room. “You have finally come,” Mrs Di Laurentis boomed. “We have been waiting for you for 18 years. Now is finally the time!”

                        

Wren was confused. “18 years ago, we created a monster from this symbol, you, and you terrified all the people in this town. This whole town agreed to never tell anybody about this, and if they did, they would be settled, like Mrs Marin,” she snorted. Wren was shocked. He now understood why Mrs Marin would always stare at him, why Spencer and Emily was so scared of him and even why Officer Holbrook didn’t allow him to go in the house.

 “To keep you under control, every week we had to chant together to this powerful symbol. After 18 years, exactly on your birthday, we will have to sacrifice you to the God of the Symbol. Come, my child, come to me,” she bellowed as everybody got up to grab him. Someone managed to get hold of him and nearly pushed him into the fire…

                        

Wren woke up with sweat dripping down his neck, his head drenched with sweat and throbbing, his heart pumping so fast. “Thank God that was just a dream,” Wren thought. 

He felt thankful and relieved… until he heard chanting coming from below.