Rain Flower
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“Why I am not feeling any different in a place where my brother turned mad.” Jasmine surprisingly asked diverting the topic. “This room appears quite normal. I cannot see anything different here.”
There was silence again. Even while talking with them both, Rose was observing that room quite carefully once again but she too could not find anything different there.
“I am thinking that it is not the place that made your brother mad like that.” Liza said.
Rose and Jasmine did not say anything. They were completely occupied with some thinking.
“At the same time it is not because of lack of oxygen or something like that made your brother so.”
Rose looked at her sister irritatingly. She did not like the discussion of that topic then.
“What it would be then?” Jasmine asked her.
“That is what we need to know.” Liza said.
***
“Yes. Tippu came to me. But he stayed with me only one day.” His aunt said to John. She might be aged seventy years or so but appearing firm and strong. “I am the only relative to him after his uncle. He used to visit me often in the past. But lately he was coming yearly once or so.”
“Is he is not here now?” John despaired after hearing what she had said.
“No. He had stayed with me only one day. He did not talk much with me even on that day either. He left.”
“Did he say anything before leaving this place?”
“He said that he would come to me again on the evening of that day. But he did not come at all. Why he lied to me like that I cannot understand.”
“Tippu said that he would come to you again on the evening of that day?” John asked her surprisingly.
“Yes, he said so to me. He asked me to prepare the special fish curry for him.”
“Then why he did not come like that as he said?” Interest was picked up in John.
“I already said I don’t know. He might have left for his working place.”
“He was not there. I have come from that place.” John said.
“Then where he has gone?” anxiety crept into her face on hearing that. “Did something happen to him?”
“We wish nothing bad happened to him.” John said. “But his whereabouts are very important to me.”
“This is the only place he visits occasionally as much as I know. I don’t know whether there are any other places he wants to visit.” There has come a change in the voice of that old woman. John understood that she started feeling worry about Tippu.
“Is he is having any friends in this village?”
“Not many. But he has one close friend in the village, Micheal. He meets him every time he visits the village.” She said.
“I cannot say whether he met Micheal or not in the recent visit.” She said again as if she guessed what was John going to ask.
“Alright. I go and inquire with that Micheal.” John got up. “Thank you very much for the information.”
“Please let me know if you do come to know anything about Tippu.” The old woman pleaded with John.
“Sure I do that.” Saying so John left that place.
***
“Yes. Tippu met me.” Micheal said when John asked him. “Whenever he comes here, he sure meets me. I am the only close friend to him here.”
“What you both have talked? Did he say where he was going?” John again questioned him
“Who are you? Why do I give answers to your questions?” They both were in the small bar of that village.
John told him about his mission. Micheal worried more on hearing that. “Surely Tippu is in some danger.” He said.
“Why you are not drinking much.” As John was very liberal with his glass he said. John was entertaining him in that small bar with his money and giving him company for courtesy’s sake.
“I am worrying about Tippu a lot. He may be in danger as you said. I cannot concentrate on anything else.” John found that very convenient to lie to him.
“Yes, I am also very much worrying about him.” Making very heavy sip of his drink Micheal said.
“First tell me what you both have talked.” John got irritated.
“Sure I do tell you.” He paused for a moment and then said. “He behaved very strangely here. In fact whenever he comes to the village we both go to a woman here and have it jointly. We did not do that this time.”
“What?” John disgusted on hearing that. ‘Is he talking fact or rambling in the slumber of drinking?’ he could not understand.
“Yes, I am telling you the truth. He would not come here often. But whenever he comes, we don’t fail to do that. She likes him a lot as he gives her lot of money.”
“Alright.” John irritated even more but controlled himself with difficulty.
“I too go to her once or twice in a month. But she did not like me as much as she liked him since I cannot give much money.”
“Alright. It is not important. Tell me, what you both have talked.” John used his all will power not to lose his patience.
“He said he did a mistake. A grave mistake which he should not have committed.” His voice slurred as his drinking became heavier.
Suddenly John became alert. His interest picked up at once. “What?”
“He was not clear much. He did not say much either. We both have talked in this bar itself. Just like every time he bore all the expenditure.”
John impatiently waited while he took another big sip. “Tell me.” He poked him on his right shoulder with his right hand.
“He told me that he made his master to see something. It did not go as he expected.”
John felt as if he received an electric shock. “Did he say like that to you?”
“Yes.” His speech became even more slurry as he drank too much. John started feeling he would not be even that much sober for long to answer his questions.
“What he made him to see and where?” as his heart beat with increasing speed he asked him.
“He did not tell me about that. He was not clear about anything” ‘I already told you.’ Look was on his face.
“But he said he would not leave him.” He further said after a pause.
“Who?” John expected such answer and asked him.
“He said some Chief. Only that much. He did not tell me more.”
“Chief?” John asked for clarity.
“Yes, I think I heard it like that.”
“Why they do kill him for that?” John asked but understood his position became beyond answering any questions.
“No. I cannot remember anything more.” He slumped forward on the table
***
“I am not going to let you drink anything until you answer all my questions.” They both sat in the house of Tippu’s aunt. When Micheal pleaded with him to go to the bar John said.
“But I cannot remember anything more than that.” Micheal said.
“You might have heard something vital and forgot. Do you know in what a grave danger your friend is?” John seriously asked him.
“Yes, answer his questions and save your friend.” Tippu’s aunt said. “I am also very much worrying about Tippu.”
“But what can I do if he did not say anything more than that? It is not my forgetting about things. He just did not say anything more than what I have said to you”. Micheal irritated. He was waiting expectantly to go to the bar again.
John coxed him, cajoled him and asked him in many other ways and understood what he was saying was the truth. Then he gave him some money to go to the bar.
“Don’t you come this time with me?” Micheal asked him.
“No, I cannot. I have to go.” Saying a goodbye to the old woman there he came out of the hut.
Micheal hurriedly came after him. “Just wait.” He said.
“What?” John asked him irritatingly.
“If you are interested, we both can go to that woman.” Micheal said looking into the face of John. “She is very beautiful.”
“No. I am not interested.” John moved away fast from that place.
***
He was in her arms, her smooth body enveloped him and she was planting hot kisses on his face. He too kissed on her both eyes and he reached the backside of her left ear and kissed on the tender skin before biting it a little. There was a yell from her with pleasure and he was sensing her body undulating under him.
The heat of her flesh was giving him unbearable joy. Strong pleasure waves were sweeping all over his body. Suddenly his body slackened over her and he became like an emptied balloon. He wanted to slide on the side of her, but her grip tightened around him even more then.
He woke up from the dream. He realized that it was not just a dream but part of his past. He wanted to get up from the place where he was. His mind sent strong suggestions to his body to move but it was not. It was just like glued to the chair he sat. He realized that he was in his study room seated in the chair there and slipped into sleep then got a dream like reality. What he could not understand was why he was not able to get up from the chair.
He was trying his level best to free himself from the hold. It was just like that he was held with ropes. He could not even open his eyes. He never had felt it like this. Was he afflicted with a new disease? He was confused and started worrying. His heart filled with fear and he desperately wanted to be free.
He at once startled and came into this world when he sensed a hand on his shoulder.
“You are sleeping in the chair itself?” Rose asked him squeezing his shoulder.
“Oh! You! You saved my soul. I suffered hell till now.” He explained to her what happened. “I am feeling fear that I have been afflicted with a new disease as if this memory loss is not enough for me.”
Rose laughed and said. “You are unnecessarily worrying. It is not at all something that you have to feel anxiety.”
“Then what it is? You do take everything easily. You don’t know how much I have suffered.” Williams got irritated.
“I can understand.” Rose was still smiling. “But it is not a disease. It is not something that you have to feel anxiety. Everyone feels it at some point of time or other. It is called as sleep paralysis.”
“You are saying it as paralysis and not dangerous. How a paralysis cannot be dangerous?” Williams confused.
“I did not say simply paralysis. I said sleep paralysis.”
“What is the bloody hell of difference between sleep paralysis and physical paralysis?’ Williams was still irritated.
“Before you understand the difference between these two terms, you have to understand the sleep process. When you sleep, in fact two things do go into sleep simultaneously, one is your mind and the other is your body. Only if these two sleep at once it would be a proper sleep. And when waking up also it happens in the same way. Your mind and body do wake up at the same time.
(I hope that you enjoyed the story till here. I update the next chapter as soon as possible. Don’t forget to rate and review this story)
