The Unexpected Treasure

The Golden Treasure

I’ll always be with you

Aaron hadn't touched his dinner. The loss of his grandfather had taken a toll over him. He felt alone and depressed. But the worst of it was, he didn’t have any souvenir of his grandfather to hold on to.

“Dad? I want to find Grandpa’s treasure” Aaron announced at the dinner table.

Mr. Milan stopped eating. He set his spoon silently on the table. 

“Aaron. I have told you many a times. There… is… no… treasure. Your grandfather was nuts, thinking there's treasure hidden somewhere….. He lived a wasted life. Don’t waste yours”

“He told only the deserving would be able to find it”, Aaron defended.

“THERE’S NO TREASURE, AARON!! Don’t waste your time over such superfluous things. This is the time for you to make a career, not finding something that’s never been there!!”

“It is there!! Grandfather left it for us. You were just never brave enough to go look for it”.

“ENOUGH!! I’m not hearing anything about this nonsense anymore. Tomorrow, you are starting your job at the Miller's. I don’t want to hear any excuses”

Anger raging in his chest, Aaron left his dinner and stalked out to his room. He tossed everything that stood around him.

After a while, he calmed himself. He went and stood near the window and looked outside. The street stood lonely, just like the way he felt right now.... 

Of the legend I speak,

For it is what you seek

Sparing lives is not in its history,

Clouded as is by fear and mystery

It holds not what you seek,

But what you need.

Not far does it lie, beyond the cursed

A cold and dark place, is where it unfurls

Lies beyond the cursed.... cold dark place..... 

Only one thing that the Milan family held was cursed: grandma's necklace. But it was currently on display at the National Museum.

When young, Aaron had tried peeping into the room that stood behind the show piece, but his father had always pulled him away.

But now…… he was a grown up man!! If he wished, he could visit it now!! 

The watchman of the museum was snoring lightly in his chair. Knowing the museum’s main door would be locked, Aaron searched for an alternate entrance. A window lay open on the top floor, just out of his reach. But there was nothing that could help him reach, except if the watchman helped him in giving him a boost. 

The walls of the museum had been decorated with horizontal ridges all around. Aaron’s eyes lit instantly. He threw his shoes into the nearby bush and tried to climb the wall, by balancing himself over the ridges. He fell instantly. He tried again, but in vain. Determined, he tried again. This time, successfully hauling and grabbing the window frame.

Once inside, Aaron immediately dashed to find the locked room. Using a tool pin he unlocked the door. He inhaled deeply.

This was it….

He slowly pushed the door open, excitement and fear tightening in his chest. He entered the room and looked around. It was empty.

This cannot be…

Not believing, Aaron searched the room.

This cannot happen…. He had failed his grandfather again… He had lost him forever this time….

Frustration filled Aaron’s heart. He dropped to the floor and let out a cry.

“Why? Why did you ever tell me there was a treasure? Why did you ever make me believe there was something hidden here?” Aaron shouted at the walls.

He laid on the floor, dejected.

You haven’t failed me, son. I will always be with you.

“Grandpa?” . No answer….. He looked around. No one…  

  

Aaron closed his eyes and stayed there.

I’m sorry grandpa….

 

Aaron managed to return home. He made his way to find his own cold and dark sanctuary….

Aaron suddenly stopped in his tracks. Cold and dark…? Sparing lives is not in its history…. The cursed necklace always caused death…. and fear…..Beyond the cursed…. Grandfather always told us to look beyond our fears…which meant….

Aaron rushed up to the attic. Not caring about the noise made, he searched the room for the treasure. And there it stood, on the top shelf, covered in dust. Aaron climbed the ladder and brought the box down. It was locked. Aaron traced the edges of the keyhole. It had an unusual design. It had the symbol of the Sun. Aaron removed the pendant from his chain and inserted it into the lock. A small click was heard and Aaron turned the key.

Instead of finding shining ornaments, he found his old childhood toys that he had used to play with his grandfather and grandfather’s last used spectacles.

It holds not what you seek…. But what you need…..

Tears brimming in his eyes, Aaron smiled at the treasure.

The Final Act

The Final Act

“Hello my dear sister… do you remember me?”

“Sarah?”

“Oh! She remembers!!Thank God!! I thought I would’ve to introduce myself to my own sister”

“Sarah…. Why did you call?”

“Why-? Do I have to find a reason to call my own sister?  Oh!!”  Mrs. Phillip closed her eyes and touched her nose bridge, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Anyways, I had called to officially invite you to my daughter’s birthday party”

“Your daughter?”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Yes! I have a daughter”

“Our Eevie?”

“Yes”

“She’s… one year’s old???”

“Yes”

“Already?”

“YES!!”

“I mean… it was just yesterday, when I had held her in the hospital…. and she had peed on you…. ”

“Thank you, for reminding me about that….”, Sarah said making sure the sarcasm showed in her voice. Mrs. Phillip laughed. “Stop laughing… and be there… and bring Ron too, please…”.

She cut the line.

“Muuuuuuuuuuuummmmmm….. We’ll be late… The train doesn’t wait for us, you know, even if they notice that you are boarding the train today”, Ron called on top of his voice.

Mrs. Phillip hurried from one room to another.  

“I know…. Put your shoes on, will you? Do this one favor to your mother” She called back. Ron rolled his eyes.

They reached the train station, with 20 minutes on the clock for the train’s departure. Mrs. Phillip crashed on an empty seat, with Ron taking the window seat next to her. He placed his toy train on the window.

“Where did you get that?”, asked Mrs. Phillip.

“A woman gave it to me”

“What woman?”. Ron pouted his lips and shrugged.

“Ron!! How many times do I have to tell you, not to accept gifts from strangers!!”

“She was a nice lady.... She said it was her son’s birthday today and she gifts all the kids on his birthday. Did you want me to refuse and break her heart?”

Mrs. Phillip tried to control her smile. Kids……

“That’s not the point-“

The point is she was nice”

“Fine, but here onwards you are not taking anything from anyone. Do you understand me?” Ron nodded an ‘OK’.

She looked at the toy once, then turned and laid her head back to take a nap, just when the train jerked forward.

That’s odd. There’s still 15 minutes on board.

The train started to move slowly. Mrs. Phillip looked outside to check on the time. Ron was playing with his toy, imitating the train’s movement. The clock read: 5:44 P.M. The train was scheduled for 6:00 P.M. departure.

Something was wrong. Well, at least they’ll reach her sister’s house early.

Mrs. Phillip smiled at her luck. The train gathered speed at a steady pace. Mrs. Phillip fell back on her seat to continue her nap.

“Mum… Mum… look at this”

Mrs. Phillip opened her eyes. They were halfway around the city.

Already?

She looked at her son. Ron rode the toy train on the glass and brought it down on the window sill and stopped it. After a second or two, the train, they were traveling in, came to a stop. Everybody rushed to the door. But it remained closed.

Ron started moving his toy again. He stopped it. He moved it once again. He stopped. The train outside started having troubles in moving too. 

“Mum, I can control this train!!”, Ron said in an ecstatic voice. Mrs. Phillip seemed to understand what was happening.

How’s this possible?…. How is this train imitating Ron’s toy? Can Ron really…? Rubbish….

“Ron, you can’t control the train. Looks like the driver’s drunk or something…” Mrs. Phillip tried to disagree.

Ron moved his train slowly against the window frame. He drove along the edges increasing its speed gradually. The train mimicked the Ron’s toy. Mrs. Phillip tried to look outside the glass. Everything passed in a blur. She looked at her son. He was moving his train faster than ever. If he didn’t stop, he was likely to lose its control. People inside the train panicked and started to scream. Ron, on the other hand, continued to play with his toy, blind to reality. Mrs. Phillip told him to stop playing, panic clearly visible in her voice. . Ron turned the train sharply on the window sill. But the speed of the train was too much for him to control the turn. Ron lost his grip and the train fell over front seat, where it did a somersault and fell on the floor, breaking into pieces…. All the compartments had been dislodged and strewn apart…..

It is unknown as to what has caused this disastrous incident. Further investigation is yet to be made by the police. But, harsh as it is, we regret to inform that all the passengers who boarded this ill-fated train are dead.

A woman, far away in the city, smiled at the TV screen.

She finally, had got her revenge…. even though it had asked for a few sacrifices...

The Shadow

The Shadow

"Afar, in a land she lives,
In the darkness, where the shadow thrives.

Hopes and happiness are lost,
For here, lives the witch of the frost"

Eric, Seth and Ariana stood in front of the invisible wall that separated the dark prison from the mortal world. 

“Let’s do the honors, shall we?” Eric said.

Taking a deep breath, the three together pushed the gleaming door. They gasped as what lay behind met their eyes. A land, where every inch was covered in green and bathed in Sun. This world was in complete contrast with where Eric and his siblings stood: a cold and dark night. They stepped over the threshold and basked in the mere fantasy of living between two worlds. 

The fantasy of crossing over into a new world excited all three. Dancing and jumping, they marched into the forest craving for more adventure.

“Woooah!!! That is one tree house!!!”. Seth marveled as they came across a huge structure that stood atop a tree.

“Do you think the witch lives up there?” asked Ariana.

“I don’t think so. Eric? ….. ERIC!!!”

“What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing…. just admiring”

“They are someone’s private clothes”
 

But Ariana had a different thought.

“How are they so clean?” she pitched in. “The legend said this place was abandoned. And yet these clothes are point clean!!”

“Exactly, I-”, Eric rushed in. But one stare from Seth silenced him.

“Let’s just go and find Beth-…. Mum??”

Mrs. Fillet, dressed in her night dress, turned.

“My God!!!!.. There you are… I thought I-….Oh!! What in God’s name, were you three thinking?”

 “Fun!!”

“Fun?? You think roaming around trying to find a cursed legend is fun??”

Eric replied with a toothy smile. Mrs. Fillet eyes narrowed to slits.

“I think, we have had enough fun for one night. Let’s return home and then I’ll be deciding what each of you will get punished with”
 

But before they could step, the scene around them started to shift. As if someone had turned everything into sand. Mrs. Fillet held out her wand.

Shadows and screams surrounded them. The pain pierced their ears. And then, everything stopped. They stood in a dark room, only lit by a dim light from somewhere.

Ariana tried to peek from behind her Mum.

CRUNCH!!

She looked down. A piece of rat bone had been shattered. They glanced around and saw that the whole place was scattered with bones of different species that ever walked the earth.

“Boys, careful. Seth, don’t let Ariana go. ”, Mrs. Fillet ordered.

“That’s so sweet”, A cold eerie voice echoed from the walls. Mrs. Fillet held her kids together, her eyes searching for the bodiless voice.

“Don’t let Ariana go…” The cold voice laughed that pierced their skin. Mrs. Fillet inhaled deeply as something caressed her cheek.

A woman, whose color complimented the darkness around, materialized in front of them.

 “Poor humans… always curious… always ready to rescue the damsel”, the woman pouted her lips.

“Who are you?, Erica asked gathering up some courage.

The woman pressed her palms to her cheek in surprise. “Who-? Don’t you know yet?”

“The Shadow?”, Seth guessed.

The woman smiled and tilted her head in agreement. All the Fillet family held each other closer.

“Where’s Bethesda? Where have you imprisoned her?” asked Ariana, pointing her wand at the witch.
 

Shadow put up her finger as if remembering something. “Uh!! Bethesda…. You see, there seems to be a little confusion here. You know, the poem was actually wrongly ….. read”, she informed.

The fillets looked at Shadow in confusion. Shadow pursed her lips and nodded.

“The poem says that Bethesda was captured and imprisoned by a witch who lives here”, argued Ariana.

The woman puckered her lips sideways and put her fingers together. “Are you sure about that dear??”

Shadow started to sing the song.

“Afar, in a land she lives.

In the darkness, where the shadow thrives,
hopes and happiness are lost.
For here, lives the witch of the frost

Beyond these doors, she awaits,
for the one, who frees her plight-“
 

“You are Bethesda!!! You are the lady in prison. The witch and Bethesda-” Eric voiced, fear trickling down his throat.

“-are the same”. Bethesda bowed like a perfect hostess. The truth seemed to trickle into everyone.
 

Mrs. Fillet stepped forward. “What do you want?”

“What do you want??? Oh!!!. What more can I have than you all being here. After eons, I will finally be having a proper meal. I have actually forgotten how little humans taste” . She put a finger on Ariana. Mrs. Fillet, immediately, pulled her daughter behind her.

“You will have to kill me first”

“With pleasure…”, Bethesda bent down to pick up Mrs. Fillet.

"For, here lives the witch of the frost

Beyond these doors, she awaits,

for the one, who frees her plight.

Darkness may seem to blind you sight,….”

BOOOOOOOM!!!!

Eric had shot a spell at Bethesda. But, instead of killing her, the spell went right through her and had hit the wall.

Bethesda looked confused for a second. 

“You have to know better than that child. You can never shoot a spell at a shadow. Because she’s just a…. shadow…”, Bethesda answered.

Eric cast another spell. Mrs. Fillet, Seth and Ariana followed. But every spell would either pass through her or she would just shove it away boringly.  

Eric’s ears started ringing. Hopes of ever surviving started to fade. The whole fight was proving to be fruitless. The ringing increased, it turned into music.

"Darkness may seem to blind your sight,
But remember, in the end,
Good would always see the light"
 

Eric looked at his family, his eyes shining brightly. He smiled and pointed his wand to Bethesda.

“LIGHT”

A ray of light emitted from the tip of his wand, hit Bethesda and disappeared. Bethesda laughed even more bitterly. Eric looked at his family. 

Everybody raised their wands and pointed it at Bethesda. Four rays of light broke the darkness of the room and hit Bethesda’s body. She looked confused. The light grew stronger. 

For the first time in her life, Bethesda saw her own death. Her body had a big gap in the middle that was growing rapidly. Her body started to flicker; her voice grew smaller, her eyes rolled up. And finally she disappeared altogether. She was finally gone.

 Seth patted Eric and said, “Nice presence of mind, brother dear” 

“That was cool. Can we do that again!!!”