An Evening At The Gravestones 

by genieinabook [published on 13-07-2018, word count: 1447 words]

I just finished writing my latest story for our regional weekly magazine. I'd gotten countless calls from the editor, "Arohi, make it magical! The kids want them these days"

It's true indeed that to write for children, you have to become a child yourself. I was wrong to think I'd left behind my childhood in the Tinkle and the Bengali Shuktara magazines and my collection of Tintin, Marvel and DC comics. Here I am a fully grown eighteen old, writing about magic and spells and fairies for a population one less than half my age. I found myself in amusement as I started pouring out fairytales, like water from a tap.

I'm known as "The Perfectionist" in my circle of friends. For I loved challenges and I worked relentlessly to achieve them. I wanted each and every aspect of mine to be perfect, be it writing or studies and I was probably one of the rare teenagers with a job in my class of Indian society. I wasn't the party animal you found in every nook and cranny these days. I preferred to sit and write stories at home instead of stoning yourself sick and making a fool of yourself. I had countless people telling me that writing wasn't a thing to do at my young age, but that's exactly where my Leo instincts kick in. A Leo does something when you tell them that they can't do it. And they nail it. Which is why I get more and more writing assignments than my colleagues who are twice and even thrice my age.

Speaking of assignments I just finished writing another such story about ghosts uprising from their graves, grabbing people who disobeyed the king of a land with their long bony hands. I was super tired, plus I had to study till dinner. It was still light out, so I grabbed my cousin Arup da (A Bengali call for an older brother) who was staying over and went for a walk.

We walked through our leafy colony till we reached the old gravestones. A beautiful place in the heart of Delhi. For a change, I walked through it, reading the names of the various deceased who lived in this colony. We walked up to the gravestone of one of my colleagues in the magazine editorials who passed away due to old age.

'Look at this, Arup da. The gravestone of Gupta ma'am'

'The same ma'am who used to advise you on your writing?'

'Exactly'

'Do you miss her?'

'Not really. She wasn't very close to me. She just gave me writing tips and suggestions whenever she came over to our place. She was a close friend of Ma'

'You've met anyone from her family?'

'She doesn't have one, Arup da. She never married'

'I see. I think we should be going now'

But all of a sudden, I felt the grass making way, its blades swaying to the sides. Then came out five white finger bones, followed by the full skeleton of an arm. It started motioning to grab things, desperate to hold on to the grass. The grass disappeared to reveal the opening of a large abyss. I suddenly saw a ring on the skeleton's pointer finger. A ruby red, oval signet ring.

Gupta ma'am?

Both Arup da and I were frozen to the ground. Suddenly, the hand reached out to us. Stretching out, the bony hand clawed and ripped at the air, desperate to wrench us into the abyss. We clasped each other in fright, but it was of no use. The hand grabbed my arm and pulled me in.

For a moment it was pure darkness. I looked around to catch a sight of my surroundings, but it was pitch black.

'Arohi?'

'Arup da! Thank God'

I entwined my hand in his, clasping it tightly.

'Where are we?'

'I was about to ask you the same question'

'Underground? This place smells of wet earth'

'True that. But-'

A white light started to swirl in front of us. Slowly it took the shape of a woman. A body contour I knew very well. Slowly formed the complete features of Gupta ma'am. Shoulder length salt-and-pepper hair, tall and skinny, with her typical professor spectacles sitting on top of her nose.

Why was this happening? Arup da and I exchanged confused glances.

'Hello, my dear Arohi'

'Why are we here?'

'I was lucky to have found you here'

'Listen up, what do you want with my sister-' began Arup da. I pinched him to shut him up.

'I have been watching you, my dear Arohi. And I felt it's high time to give you some advice'

I should add here that I had no idea of what was going on.

'Why am I here ma'am? I want to know!'

'You are here because I have been watching you. And I need to advise you over something'

'About what?'

'About you, child. I have been observing you from above. And you have been working relentlessly. You are hardworking and it brings results, doesn't it'

'Yes, it does most of the times'

'Hmm. But when was the last time you went outside to play? When was the last time you went on a trip? When was the last time you watched a movie?'

That was true.

'Not in quite a while, ma'am'

'Exactly. Dear, I appreciate your sincerity. You are an amazing writer and academic performer and you used to be one of the best students are your school. But you don't relax at all. You have no time for yourself. Why?'

'I-I don't know...'

'The reason why I grabbed you here forcefully is because you and I are perfect mirror images of each other. Perfectionism was the reason I never married. It's the reason why I never fell in love in my youth, even though I was a beautiful young girl with strings of lovers at my heels' she laughed. 'Because of which my friends where so shocked when I told them about my choice of celibacy. I never had the chance to play bingo on Sundays with my friends, or watch a movie nor do anything fun. When I grew old and weak, it was just me, sitting in an empty house with nothing to do. Whereas all my friends would play with their grandchildren and I would sit alone, doing nothing'

I was amazed.

'So you mean...'

'Yes. Sometimes, bend over and smell the roses. Look at the world around you. Live in it and have fun while you're still young. Do find time for yourself and your family. You need this world to live in'

'Thank you so much ma'am for your advice. Now how do we go home?'

'Don't worry about that. And before you go, take this'

She proceeded to take off her red signet from her finger and pushed it in my hand.

'Do remember me'

'Oh no, ma'am I couldn't take your ring! It must be-'

But I couldn't say anything more. I felt my body grow lighter and lighter. Slowly I felt her aura of white light engulf me into a foam, as I swirled round and round in circles.

I woke up with a start on my study table. Arup da was on my bed, taking a nap. He woke up too.

'Arohi?' for how long was I out?' he yawned.

'I was about to ask you the same question'

I started cleaning up my table when something dropped the floor with a clink. A ring. A ruby red signet. Arup da saw it too.

'It wasn't a dream' I whispered.

'Yeah, it wasn't' he replied, awestruck.

'Anyway I have to start studying. I want to be ahead of my classmates when college begins and-'

Suddenly Arup da grabbed my arm.

'You come with me'

'What the heck?'

He proceeded to switch on the TV and connect the expansion drive into the cable connector

'You, madam, are watching a movie tonight'

'What! I just said-'

'Shut up. Sometimes, bend over and smell the roses. Look at the world around you. Live in it and have fun while you're still young. Do find time for yourself and your family. You need this world to live in'

I couldn't help laughing.

'Look, enjoy yourself at times. You need this, okay?'

I kissed him gently on the cheek. He looked amused.

'So, Avengers Infinity War?'

'Sure, anything for you brother'  

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