Laughter in Darkness
A suspense, romantic and psychological thriller
By
Kotra Siva Rama Krishna
“I don’t think I can remain silent like that after knowing how she cheated and made us all feel fear and embarrassed.” Rose was still angry.
“But Rose think about what I have said. Exposing her like that before the other people here make us even more embarrassed. We do think what to do after we have gone away from here. In the meanwhile just behave in the usual way with Emily. Don’t let her get a doubt that you came to know about it.”
“Alright, we do so then.” Rose thought for few seconds, said and looked at Emily who was still talking in her dream making her more and more understandable that she just acted odd in that house only to get fun by making other people feel fear.
Rose and Neeraja laid their backs and they just did not know when they fell asleep.
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“Sunanda….Sunanda dear…I am here.”
Sunanda heard that voice quite low but clear. Immediately she sat up and said “mom”
“Yes, Sunanda. I am here. I have come for you.”
“Mom, I cannot see you. It is only darkness around me.” Sunanda’s voice was shivered while saying that.
“I am going into upstairs. Come there darling.” Sunanda could hear her mother’s voice once again.
“Mom…but…” Sunanda tried to say something more.
Then once again there came a big lightening and in that lightening Sunanda could see her mother so clearly going towards the staircase in the downpour.
“Mom…I also do come….just wait…” Sunanda yelled and immediately sat up.
“Sunanda what happened? What you are saying?” Sameera too sat up and asked her.
“My mom went into the upstairs room. She asked me to come there. But I cannot see anything.” Weeping bitterly Sunanda said.
“It is not like that. Relax yourself.” Trying to make herself calm, Sameera said.
“Oh, my mom is there now. I have to go. I have to go.” Sunanda started yelling hysterically. “Someone please show me light. I have to go into the upstairs room.”
That commotion woke up not only those who were in the verandah at that time but the other people in the rooms also except Emily. Some of them there switched onto the torch lights of their cell phones.
“What happened dear? What happened?” Vinod came near to his daughter, put his right hand on her shoulder and asked her.
“Mom, is in the upstairs room dad. She asked me to come there. I want to go.” Weeping hysterically, Sunanda said.
“Sunanda just listen to me….” Rose tried to say something to her.
“Just stop saying that again and again. I am getting vexed listening it so from you.” Sunanda yelled angrily. “My mom is in the upstairs room and I want to go and see her.”
“In this heavy downpour how you can go there? In this torch light we cannot see anything clear.” Neeraja said.
“Sunoo dear. Think logically. If your mom is here now, what is the necessity to her to go into the upstairs room? Why cannot she talk with you here itself?” Vinod asked her with the same soothing voice.
“Don’t talk like that. My mom is there and I know.” Throwing his hand forcibly with her right hand Sunanda said angrily. “I go there and none of you stop me now.”
“Just see the rain how it is pouring? You cannot even locate the staircase in this rain. You cannot go into the upstairs room now.” Vinod said.
“You don’t want mom, you want her to die.” Looking into his face in the lighting of cell phone torch lights Sunanda said. “That is why she did not ask you to come, she asked only me to come there.” Sunanda stood. “I am going there now.” She declared with a firm voice.
“Alright, you do go there. But not in this downpour. Let the rain slackened. Then we all can go.” Putting his hand around her shoulder, Vinod said.
“Nothing doing. I am going now.” Sunanda tried to go into the down pour but all of them there stopped her with combined force.
“Leave me, leave me now. I have to go and meet with my mom.” Sunanda started yelling hysterically but all of them stopped her by using combined force.
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Half an hour or so passed before that downpour turned into a drizzle and Sunanda’s struggle also was minimized and she was becoming slowly normal.
“Now, we go and see come.” Vinod said to her.
“I don’t think mom would stay that long in the upstairs room.” Hissing out heavily, Sunanda said.
“She loves you a lot. Why would not she stay for you? We do go and see.” Holding her right arm with his right hand Vinod said.
“Not just you both. We all also come there.” Aravind said.
“Why do you all also take trouble? We both go and see. You all may please resume your sleeping. I am very sorry that we have disturbed you like this.”
“Nothing doing Vinod.” With firm voice Rose said. “We are all like just one family here. One’s problem is all other’s problem here. Tanuja, Sameera and Neeraja stay downstairs along with kids. The rest of us go and see.”
Luckily even in that commotion also, Neither Emily nor Arjun nor Madhuri woke up.
“Alright then” Vinod nodded his head. Then all those people went into upstairs.
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They all examined the first two rooms thoroughly and entered into the last room. It was empty just like before. There was nothing to find in that room either.
“Mom is not here.” Sunanda’s voice shivered while saying that.
“Mom is never here. She has never been anywhere after her death. She has no desires left as her only daughter settled comfortably in her life. She mixed in the universe.” Vinod said.
“Dad…what you are saying?” looking confusingly into his face, Sunanda asked him.
“Whether you like it or not, it is the truth. Once a person dies without any desires, that person would not turn into a spirit but mixes into universe. All your mom’s desires were fulfilled. She became the doctor and you settled in your life and happy. So she mixed in the universe. Our feeling her like that is just our imagination. Nothing more than that.” Vinod said looking into her face.
“What uncle said is the absolute truth Sunanda. A perfect woman like your mother never turns into a spirit. You cannot find her anywhere now because she is not with limited individuality now. She mixed herself in the universe.” Anand said.
“I want to hear it from Aravind. If he also says that I agree.” Sunanda looked into the face of Aravind.
“Auditory and visual hallucination.” Aravind laughed. “That is what I also have to say that you were subjected. Thinking Malathi aunty as a spirit is a sin Sunanda how you do even get an idea like that? Good people never turn into spirits even they die quite prior to fulfilling their life terms decided by god.”
“Now I am satisfied. No more explanation is necessary to me in this regard.” Sunanda said with a smile.
“Shall we go downstairs now?” Vinod asked her.
“Dad, I am sorry.” Sunanda put her both hands around Vinod’s neck and said. “I said so to you.”
“What you said? I don’t remember anything you said unwanted.” With a confusing expression in his face, Vinod said.
“I said that you did not like mom….” Sunanda tried to say something more.
“Never mind. I did not feel about it at all.” Vinod interrupted her saying so and patted on her right shoulder with his right hand. “But you need to feel sorry for all these people. You have disturbed all of them from their sleep.”
“I am sorry…” Sunanda tried to say something looking into the faces of them in the cell phone torch lights.
“Oh, please don’t say like that. We are one family and we are all just feeling happy that you become usual again.” Neeraja laughed and said. “Come. We all do go downstairs and try to get some sleep before it is morning. It is also two in the morning.”
Then all of them talking in themselves came downstairs. Luckily by the time they reached downstairs, power has come. Just like before Rose and Neeraja went into their room and by then also Emily was just sleeping peacefully. Rajesh went into grandma’s room and all the others settled in the verandah just like before. Sameera went near to Sunanda and put her hand around her neck.
“Even it is inconvenient to you, I am not going to remove my hand. If I leave you free this time that Sasank may come again into you.” Sameera said.
“Oh, don’t talk like that.” Tanuja angrily said.
Sunanda laughed but did not try to remove the hand of Sameera around her so. She too felt quite comfortable with her hand around her neck so.
One after one all of them fell asleep and when they woke up again it was five in the morning.
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22nd January, 2020: 8 in the morning:
“This day breakfast also is as much excellent as yesterday’s breakfast! You indeed made very good arrangement.” Eating her breakfast, Rose said to Ratnam.
“I want you people to stay this day also here. You can see the village also.” Ratnam said. Once again he was ravenously enjoying the beauty of the woman whoever became the convenient target to him. It was quite surprising to them all to think that Ratnam behaved madly like that the day before.
“We come here again. We all have our commitments to fulfill and cannot forsake them.” Rajesh said.
“I wish that you all stay in this house atleast three or four days next time you come.” Ratnam said again.
“We sure do try it like that” Tanuja laughed and said.
There came another thunderclap making their ears rung and a heavy downpour started again.
“I don’t think that these thunders and downpour stop until we go away from here.” looking into the heavy-pouring rain Vinod said.
“We may better stop until this rain slackens. We cannot start in this heavy rain.” Rajesh said.
“Emily what do you say? It did not happen as you guessed. It did not happen as in that book of Aghatha Christie ‘And Then There Were None.’” Sameera said looking into the face of Sameera with a smile in her face. “We are all still alive.”
“And then there was everyone” Emily laughed and said. “It is just because there is no serial killer among us.”
Rose and Neeraja looked first into Emily’s face and then into each other’s faces. Slowly smiles came onto their lips.
In half an hour or so that rain was slackened and all of them went out of that house closing the doors of it behind them.
End
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As you are here, I hope that you read the novel. Thank you very much that you preferred to read my novel. If you bother to write a review also, I shall be so much grateful and thankful to you.
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