kaushikvikram
12-12-2010, 12:23 PM
By Kaushik Ramakrishnan
The classroom was filled with a stochastic noise which grew from time to time, but then suddenly the total class became silent as they heard the whip of a cane. It was Mrs. Corliss, their class in-charge. The students were always terrified by Corliss but still she was benovolent.
She entered the class as expected with the mark sheets. Most of them were terrified by the thought that she would thrash them insanely if they had failed in the exam. But still quite a few were eager to know their marks.
Asmita was one among the eager ones. She had always been the topper in History, which Corliss taught. She was expecting the same result this time too. Asmita as expected topped the class. She was asked by her teacher to come and meet her personally.
Asmita with pride strutted towards Mrs. Corliss’s room. As she entered her room, she saw her teacher working on the computer. Her teacher on seeing her took out a letter and handed it over to her. It was a notice to her parents reminding them to pay the due fees within a week to let her continue with her studies.
Asmita was troubled on seeing the letter. She knew that her widow mother could not suddenly manage to pay her due fees within a week. She was crying within herself thinking that she might have to let go off her studies from next week.
On her way back to home from school she was walking, with her mind on the letter, which Mrs. Corliss gave her. It was then suddenly a tent near by the abandoned Bungalow caught her interest. She for a second intrigued by it and went near it to see what it was. For her surprise a man at his sixties came out of that tent and stood six feet tall. Asmita, as inquisitive as always asked him who he was and what he was doing.
The man identified himself to be Mr. Sharma, an Archaeologist. He further continued to explain her that he was there to excavate the remains of the fort and he was commissioned by the government. She immediately told him what she heard the village men speaking. She told him that though the Bungalow had some treasure, it was also haunted. And so no one in the village had the guts to get into it.
Mr. Sharma after hearing the child’s story smiled at her and to convince her, he said that he had a sacred rope that prevented the ghosts from haunting him. Suddenly a thought struck her mind. She asked him to give her also a sacred rope and take her in, so that they both could share the treasure.
He was surely moved by the child’s innocence. But still he could not as such take her in to the excavation site. So he questioned her to know why she needed a part treasure. Then she explained him the entire thing that happened to her in school and thus justified her need for a part of the treasure, which would help her continue her studies.
He knew that there was no such treasure there in the excavation site and it was all a rumor. But after hearing the child’s sad story he decided not to disappoint her by telling the truth. So he asked her to come to site by the next day so that he could take her in.
Asmita got very early in the morning and emptied her school bag and started with the empty bag to the site, leaving her mother with a false expression of going to school. Asmita reached the site and saw Mr. Sharma waiting there for her. She went near to him and told that they can start.
Both started to the excavation site. They reached there and started digging for the treasure in random. They were searching for more than an hour when finally he declared that he found the treasure. He then ungrounded a bag full of money and showed it to her. Asmita was on cloud nine as she saw the treasure. She was very happy and she immediately hugged Mr. Sharma and kissed him on his cheeks.
She reached home by evening with her bag full of money. She then said everything to her mother earnestly. Her mother at first did not believe but then she reached the site to get it confirmed by Mr. Sharma. She too was instantly on cloud nine as he confirmed that it was indeed their share of money. She thanked him thousands of times before she left him there all alone in his tent.
As they moved away from his site, Sharma took his expense sheet and added ten thousand to his expense account; it was exactly half of the treasure they had recovered.
For more stories Visit
myshortstories-kaushik.blogspot.com
The classroom was filled with a stochastic noise which grew from time to time, but then suddenly the total class became silent as they heard the whip of a cane. It was Mrs. Corliss, their class in-charge. The students were always terrified by Corliss but still she was benovolent.
She entered the class as expected with the mark sheets. Most of them were terrified by the thought that she would thrash them insanely if they had failed in the exam. But still quite a few were eager to know their marks.
Asmita was one among the eager ones. She had always been the topper in History, which Corliss taught. She was expecting the same result this time too. Asmita as expected topped the class. She was asked by her teacher to come and meet her personally.
Asmita with pride strutted towards Mrs. Corliss’s room. As she entered her room, she saw her teacher working on the computer. Her teacher on seeing her took out a letter and handed it over to her. It was a notice to her parents reminding them to pay the due fees within a week to let her continue with her studies.
Asmita was troubled on seeing the letter. She knew that her widow mother could not suddenly manage to pay her due fees within a week. She was crying within herself thinking that she might have to let go off her studies from next week.
On her way back to home from school she was walking, with her mind on the letter, which Mrs. Corliss gave her. It was then suddenly a tent near by the abandoned Bungalow caught her interest. She for a second intrigued by it and went near it to see what it was. For her surprise a man at his sixties came out of that tent and stood six feet tall. Asmita, as inquisitive as always asked him who he was and what he was doing.
The man identified himself to be Mr. Sharma, an Archaeologist. He further continued to explain her that he was there to excavate the remains of the fort and he was commissioned by the government. She immediately told him what she heard the village men speaking. She told him that though the Bungalow had some treasure, it was also haunted. And so no one in the village had the guts to get into it.
Mr. Sharma after hearing the child’s story smiled at her and to convince her, he said that he had a sacred rope that prevented the ghosts from haunting him. Suddenly a thought struck her mind. She asked him to give her also a sacred rope and take her in, so that they both could share the treasure.
He was surely moved by the child’s innocence. But still he could not as such take her in to the excavation site. So he questioned her to know why she needed a part treasure. Then she explained him the entire thing that happened to her in school and thus justified her need for a part of the treasure, which would help her continue her studies.
He knew that there was no such treasure there in the excavation site and it was all a rumor. But after hearing the child’s sad story he decided not to disappoint her by telling the truth. So he asked her to come to site by the next day so that he could take her in.
Asmita got very early in the morning and emptied her school bag and started with the empty bag to the site, leaving her mother with a false expression of going to school. Asmita reached the site and saw Mr. Sharma waiting there for her. She went near to him and told that they can start.
Both started to the excavation site. They reached there and started digging for the treasure in random. They were searching for more than an hour when finally he declared that he found the treasure. He then ungrounded a bag full of money and showed it to her. Asmita was on cloud nine as she saw the treasure. She was very happy and she immediately hugged Mr. Sharma and kissed him on his cheeks.
She reached home by evening with her bag full of money. She then said everything to her mother earnestly. Her mother at first did not believe but then she reached the site to get it confirmed by Mr. Sharma. She too was instantly on cloud nine as he confirmed that it was indeed their share of money. She thanked him thousands of times before she left him there all alone in his tent.
As they moved away from his site, Sharma took his expense sheet and added ten thousand to his expense account; it was exactly half of the treasure they had recovered.
For more stories Visit
myshortstories-kaushik.blogspot.com