The Bewildered Tale

THE POWER OF INANIMATE OBJECT

The pages were torn, it was in such a position which seemed like it fell from a certain height and got stuck at the bottom. Bhola opened it, though not clearly visible but it was still readable.

Hey Son,

Hope when you find the diary, you are grown enough to understand me. I am not so literate but I know how to express myself, sometimes I fail to understand your movements, you always feel hungry and I think you are sleepy. I just wish your mother was here. No, no don't think that I am blaming you for your mother's loss but it's just that I miss her. I will make you a strong boy, which I am not and will make you so perfect that you can fight all the odds. I used to describe my everyday to your mother, but now I will write my day in this diary. It will feel like I am speaking with her.

Diary's Day 1 : Love of My Life

Today I went to the market to buy food for our Bhola but I was not able to, he was crying and so I ran home. I fed him a bottle of milk, it was the last bottle of milk. Tomorrow the king has called me for some work, where will I keep Bhola? I am just missing you a lot love.

The rest parts were not possible to read and so Bhola skipped few pages when suddenly Bhola noticed the name of Supratik. He struggled to read, the date was not possible to understand. After few invisible words it was written,

it is unbelievable, a royal blood dacoit, I am just telling it to you my love, because I can't disclose it to anyone else...

and then again unreadable words.

Bhola turned few more pages but nothing was possible to understand, but the line "royal blood dacoit" was stuck in his head. So he decided handing the diary to Jalaj thinking that it would help in investigation. Though his trust on him was less but still he had no other way out. On a second thought he wanted to discuss the matter with Supratik too. As always he was in dilemma, incapability of taking decision forced him to shut the diary with a force. As soon as he did so blood started oozing out of his finger. He quickly rushed towards the tap and poured running cold water over his finger, after sometime it stopped bleeding. He examined the last page and found some shiny sharp things inserted in it, he was about to investigate when he heard a knock on the door. He immediately kept the diary below the bed and opened the door.

Jalaj was standing with a wide smile, he said "May I come in?" As Bhola was unmindful he took a second to reply and said "Yes surely, any information?" "Can't I come just to ensure that you are fine or not? Is it necessary to come as a officer always?" Jalaj asked Bhola. "I don't have much friends, I only shared my day with my father, I am an extra introvert person so if anyone just comes to ask about my doing I feel uneasy?" Bhola replied. Jalaj said "If the problem is that you feel uncomfortable to speak with a stranger, I can be your friend?" Bhola replied "Maintaining friendship is tough but I will try. Tell me how can I help you?" "Nothing much, I just wanted to know two things, I will tell you but what happened to your finger?" Jalaj asked. Bhola said "Just a small scratch, nothing much." "Can I get some water?" Jalaj asked. Bhola replied "Yes surely."

After a while Bhola gave a glass of water to Jalaj, he said "What are the two things you want to know?" Taking a sip from the water he replied "As you said that, you were very close to your father, so I just wanted to know anything that you could disclose about him, like his favorite thing, place, object anything that can give any hidden information about him." Bhola thought for a second that did Jalaj knew that he found the diary, but without replying anything he asked "And the second one?" "Before Supratik was thrown in the jail, he met you, did you say anything special or did he say anything?" Jalaj replied.

Though Bhola at first thought of giving the diary to Jalaj but then those shiny objects attracted him and so he decided to hand it later, so he replied "I didn't ask anything to my father, he was a peasant, he earned a little per day, but whatever he gave I was happy. Still I will recollect and search his trunk, if I find something I will give it to you and your second question about Supratik, he was suspended from his work, so some sympathy generated in his heart for me hence he came to meet me, nothing else. More than that before we could discuss anything, the soldiers took him with themselves. So even here I have nothing to say." Jalaj sensed that Bhola was hiding something so he wanted to stay sometime but Bhola was not in a mood to entertain any discussion, so he said "Anything else, it is very late now, I think you should leave." Jalaj understood Bhola's intention and hence came out of the hut and Bhola without saying a goodbye closed the door. Jalaj found his behavior strange but didn't say anything and went back to his work station.

Bhola soon took the diary out again and using a sophisticated knife used for protection tried to tear the last page of the diary where those shiny objects were hidden. He tried a lot but was not able to get anything out of the page, the objects were hidden in such a angle that when slanted it seemed there was nothing but when kept in readable position it seemed to have something. It was not an illusion as it could be touched, but it was not possible to get it out. Bhola tried to bring out those objects with different equipments but could not and tired of failure, he kept the diary in the table and went to sleep.

On the other hand, Supratik was spending his days in jail, he was not able to eat or sleep properly, even inability to help Bhola was building a huge guilt in his heart. He tried escaping the jail but it was impossible for him, the construction was so unique that he found no idea to get out, anyone who would go out of the jail needed to cross the King's palace where all hard core officers would keep a check on the exit door. If anyone was caught escaping the jail he would be eliminated to a place where men eating animals were present making the rate of survival of the person near to zero.

So Supratik though of using brain rather than power, as he knew the design and construction of the jail very well so he decided of taking some time and thought not to disclose his mindset with anyone as trusting someone was really tough. He kept a close check on who would enter the jail, how they would exit, what they used to open the cells, where was the food prepared for all the criminals. While noticing everything he found that the king's palace drainage system was just above the jail. Daily he noticed that a colourless liquid was flown out of the drain passing through the jail cells, at first he thought it to be any food item but he was not sure so trickily, he asked a commander "Is the room above the jail, King's washroom?" The commander looked towards him arrogantly and without saying anything just nodded no. Supratik again enquired "If not washroom, then which room?" The commander replied "You have no need of knowing everything." Supratik continued "I was not asking for me, I was asking for you, like we would move here and there around the jail, but you constantly need to stand here, so whatever will flow through the drain will effect your health sir." This time hearing respected word like "sir", the commander's heart melt a bit, he said "The room above jail is the king's own private room, so no health risk." Supratik then again said "I think you have wrong information, if it is a private room, then why everyday a liquid is flown out of the drain." Again looking at so much curiosity of Supratik, the commander got angry. But before he would say something, Supratik said "No sir, I don't doubt you, it is just that, I am concerned a lot about your health sir." The commander again fell in the trap of the respected word "sir" and hence replied "It is some important liquid which is used in melting metal, the liquid is not at all toxic." Supratik thanked him and went back to his cell, he didn't know why he was not satisfied with the king using the liquid, he knew that melting metal is used in making swords and that is used by every soldiers for making sharp and shiny swords but what does the king melt everyday that too in the king's private room.