Into The Unknown

Chapter 01

How will we survive in this labyrinth?

The boring question with one straightforward answer. We survive through money, and power. I lack both: money, barely and power mainly.

The reason I avoid reading those big letters inscribed on the shattered wall, or billboards is mere that they speak and appear big, and nothing else. They are written, the plaster is shattered, the wall will fall and people will read but no one will ever try to think why they were written there in the first place. I do not read but when I read I do think, not what the human who wrote on this wall must have thought while writing this but I think of the answers, forbid theoretically I go for honesty.

The human, man, or woman who wrote these huge letters here must be following orders and copying the alphabets from a sheet of paper. That’s the thing, that person wrote whatever he was asked to because that human is inferior to the one who ordered him or her to inscribe this ink on the wall. I do not intend on becoming a leader nor do I intend on becoming a sheep to follow the flock. I want to be a free bird, the leader of my existence, and for that sole reason, I need money to survive in this labyrinth.

The reason I ended up reading the black ink is that Mariah is late as usual and I’ve nothing better to do than wait for her at a rusted pole that stands eight feet high on the other side of the road. There is something like a phone number inscribed on the pole which is no longer visible due to the result of an accumulation of decay.

“Hey, love”, Mariah's voice filled in my ear, and with all due respect, I raised my middle finger to greet her.

Mariah Mayor is the daughter of Vivek Mayor who apparently is the owner of Tyxuco. Tyxuco is the ATM for the politicians of India. Pandemic broke, Tyxuco comes forward to give a loan, the country needs new fighter planes, Tyxuco provides additional loans, in the end, it’s all about money and Tyxuco is the Aladdin. Tyxuco is a company that business from mobile networks to textile and includes almost every high demanding product including petroleum. Mariah's mother Tanya Mayor works as a software engineer at Apple and earns seven digits by working from home. In conclusion, Mariah is more than rich.

Sometimes I wonder how I managed to get Mariah as my personal Aladdin, she offered to be my Aladdin. The credit for this goes to my parents’ genes which gave me this beautiful face that made Mariah my stranger twin. Looking at Mariah is like looking in the mirror, the same face, same eyes, same lips, same hair, same body proportion, and the same voice. The only physical difference in us is her little mole beneath her lip and the major difference is in our personality. She’s gullible and I’m bold.

“Here are your visa, passport, and keys to your new home in Ontario”, she handed me the things as she promised. Our deal, I help her every time she needs me to play as Mariah, and she looks after my bank balance. Once I turn 21, she promised to help me to settle in Canada. I’m 21 today.

Ask an orphan girl if she wants to continue living in downtown of New Delhi and she will counter No without any uncertainty. The orphan girl is me and I want to leave this town. Canada has been my dream since the little seven-year-old me saw Niagara Falls on a postcard that my aunt stole from me. The thing is after my parents died, my aunt took me in, I was seven when I was entitled, an orphan. My aunt is a good person as she is selfish, nothing is wrong with selfishness. She took me in for two years, earned legal rights on me and my properties including home and land. She took the money, flew away to London, settled there, and kept on paying for my boarding school. At the age of 18, I finished school and went back to the home which once was mine but now my aunt owns it, no hard feelings, she was looking out for herself. She provided me with enough food to not starve me. I eventually ended up paying rent to my aunt for living in what once was my home.