Monkey-fort

The fort was in a pathetic condition. Some of the walls and buildings were slowly crumbling into dust. Structures that had withstood vagaries of time and weather were covered by creepers and moss, lizards and insects.

But the temple situated almost in the middle of the fort was in a good condition. It was believed that descendants of a royal priest, who lived about five centuries ago, were still looking after the temple and were religiously performing the daily rituals.

Few people visited the temple. One had to walk all the way up the hill to reach the fort. But that was not the only thing that deterred the visitors.

There were hundreds of monkeys inside the fort. The fort was, in fact, nick-named as monkey-fort. Of course, the monkeys generally did not bother the visitors. But they often fought viciously among themselves.

One day three of us decided to go to the temple. When we entered the fort, it was perfectly peaceful. As we neared the temple, we suddenly heard loud shrieking sounds.

What we saw scared us. An old man was slowly walking towards northern wall of the fort. He was holding something in a small basket.

A large group of monkeys was shrieking at him. Within seconds hundreds of monkeys surrounded him. We could feel that they were about to attack him.

A huge terrifying male monkey sprinted towards the old man. But even before it could reach him, it let out a loud, piteous cry, as if it had been struck brutally. Soon all monkeys were running helter-skelter in all directions. Each one was crying as if it had been hit by something.

The old man hadn’t stopped even for a moment. He kept walking towards the northern wall, unconcernedly.

We were terrified and ran down the hill, as quickly as we could.

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A post for A to Z April Challenge

Today’s letter M

 

 You can read my earlier post here

L

 

     

 

Lazy

Lazy!

He was not at all lazy. It was his name. And it was a strange name for a ghost, a ghost who was very energetic and fun-loving. He hated his name.

He loved to enter computer games. Wherever and whenever he found a lonely child playing a computer game, he would quietly enter the game and play havoc with it. The child would go crazy and Lazy would enjoy the fun.  He particularly liked car racing games because he loved the mayhem he could create.  

But one day Lazy committed a blunder.

He entered a ghost game. He was not aware that virtual ghosts in that computer game were extremely nasty and totally heartless. When the virtual ghosts saw the real ghost, they promptly ganged up against him.

“You lazy, lethargic, listless loafer……we know all about you…. you like wrecking computer games……. now that you are here, we will teach you a lesson,” they screamed in their virtual ghostly voices.

Lazy laughed because he believed that he was too smart for them; after all he was a real ghost and they were just virtual ghosts.

But for once Lazy was mistaken; virtual ghosts were smarter than him. He got trapped in that computer game.

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A post for A to Z April Challenge

Today’s letter L

 you can read my earlier posts here

I J K

 

The Cluttered Table

Whenever I happened to look at the window, I felt that the girl in that room had moved away in a flash and had hidden herself behind the cluttered table.

This feeling, somehow, did not bother me. But one day, as she tried to move away, she let out a loud, painful scream.

I waited for some time, hoping that someone would come to her help.

Her screams were unending and were becoming feeble.

‘I should call an ambulance.......but she needs immediate help…... why can’t I help her?’

I was shocked when I entered her room. It was empty.

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Word count 100

A post for Friday Fictioneers on a picture post.

 

 

Kill the King.

Everyone hated him. And many of them wanted him dead. They believed that he wielded some unholy power over the king.

But the poor man was just a dwarf and a petty clown.

Of course, he was the only person in the kingdom who enjoyed free access to every nook and corner of the palace including the king’s bed-chamber.

The wretched dwarf had no influence on the king whatsoever. On the contrary he was always scared that if the king ever got displeased, he would be beheaded. This fear made him miserable.

One day he mustered courage and requested the king to have mercy on him and release him from his bondage.

“Why? You still have many years to serve us,” the king asked.

“My Lord, I would like to spend my remaining days with….”

“If you utter one word more, I will have you beheaded right here,” the king said in a very casual tone.

On his way back he met a man who whispered in his ear, “Kill the king.”

Dwarf looked at the man. He recognised him and was petrified.

He had hardly entered his room when he was again summoned by the king.  

“Who was that man? What did he whisper in your ear?”

Dwarf was stunned. He knew his end was imminent because he could not tell the truth.

He could not tell the king that that man was king’s elder brother; the brother he had killed to grab the throne.

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A post for A to Z April Challenge

Today’s letter K

You can read my earlier posts here

H I J

 

 

Joker

Shree could never understand his father’s fondness for the circus. In fact, father was passionately in love with his circus. And year after year, he had ensured that every show was performed on a grand scale. And to Shree’s anguish, he kept on diverting profits from his other businesses into his loss-making circus.

On his father’s untimely demise, Shree inherited everything including the circus.

And he decided to get rid of it forthwith.

Everyone in the circus was unhappy; they knew they had no life outside the circus.

Joker was the unhappiest of them all. He quietly approached Shree when he was alone in his father’s cabin

“You are not just killing the circus; you are killing all of us.”
“Who are you? And what do you do here?” Shree was annoyed with joker’s tone and tenor.

“I am the joker and…” 

Shree quickly interrupted him, “Joker? I can’t believe it. How old are you? sixty? sixty-five?”

“You are insulting me, sir. I am the best …...” he stopped for few moments and then said, “I think it's......it's beneath my dignity to even talk to a person who has no respect for a great performer.”

Joker walked out, angrily.

Shree felt infuriated.  He promptly summoned the Manager.

“We have a joker in the circus? How old is he? Can he really perform?”

“Of course, we have a joker and he is a brilliant performer.”

At this moment Shree noticed a picture on the wall. He pointed to it, “That person?”

Manager looked at the picture and sighed, “He was our joker but a long time ago. Ten years back he went to his home-town to get his sister married and never came back. No one knows what happened to him. We heard some rumours about him, but ……...”

Shree looked at the picture on the wall; no, he would not change his decision, he decided.

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A post for A to Z April Challenge

Today’s letter J

 

 

Imposter

Everyone called him Frij. And he liked his nick name, even though it meant nothing. His mother had given it to him. Of course, in the college records he was Surya Veer Pratap Singh Jamwal. But even his close friends did not know that name.

One day Frij entered the college library and went straight to the Librarian.

“Sir, I want to make a confession,” Frij almost whispered. The Librarian looked at him quizzically but said nothing.

“Sir, last year I had pilfered this book from the library.”

His eyes downcast, he slipped a copy of ‘Log Tables’ by ‘Frank Castle’ across the table.

The Librarian looked at the book and then at Frij, and said in an extremely harsh tone, “And what of the remaining six copies?”

“Sir?”

“Yes, there are only 18 copies of this book in the library instead of 25. This is one of the seven missing copies. Where are remaining six?”

Frij turned abruptly and left the library. The Librarian felt humiliated. He decided that he will report this matter to the principal.

Soon two boys approached the Librarian. They were Frij’s class mates.

“Sir, who was that boy?”

The Librarian looked at them suspiciously, “Why?”

“Was that Frij? But that’s not possible. He must be an imposter.”

“Are you trying to make a fool of me?” the Librarian was angry. “You friend comes and humiliates me and now you come and play tricks with me? How dare you?”

“Sir, we aren’t playing any tricks. We are just trying tell you that that boy could not have been Frij.”

“Why?”

“Sir, Frij met with a fatal accident last week. He didn’t……”

The Librarian looked at the table. Copy of ‘Log Tables’ by Frank Castle was not there.

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A post for A to Z April Challenge

Today’s letter L

 

 

 

 

 

Hologram, Harness and Hell

“If I want, I can turn any being into a hologram,” he boasted. He believed that in previous life he had a scientific bend of mind, whatever that meant.

His friend was amused.

“And what’s a hologram?” he asked.

“It is a……it’s a device…… a technique to harness light.” He liked that word.

“Harness? You mean like harnessing a horse?”

“Yes.” He said it confidently, even though he was not sure if that was the right answer.

“But that is not allowed, I suspect.”

“Why? If we can eat ….”

“Don’t say it. We both know……. it’s totally forbidden. They will banish us if they get even an inkling of what we have been doing.”

But both of them were unaware that they were already under surveillance.

They were banished.

“What does it mean?”

“It means we go to the worst place in this blasted universe of ours.”

 “Earth? No! they can’t do this to us. It’s worse than hell!”

It was the end of their ghostly life.

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A post for A to Z April Challenge

Today’s letter H