The Lesser-Known Ghardavian Tales

It was about time. Everything was going just as planned. Far away from her, near the ajar gate, he was playing. His hands swaying in all directions, his legs jumbling at every other step of his, after all, he was only a small child of two or three. She stared at him from behind the meshed door, watching every step of his. The way he giggled and flashed his smile all around, the way he held himself to maintain his balance on his infant feet. How vacant could one’s death be? There are times when death welcomes those who did never deserve it. They are plunged into the deep well that has no opening or end, into a humungous area between space and time. She held her breath tight. No sign of fear, no sign of breathlessness, just a calm figure staring at its prey. She had never thought that all of this would be so easy. Just pull a string and there it goes, the drape to one’s life, shut forever. She now had visions, not of worldly creatures but of creatures that never did exist. Somewhere deep inside, her conscience did prick her and for an instant she did sense that what she was doing was wrong but everything slowly faded away as if her vision was being blurred from reality by the ghostly creatures themselves. Is she possessed? Suddenly the thought of her brother struck her mind and her visions finally took over her conscience. She was now, as they say, possessed but not by ghosts or by souls but simply by herself. For her, reality was not real anymore and the thought of love was not lovely anymore. Her brother, who now did not exist anymore, stood there staring at her. Oh dear Godly Bassoon, what is happening? She could not take any of this madness anymore. She shook her head twice and tried to focus on the child who, well, wasn’t rightfully hers and certainly would not be after what she was about to do. Very slowly, she opened the door to make up enough space and rolled a bright yellow ball across, in the direction of the boy who was playing near the small rusted gate. The ball rolled across the pathway, missing the boy just as intended, and went out through the gap between the ground and the open gate. The child’s attention diverted to the ball and for a second he stood still. You fool, don’t follow the ball! The little boy did exactly as he had been taught. He pushed the ajar gate further and tried to make his way out, chasing after his beloved ball. ‘Jajajaja….’ he enunciated as he went after the ball. This was all the young soul was capable of saying but the question still remained, would his very first words, or syllables rather, be his last? At the very back, the woman smiled. Her work for now was done, not complete yet, just done. It would take quite a while to complete her job but her smile conveyed her triumph over her success. Suddenly the tyres of a car could be heard, screeching against the rough road and a little shake of the ground suggested that there was an accident. Her eyes shrank and her smile widened. The spring air suddenly did not seem as beautiful as it had before, for nature here had taken a sharp turn.