The Absent Author

Hi! It’s me, Arjun Desai. I am a middle-class boy in grade 9 who loves to read mystery books. Mystery books and suspense thrillers are so interesting. I mean, the cliffhangers the author puts at the end of each chapter, it always makes me want to turn to the next page to see what is next.

Coming to my place of residence, it changes too frequently. Currently I am living in Bangalore, a city near the bottom left on the map of India. The weather is the best here when compared to other places I have been. A natural, air-conditioning weather in my opinion. I live in an independent house, which is a bungalow with a small lawn, with my mother. My mother likes gardening and we have a mini collection of plants here at my lawn. My father, well, whenever I ask my mother about him, she breaks down. I try to know what is he up to, where is he, how is he, why does not he meet my mother and me? Well I think it will be better if I do not talk about him at this point

I have always had a dream to become a detective like Sherlock Holmes, you know, with a magnifying glass in hand, wearing a classic black trench coat all buttoned up and topped with a stunning black hat. I have also attempted to write stories involving mysteries, suspense and all of that interesting stuff, but never succeeded... Maybe I should read a few more books before attempting to write one!

I dream a lot. I literally dream a lot, there are very few instances where I have had a sound sleep and woke up in the morning without thinking of what I dreamt last night... Maybe this is because I read many mystery novels at night but who cares? Late night reading is one of my hobbies, especially crime and mystery. My mother does scold me for reading at night, and sometimes even I do overdo it, but that is fine, I think. I will not get back these days of late night reading when I am 18+ and doing work, lol.

I have joined the Witty Wonders School this year, owing to my mother’s transfer once every two years (For reasons I haven’t been able to contemplate). My school gives me endless homework, literally. That’s why I do not even think of completing my homework, because there always has to be some which will be remaining. I cracked the code right? Today we got a really interesting assignment though, a project work on “The Bermuda Triangle”. Missing ships, aliens and what not, this area always piques my interest. I completed my essay on the Bermuda Triangle. The project was really very informative, I learnt the science behind the phenomenon at the Bermuda. After a long and exhausting day, I went to bed with my latest read, “The Tanzanian Trials” by Oliver Rooke, the maestro of thrillers. He is the God of suspense, I mean how effortlessly does he weave stories into a mystery which leaves the reader always in awe. He even finds humor in the most serious parts of his stories. He is often dubbed as “The Humorous Criminal”. He is the talk of the town, all of his books have made into New York Times’ Bestsellers Top 10 of the year they were published. Tanzanian Trials was published around 4 years ago, it caused a worldwide frenzy. It topped the charts of all book rankings and rating websites. It made steady finish of numero uno in the list of New York Times’ Bestsellers, while all other titles beneath it shuffled. The whole world was in awe of the man, the sensation, the author, Oliver Rooke.

I remember the days when he would publish books periodically, but until recently, he has been pretty inconsistent. “The Tanzanian Trials” was his last book, which was pretty weird. After publishing your most successful book ever, probably you should be motivated to write more right? I am reading this book the tenth time, maybe he was waiting for me to read it fifteen times or just going through a writer’s bloc, who knows? Maybe he has to go through something personal. Well, I should not delve into all those matters of his, should I?

Other kids of my age would probably be scrolling through Pinstagram reels or NoTube. But I prefer reading. Pinstagram and NoTube is fun no doubt, but when I will be given an option, I would read a book. And when I am bored of reading a book, I will watch a little of NoTube. I mostly watch PhysixWallah videos, his lectures on physics are amazing. Anyone who does not know a ‘P’ of physics will be an expert in it if that person watches a few videos of PhysixWallah. I kept on reading Tanzanian Trials, laying on my bed. Not fully laid though, my Swiss blanket covered my body waist downwards, my legs were spread. From waist upwards I took support of a pillow to lean on the bed’s back frame. It was around 11 PM, and my mom brought a glass of milk for me, today with a special chocolate syrup. She kept it on a mini table attached to the wall beside the bed.

“Mummy, today chocolate special? Wow!” I exclaimed

“Yes Arjun. Beta, it is 11 PM! and tomorrow is Monday. You better close your book now, drink your milk and go to sleep. Otherwise you will miss the bus tomorrow.” she suggested

“Yes mumma, I will sleep soon.” I said, and let out a big yawn. My mother gave an angry look to me, and I giggled, after which she giggled too. She then went to the kitchen. I continued to read my unfinished chapter, I set a mental goal that the chapter I was reading would be the last chapter for the day. There were a few pages left. I looked at the chocolate milk. I couldn’t resist my temptation. So, I took the bookmark beside me, put it on the page I was reading, page 345, and kept the book aside. I quickly sipped the chocolate milk, it was hot and delicious. Before going to bed, I checked my bag if I kept all the required books for tomorrow, especially my essay on Bermuda Triangle. I had spent considerable time on it and did not want to afford not carrying it.

Yes, I had everything. I quickly zipped up my bag, went to bed, put on my blanket, and started wondering. There were a lot of negative thought winds blowing around me. For some reason, I felt that this was going to be the last day where I will be sleeping peacefully, without having to worry about anything. It has never happened before, but there is always a first. Maybe it is one of the thoughts striking randomly, I should not care.

My mother came back from the kitchen. She bid me ‘good night’ and she slept. I too was feeling sleepy, I closed my eyes and went in a deep, deep sleep.

The place was really dark. It seemed like a room with no hints of light, but had presence of life. A dark figure approaches, with a book in his hand, and a kind of a rope (Looked like a chain sort of thing) in the other. It looked like the ‘Blood Reaper’ from the game Shadow Fright 2. He dragged the weapon, it did look like a rope but on careful observation, it had small pointed ends coming out of it, similar to the spines of a porcupine. Whoever the figure was, the body language showed that the person was in a particularly good mood.

Another figure, who seemed to be tired, with his hair fully shuffled (more than a deck of cards) was tied to a chair. A glimmer near his eyes proved he wore glasses. His black hat (seemed to be) lay lying down beside his chair. It was not clear if he was old or young, his build and figure showed he was in his 30s or 40s but his weakness was such as if he was in 90s.

“Surrender, my friend, you have had the guilt for the whole of your life” said the voice with a weapon in hand.

“What have I even done?” pleaded the weak, fragile voice tied to the chair

“You do not know?” asked the weapon bearer, mockingly

“I seriously do not know what I have not done” pleaded the prisoner

“Oh, another one of those jokes whichyou wrotehuh?” continued the thick, low-pitched, dominating voice.

The man swung his chain like weapon, making it more evident to the prisoned man of the pain and suffering it was capable to cause.

“You are not going to use that on me... Please, Please spare me! One last time!” begged the tired man. There were drops of tears falling from his face.

“Oh of course, I won’t use this, you are yet to see the worst, Rooke...”