The nightly sound of the crickets

 With age,comes the stories of the past mysteries and old scandals.

Age itself is a very mysterious thing.

Mr.Richard Raymonds was a very old man,living in a village.He had toiled hard for nearly the whole of his life and now,at the age of eighty-five,he was enjoying his much deserved retirement.He lived up in the cold hills in a cottage with his cook.

        But even though he was a bachelor,he wasn’t very lonely.Every evening,children climbed up the hill to hear stories of the past scandals and mysteries which were probably forgotten by almost everybody.

‘Oho!Here comes my gossip party!’Mr.Richard said jovially as he saw the children walking towards him.

‘But uncle,we are bored listening to your folk tales.Tell us about the old scandals like you used to do before,‘complained Raju as he sat on the veranda.

‘As you say,’Mr. Richard said,patting his tummy.He noticed that Tamanna was looking disturbed.

‘What’s the matter?’asked Mr. Richard,in concern.

‘Oh it is Rohan.He was such an angel.Always so kind and nice.I was shocked when I learned about his arrest,’Tamanna said.

‘After he was elected as the ‘sarpanch’ of the village,he became over-confident and started indulging himself in wrong activities,’Mr. Richard said with a sigh.

          The cook came out and set down bowls of hot soup and a plate of crunchy apples on the veranda,before marching inside.They all grabbed a bowl.

‘Hmm...’Mr. Richard said,after taking a sip of his soup,’Power.The main reason behind many crimes.’

        The children stiffened.

‘Oh,I remember a young girl,’Mr.Richard said in a raspy voice,’Naive.’he said blandly.

‘Her name was Sussana.I was living in Bombay,’Mr. Richard said,’I was fifty at that time,he added in answer to the children’s questioning look.

‘She was my neighbour.She was good at studies,but what good will knowledge do when you don’t know to apply it?’

     ‘So young and naive.She wasn’t very popular either.But one day,she struck gold.Her rich uncle,who was a bachelor,died due to cancer. They found his will and then,they found out that he had left all his property and money in the name of Sussana,his only niece.’

    Mr.Richard paused.

‘It was as if somebody gave a magic wand in the hands of a monkey. Suddenly,Sussana found herself surrounded by people.She suddenly became very popular. Friend are many when you have a lot of money,you know,’he said.

    ‘Popular celebrities invited her to their parties,where she became the centre of attention. She became pretentious as the days passed,’Mr. Richard said grimly.

‘What happened next?’a boy asked curiously.

‘What was expected to happen?’asked Mr. Richard in a poetic manner,’As she got surrounded by people like flies when attracted towards a single light bulb,people started taking advantage of her naive demeanour. They made Sussana purchase expensive things for themselves. They were cunning people,of course,but Sussana never realised,feather-brained that she was. I tried to knock some sense in her but she refused to believe me and in turn,she levelled accusations against me,that too,in a very shocking language.’

‘The nerve!’shouted Raju angrily.

‘Thank you ,’Mr. Richard said courteously,before continuing,‘I was very shocked. She had always been so soft and kind. But what I saw was a side of her’s that I had never seen.’

‘Bad influence,nothing else,’he said blandly.

‘Sussana’s ‘so called’ friends kept on blowing her money. This went on for months,until the day dawned when Sussana had no money. She asked her friends to help her but they vanished in thin air.All of them fled to who knows where.’

‘That was bound to happen,‘Tamanna muttered.

‘Of course.She was no longer invited to big parties as she did not have money.’

‘Bit of a comedown for her wasn’t it?’Raju asked snidely.

‘It was. No money,no popularity. She couldn’t tolerate living the way she used to live before. Sussana was so accustomed to living in luxury. Normal bread did not tickle her fancy anymore. Nor did living in a small house in the middle of summer,that to,without a table fan. She said that her life had turned into hell.’Mr.Richard said.

        Raju started laughing.

‘So she thought her life had turned into hell? Just because she did not have fancy items? This is ridiculous!’he said.

‘It is. But she was so used to having a lot of money,’Mr. Richard said,’Sussana decided that she would earn lot of money by hook-or-crook,’Mr. Richard said,while shaking his head like an old elephant.

‘What did she do?’ Tamanna asked.

‘She kidnapped a rich merchant’s son and his wife.’

        Tamanna clapped her hand to her mouth while Raju choked on his soup.

‘N-No!’ Raju gasped

‘Yes,’Mr. Richard said,solemn,’She kidnapped and asked for a ransom of 20 lakh rupees. Very shocking business indeed.’

        ‘While she held them hostage,she negotiated with the merchant. After a few days of negotiations,the merchant lost his patience and he dialed the police,’he said

    ‘When Sussana heard about what he had done,panic combined with anger and envy burst out of her. In her rage,she picked up a knife and stabbed the merchant’s wife and son,several times,until they were nothing but an ugly mass,soaked with blood.’

     There was silence.

Mr.Richard looked at the pale faces of the children.

‘When Sussana realised what had she done,her panic knew no bounds.In the end,she surrendered herself to the police,’Mr. Richard said grimly.

‘Did she go to jail?’asked a boy.

‘Of course she did. She spent 20 years of her life in jail,regretting her thoughtless decisions.’

     ‘Oh,she survived,’Mr. Richard said,’She did odd jobs after she was released.Sussana had learnt her lesson.’

    The moon shined brightly as the nightly sound of the crickets reverberated from all sides.

‘Oho! It’s night already! You all must go back home now,’Mr.Richard exclaimed with a start. They kept their empty bowls down.

   The cook came outside to clear the mess.

‘I hope you all liked the soup,’she said.

‘I loved it Sussana,thank you ,’Mr.Richard said with a smile.