Last night’s heavy snowfall hindered many residents of Kansas City from going out. The temperature recorded a bone-chilling four degrees; even as the clock strikes 8 a.m., there seems to be no hope of the sun casting its rays on this vibrant city located on the banks of the river Missouri. The roads wear an empty look while the ambiance seems calm and still. In spite of the harsh weather, Kansas City’s buildings and its magnificent skylines still look alive and vibrant with the usual early morning’s hustle and bustle. A senior man busy reading the morning paper is sitting near a bakery at the end of the street as the city workers dot the roads, trying to clear the piled-up snow.
The house numbered 1027 N Thompson St, which bears the name of Mr and Mrs Riston, is amongst the many beautiful residential houses situated around the precinct of the river Missouri. Shining out through one of the rooms of this residence is a bright light, which is clearly visible even through the winter mist.
A loud voice screams out, ‘Alfred! . . . Alfred! . . . Alfred!’
Then there is a loud noise of a door being slammed open. A tall and towering person wearing a plain white shirt, black trousers, and a black necktie stands at the door. The person sports an unshaven look over his brown receding hairline.
“Have you gone deaf, Alfred? I have been screaming out your name since the last few minutes!” the man yells again.
“I heard you loud and clear, Dad, and was about to come,” the voice of a 16-year-old boy replies from the bedroom. The young boy appears slim and slender. He wears a red jacket and blue shorts. His eyes are red, and his hair is black and uncombed.
“Alfred, are you not going to be late?” the man said again.
“I’m late for what, Dad?” said Alfred.
“Do I have to remind you that you’re going to be late for class?”
“Relax, Dad. I am not going to be late for anything. Its winter holidays at my college.”
“its winter holidays at your college?” with surprise said the father.
“Yes, Dad, it is.”
“Fine. I will be off to work then. I have some important things to take care of at my workplace. I want you to go down and finish having your breakfast, and don’t forget to take a bath before you eat.” After saying this, he walks out. And Alfred goes down to the kitchen, reaches for the water bottle, and pours the water into a glass. Glancing at a woman’s portrait that hung on the kitchen wall, he moans, ‘Why did you leave us, Mother? You have no idea how much I miss you. I hate you, Mom, for leaving us.’
Sobbing badly, he lifts the glass to his mouth to drink. He realises that bubbles are appearing mysteriously in the glass, but ignoring this, he quickly gulps the water down his throat. He feels that the water is a little warm and unsavoury, but he ignores everything and makes his way towards the bathroom.
At the office of an MNC
“Good morning, Mr Uthen,” greets one of the workers.
Mr Uthen is the CEO and owner of the (Die Chemistry Labs), which produces chemical products, and he is also the father of 16-year-old Alfred.
“Sir, our products that were recently released in the market have failed instantly.” said Uthen’s female secretary Kiwi.
“But why?
“Sir!” Jon interrupted member of DCL’s directories. “I think that the Fi (φ) Electro-Chemical Corp. has made extensive research on our old samples and has come up with something better than our existing product.”
“What the hell does this Sijjael want?”
Sijjael is the former wife of Uthen and the mother of Alfred. Eight years ago, she divorced him and married to Leebrian. Leebrian is one of the richest business tycoons in the USA and also the founder and CEO of Fi (φ) Electro-Chemical Corp. (FIECC). Both FIECC and DCL are archrivals, but DCL always came first in the race. However, after Sijjael joined FIECC, the company started a fierce competition with DCL.
“What are we going to do, sir? Our products are not doing well in the market.”
“What can we do? Just let it go the way it is going for now. May God help us? She knows everything about our products, and that’s why we are facing these problems.”
“But she doesn’t have an idea of everything going on in here right now.” Jon said.
“Who the hell knows what’s going on here?”
Morning at Alfred’s house
From his bedroom window, Alfred stares at an old house opposite his current residence. The house once belonged to Alfred’s family, and it was where he spent most of his childhood days. But Alfred was told by his father that Sijjael has got a stay order over the house with the help of the local court.
The swing on which Alfred used to play with his parents as a kid is being removed by some workers.
When he witnesses this, a teardrop rolls down slowly from Alfred’s eyes towards his cheeks. Suddenly, the teardrop flows upward and sits over the tip of his nose. Alfred then makes it roll towards his eyelashes, and the teardrop suddenly floats up in the air and vanishes.
Just then, Alfred receives a phone call.
“Hello . . . Hello?” Alfred said over the phone. But nothing comes from the other end. “Who’s it? I’m unable to hear any voice!”
And the line goes dead.
10 p.m.
“Salvia? Open the door please,” Uthen calls to his maid while standing outside the door of the house.
“Yes, I’m coming, sir.” Salvia responded.
. . .
“Why don’t you travel and visit some new places during the holidays? You don’t seem to be feeling good the past few days,” Uthen suggests to Alfred while having dinner.
“I don’t wish to go anywhere.”
“Why is that so? Is the college going to be reopened soon?”
Alfred cries out, saying, “Yes, I wish to go to my old house.”
Uthen gets up from his chair, embraces Alfred, and says, “Sure, son. We’ll both go very soon.”
“Dad, why’s Mom doing this to us?”
“I’ve no idea, son. I don’t know what she intends to do by giving us pain.”
Alfred then walks to his room to sleep. And then he hears a voice saying, “Alfred . . . dear Alfred, how are you, son?”
Alfred’s eyes look all around the room to find out from where this strange voice is coming. But he can’t see a thing. Ignoring the voice, Alfred goes to sleep.
7 a.m. the next day
Alfred receives a phone call.
“Hello! What’s up, Khushahal?”
“What are you doing, bro?” Khushahal asked.
“It’s 7 a.m., and what would one do at such an early morning but sleep? You tell me. Why’d you call up so early?” Alfred replied.
“Listen up! Get up and come to the college library now. I’ve got something important to share with you!”
“Really? What is it? Why don’t you say it over the phone, man?” Alfred asked.
“No, I’ll let you know once you’re here.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll be there.”
Alfred hops into his car and then begins to leave for the library. He looks at the snow-filled road. A few city workers are busy trying to remove the excess snow. All of a sudden, Alfred’s eyes catch a vision in very slow motion. He sees the snow-removing machine accidentally hitting the electric pole, and then the pole breaks and is about to fall on the worker standing beneath it. Sensing this, Alfred jumps out of his car, grabs the worker’s hand, and quickly pulls the worker towards him like a speedster. Alfred realises that the vision that seemed to be in slow motion has now turned to normal view. All the workers present at the location thank Alfred for saving their colleague from getting hurt and ask him how he managed to do it. Panicked and unable to explain, Alfred walks away from the place.
Thanks for reading, next episode will be on 11th January 2019.
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