By Trishit Ghoshal
Once upon a time, in a petit town high up in the Himalayan mountain ranges, there lived an eight year old boy named Myasu. He was an orphan, having lost his parents in a car accident and he lived happily with his old and sick grandmother ever since.
Everything went on peacefully until one day Myasu’s friends informed him about an abandoned garden that was situated deep inside the forest surrounding their little town.
Gyatso, Myasu’s best friend said, “ Do you know that everyone says that the abandoned garden nestled deep in the heart of Rahasya Van is haunted and also there are many people who have disappeared forever while trying to prove that the garden, Raj Vatika is not haunted and that all supernatural phenomena occurring there is just the work of some mafia gang that is hiding there.”
Myasu responded, “ Even I don’t believe in supernatural occurrences and am sure that there must be some gangster or mafia who must be hiding in Raj Vatika and might be kidnapping everyone who goes there so that those people are not able to disclose the mafia’s secret in front of anyone. I will myself bring the peoples’ fear to an end tonight but for that I require all of your help !”
Myasu wanted all his friends to accompany him to Raj Vatika that night so that they could gather evidences to prove that Raj Vatika was not haunted and that mafia don was responsible for all the disappearances at Raj Vatika. Myasu’s friends were hesitant at first but eventually agreed to accompany their friend. So, that night, Myasu as well as his four friends slowly sneaked out of their houses after all their family members were asleep. As decided, the five friends gathered on the outskirts of their town. The group consisted of Myasu, the leader of the group, Gyatso, the deputy leader and Miko, Satu and Kaizu, the other group members. Then, the three boys and two girls set out on their risky endeavour. The path that led to Raj Vatika was itself broken and rough and as if this wasn’t enough, the danger and threat from the wild animals added on to the trouble faced by the lot. However, the courage and determination of every group member was strong enough to counter all odds and finally, the group reached their destination without much difficulty.
When they saw the first glimpse of Raj Vatika, every group member’s heart started pounding rapidly with a mixed feeling of both content and fear. When Myasu had almost convinced himself that nothing bad is going to happen and was about to take his first step towards the garden, out of the blue, a beautiful girl dressed in a tidy pink Japanese Kimono appeared out of nowhere and said, “I heard that you all have come here to expose the secret of Raj Vatika. Am I correct ?”
The girl’s sudden appearance startled everyone at first, but eventually everything came back to normal and Myasu replied, “Yes, you are right, we have indeed come here to expose the secret of Raj Vatika. Do you have any information about this place that might help us unravel the mystery ?” The girl replied, “Yes, I have a lot of information about this place. I live in a tiny hut along with my parents in this jungle itself. My hut is near Raj Vatika, that’s why I know a lot about this place. My parents once told me that about sixty years ago there was a very infamous gangster Don in our town named Chaketsu. He used to come to our town twice a week and used to loot and plunder every house and used to murder everyone who obstructed his path, without any mercy, may it be children or senior citizens. One day, his whole gang was killed in a police encounter but Chaketsu somehow escaped with minor injuries and has been hiding in Raj Vatika every since. Everyone in the village thought that he had died but the devil continues to live on. Chaketsu created a new group of gangsters here and he loots and murders everyone who wanders near Raj Vatika and buries their bodies in the garden itself and because of these disappearances, people have come to the conclusion that Raj Vatika is haunted.”
Gyatso asked, “ So, you mean that it is just a fake rumour that Raj Vatika is haunted ?” The girl weakly replied, “Uhm, yes, it is just a fake rumour. This all started just because of that eighty year old demon. In order to bring this rumour to an end, we have to somehow kill Chaketsu.” Miko said, “ If a gangster Don is after all the strange events occurring in Raj Vatika ,then I think that we should inform the police instead of taking any actions ourselves because we are just small children. What can we do of such an infamous and strong don ?” The girl replied, “Count on me, friends, I know this place better than them and anyways, for others Chaketsu is already dead so no one will believe you. So, it’s better that we ourselves bring Chaketsu’s dark empire to an end and leave his body to rot here in Raj Vatika.” Myasu added, “I agree with this girl, let’s destroy the demon !”
Myasu’s words encouraged the other four and they bravely decided to make Chaketsu’s dark empire fall forever. So, the girl told the whole lot to keep quiet because if any of Chaketsu’s goons hear them, then they are going to face the same fate as others. The girl took everyone a little away from Raj Vatika and showed them a pit that leads to a secluded spot in the fearful garden and also informed that Chaketsu’s goons were never present near that area so it was safe for them. One by one everyone got inside the pit and reached the other side that opened to a secluded spot in Raj Vatika, as told earlier by the girl. After entering Raj Vatika, Kaizu asked the girl, “ What do we do next since we have already entered Raj Vatika ?” The girl replied, “When my family used to live in Japan, my father was a famous Samurai there. So, I have six swords in my bag which I borrowed from my father. Once there was a time when Chaketsu used to be the leader of fifty goons but ever since his fall, he is now left only with four goons. The number is less but each and every goon is very strong and powerful, so in order to defeat them we must take on one goon at a time.”
So, with that all the six friends shook their hands together and set out on their deadly mission. Soon, the first of the four goons was standing in front of their eyes. His back was facing the children, so it was a piece of cake for Myasu, Gyatso and Kaizu to attack and defeat the first goon by striking their swords on his back, while the girls were standing back because they were too afraid to kill someone. Now, the mistake had been committed. The children had forgotten to cover the goons mouth before striking him with the sword and his shrieks invited the other three goons as well as Chaketsu to the spot.
Chaketsu laughed like an evil at the sight of the children doing away with one of his goons and hollered out, “Tiny children with tiny swords have come to defeat Chaketsu, huh ? My goons are so strong that these little mosquitoes are crushing and grinding them. Now just don’t stand there looking at my face ! Go, get the children!” All three goons started running towards the kids with large axes in their hands.
The girl instructed Miko to throw her sword at a certain angle and it successfully penetrated the heart of the second goon. Now, Myasu and Gyatso together took on a single goon and the goon, unable to cope up with the speed of two young souls, got tired and that was when Myasu and Gyatso were able to defeat him. The girl’ told Kaizu and Satu to together swing their swords in a certain fashion and sure enough even this time the goon was defeated and Chaketsu was left alone.
Chaketsu screeched in anguish and fury, “You children might have defeated all my goons but I, Chaketsu, am still alive and I am the strongest. So, beware of me !” With that, Chaketsu came running towards the children. The girl instructed everyone to run in different directions and then once Chaketsu got inside the circle, everyone had to come running towards Chaketsu with their swords pointing towards him. Even this time, the girl’s strategy worked and Chaketsu was attacked from all directions.
With the remaining life left in him, Chaketsu staggered towards the steep cliff beside Raj Vatika and yelled, “You all won this time but victory will be mine in the next life !” Then Chaketsu laughed for a few moments and jumped into the cliff and probably fell into the river deep below.
All of a sudden, Myasu asked, “ Where is that girl gone ?” The girl came running towards with a register in her hand, handed it to Myasu and said, “Whenever Chaketsu used to loot and murder someone, he used to write their names and used to attach their pictures in this register along with the date. Please take it with you, my friend.” Myasu replied, “Ok, I take it but in a hurry we forgot to introduce ourselves to one another. Hi, I am Myasu and these are my friends Gyatso, Kaizu, Miko and Satu and what is your name ?” The girl replied, “ Hi, Myasu. It was nice meeting you all. I am Miami Onochiwa. Now, I must take a leave, my parents are waiting for me. They would be very happy to know that we finally defeated Chaketsu.”
With that, the girl walked away in the darkness happily and soon disappeared. The group of friends also began walking towards their homes with a feeling of victory in their hearts.
The following day, Myasu proudly narrated the previous night’s occurances to his grandmother and also handed over the register to her. Myasu’s grandmother began scolding him but abruptly stopped when Myasu stated, “Oh don’t worry, grandma, we met a Japanese girl wearing a pink kimono near Raj Vatika. She said that her parents had shifted here from Japan and that her father was a samurai. Since she lived near Raj Vatika, she was well-versed with the area and led us to a secret path that opened up to a secluded area in the garden and she was the one who provided us with the sword and instructed us on how to use them and she also handed this register over to me. Bye the way, her name was Miami Onochiwa !”
As soon as the girl’s name struck the grandmother’s ears, her arms and legs went numb and she broke down into tears. She answered while sobbing, “Myasu ! No one lives near Raj Vatika since sixty years. Sixty years ago, when I was ten years old a girl had shifted to our town from Japan and her family lived in a small but near Raj Vatika. Soon we both became best friends. At that time,ou town was under the terror of Chaketsu. That girl once told me that Chaketsu once threatened her family to give him one hundred gold coins within two days because they had come from Japan, so Chaketsu thought that they were very rich. My friend’s father refused to give the coins to Chaketsu. So, one night when the whole family was fast asleep, Chaketsu set the hut on fire and I heard that no one in the family survived. I was completely broken down in my friend’s demise. After a few days, I heard the news that Chaketsu’s whole gang had died in a police encounter but no one knew that Chaketsu was still alive. My friend’s name was Miami Onochiwa !”
Myasu was taken aback after hearing this and said, “I don’t believe that the girl whom I met yesterday, was a ghost and that Raj Vatika is really haunted !” The grandmother opened a page of the register and started sobbing even louder and asked Myasu to have a look. Myasu could not believe his eyes. That page of the register contained the picture of the same girl whom he met yesterday, the name was ‘Miami Onochiwa’ and the date of murder was exactly sixty years ago.
The grandmother said that it was the picture of her friend, Miami and Myasu said that it was the same girl whom he met the previous night.
All of a sudden, the wind started blowing rapidly and it began thundering and Miami’s spirit appeared in front of Myasu and his grandmother. Miami said ,”Myasu, by killing Chaketsu you have freed all the souls of the people murdered by the devil. I am sorry that I hid my identity but you might have got afraid of I might have disclosed my identity. Ghosts can only touch and appear in front of select few people who are born once in a century and that’s why I had to wait for sixty years to defeat Chaketsu. The pit that opened up to a secluded spot in Raj Vatika actually opened up beside my grave. After my death, I used to haunt Chaketsu’s goons by using plants and animals but I couldn’t use them to kill him. For that, I required a real human. A few days later, the goons stopped wandering near my grave due to fear.”
Then, Miami shook her hands with Myasu’s grandmother, her long time best friend. After that, Miami told Myasu, “Myasu, you are a good boy, so I provide you a boon that after you grow up you will always stand against injustice and help the needy. One more thing, don’t disclose the secret of Raj Vatika to anyone right now. Let it be as it is now but do justice to the garden once you grow up. Now, I must take a leave. I have to join my parents in the other realm. They are waiting for me. Bye Myasu. Bye my best friend, Shaizuki !”
Twenty five years passed since the death of Chaketsu and sure enough, Myasu became a renowned politician who was known for serving others and doing justice to everyone and helping others in need. Myasu also got Raj Vatika renovated and built a grand marble sacrophagus on the grave of Miami and also installed her statue in the centre of the garden. Myasu also renamed Raj Vatika as ‘Miami Onochiwa Memorial Garden’.
Miami joyfully laughed by seeing all this from the other world and blessed Myasu. Myasu continued serving others for the rest of his life and everyone was content under his leadership. Happiness and joy lasted in Myasu’s town forever after that.
By Trishit Ghoshal
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