The Music Box

“ It’s been licked ” a voice stated. Ranu turned around in trepidation to find herself face to face with a girl slightly taller than herself. The object in question was a musical box with a little pink ballerina twirling to Chopin’s tune. Ranu cared not much if it had been licked.She had not imagined such beauty. Be it to a city dweller ,only a simple music box used to store inexpensive trinkets. Ranu glanced again at the the tinkling box and stared instead at the girl who stood before her. A vision , with long dark hair tumbling down her back, symmetrical fine features marred somewhat by her sullen expression.
“My dad got me this when he was posted in France .He is in the Army and kills bad guys. And you are to keep your hands off it and anything else in this room. All my toys have been licked .My clothes too. I have poisonous spit !So if you do touch any of my belongings,you are going to turn purple and DIE!” Ranu nodded fervently, eyes wide with terror.

The girl continued, “ I am really hoping you will go away after a few days like all the other guests from the hills. Mamu told me that you might be staying a bit longer and helping out in the house. And attending my school too. ” The girl, with her brow furrowed, paced the length of her pastel shaded room. On one side of the walls,were pictures of her as a baby,toddler and the striking 6 year old she was today. “Mamu and daddy had some big fights because of you,you know,” she accused. Ranu’s cousin had not much contact with her paternal side of the family from which Ranu hailed.

Ranu had arrived in the dead of the night with her father ,clothed in the only unpatched coat that both she and her younger sister shared. During her last lucid moments before she had drifted off to sleep the earlier night ,she had gnawed over that particular worry. This morning, she had been awakened by her father at dawn. He was somber as he blessed her while she,hardly having shaken off her sleep, prostrated at his feet, He murmured softly, “ Meri chori.” And with that he had swung his battered faux Adidas bag strap on top of his head,resting as comfortably as a doko , and ambled out of the room. He made out a pitiful figure; scrawny, knobby –kneed ,a man who had aged much before his time,partly due to ceaseless smoking and in majority due to poverty.

Ranu watched him leave and persuaded herself into thinking she would be back home soon..They would not be able to do without her . After all who would look after her new baby brother and her Hajoor Ba? Didi had been married off at 12 ,three years ago and lived in a village worth two days of walk. Her two brothers were already working in the fields. Her younger sister, Syani , was much too young.Only four this year and not too bright too,she remembered. Syani lived in a world of her own,where she played with her shadows and her stones. Ranu;s younger sister was fascinated with all kinds of stones. Rocks,pebbles,stones, and bits of gravel. Syani responded poorly to people and surroundings. There was no way Syani could take care of her baby brother and Hajoor Ba who was bed ridden after a particularly bad fall whilst being drunk up to his gills on borrowed money. Ranu tossed and turned. Her simple 8 year- old mind not being able to rest easy. Her mother had explained to her that she would be going to Pokhara ,to her Kaka’s place where she would be helping her Kaki with her housework in the mornings and evenings and attend school in the daytime at one of the best schools in Nepal!

“At Gandaki Boarding!” her mom had crowed. The name made almost no sense to Ranu besides the fact that the Master in her school had a son who went to school there and he talked about the subject incessantly. This was the only reason the name had even stuck to her. The mere thought terrified her .In her village, school meant only one thing for her.Freedom .The few hours she had been able to get away from home and her share of chores. But more often than not, she had to remain home and tend to one of her sick siblings or her ailing Hajoor Ba. Or plant new crops.Or make rows and rows of cow dung pies for future use. Or take the neighbour’s cows to graze in exchange for a liter of milk.. Or a thousand other things.

Although it was Ranu’s first day at her Kaka’s place,she was assigned chores both in the garden and the kitchen. She had been greeted stiffly by her elders before breakfast.
Kaka had in an absent minded manner told her to be good and help Kaki and hurried off to his restaurant cum ghazaal he co-owned with some ex colleagues. Kaki had not deigned to say anything but had instead asked one of the maids to get her her usual cup of hot lemon before she left for gym. Ranu had proceeded into the kitchen when she had been called upom for breakfast .The vast amount of food had shocked her greatly. And she had her first bite of bread. She was still undecided as to whether she liked the way it sort of melted into your mouth and then slid down the throat. The older of the maids had then told,no,commanded Ranu in her superior way to go the last room upstairs and wake her cousin . Ranu meandered through the big house,pausing to admire certain things, gawping at others and at last stopped at the very last door;to find it open. The bed was rumpled ,the coverlet thrown back.No cousin to be seen anywhere . Her curiousity getting hold of her,making her edge into the room,to lift, touch ,look and admire.In the middle of the pretty room, there was a dresser and on the dresser lay the music box.It had been wind up and Ranu could hear the tinkling notes from the doorway. And without knowing it,she had found herself looking into the mirror of the little music box and the little pink ballerina turning in its revolver. Ranu had almost reached out when she had been stopped by a voice. And in this way,she first met her cousin,toothbrush in hand, toothpaste foam dribbling down her chin and obviously not very pleased at the sight of Ranu.

[I have not written fiction ever!!! So here goes..what happens to Ranu is as big a mystery to me me as it may to you. Wish me luck wud ya?]

I gotta go now but I wil read it later.

Audrey, great job..liked the ending..I used to love horlicks too...thanks for sharing :)

ok 1st thing 1st..someone says..never wrote a fiction before..so i guess its not too wrong for one to assume the person has wrote non-fictions before?share those too!!!:@ (some words have been deleted since they might be considered abusive ;oP hehe)

anyways after capt comments..there is nothin to much to add..(well u know wat i mean?dun u err..Audrey?;oP hehe)but i guess i still will be addin..so yeah pls tolerate ;oP..

at the start..thot i came into some horror story...esp imagining the ballerina being licked by some gruesome tongue :o| hehe..but guess it was a very nice suprise how the story shaped out (pls tolerate me!!its hard to express myself!:oS hehe)..and time is kinda runnin out here(someone prayers have been heard yet again?:oS hehe) but immensely enjoyed it..would have loved it if it was a tad bit longer(well u know how it is..when ur enjoyin smthing u wish for it to last longer?hehe)....kinda might have hit some of soft spots too hehe..u sure its a fiction?;oP...

and well if these lines def are quite unforgettable for me..."Promises were made to meet up and keep in touch. But then Life happens and everyone knows what happens when that happens" ..well i may forget(me being me :oS hehe)..but yeah def unforgettable eh?hehe..ok ok before i make more non sense ;oP...

have a good one..and hope alls well there...wats with the new..errr..u know wat i mean?;oP...lucky someone said hi..if not i wouldnt have seen this :o|...and def waitin for more just like the other folks..

ps im def not kind!so accept ;oP hehe..

good day!:oD

I thank the reader in each of you..:) Captain,sndy,dananah.

dan...thought I would let you know..im a huge horror fan.My all time goosebumps raiser would be Stephen King's "The Shining" . Ner saw the movie which had Jack Nicholson as the lead in it but the book itself it amazing. [i see you are witing posts,therefore!]
Cheers.

audrey(nice name hoina?;oP hehe) ur a huge horror fan re?sweet!!being scared to the bones just is smthin that is just so enjoyable hoina?well a scaredy(wats that word?how do u spell it?does it even exist?:o| hehe) cat shud know how it feels to be scared?hehe are u one too?;oP hehe..

anyways as i mentioned before im not really a reader :oS hehe..but yeah a book def takes one to a way deeper journey than a movie does hoina?(is it cos we put in more effort when we are readin a book than when we do watch a movie?hehe )....there aint much movies out there which does justice to those good books..are there?like one of my fren noted..lord of the rings is sure one trilogy that was worth the watch?well speakn from my own experience which def will differ with others i guess...

anyways back to horror(have some time to kill...so dun mind me :oD hehe)...i watched that movie "shining"(never got my hands on the book tho..but if the book fell on my lap from heavens above..even lazy me might make an effort to turn the pages..that is if time permits ;oP hehe)was pretty scary..and im quite sure im the type of person who doesnt get scared that easily(tho mybhauju would remind others that few weeks back i slept with leaving the lights switched on after watchin the supposedly scary movie called 'pulse' or was it 'pulses'?hehe..it was so lame!!it was more of a science fiction movie than a horror..guess my cousin explained the horror part wrongly before we watched the dvd..but yeah i dozed off!!and didnt intentionaly leave the lights on all night ok!!!hehe)

oops where was i?;oP...yeah if u get a chance to grab ur hands onto the Shining dvd..u better grab it...i do remember some spine chilling scenes..esp when Jack was alone goin around the empty house and figures started appearing here and there...gawd i still remember those scenes!!may i not remember it later in the night!:o| hehe..even if i do..no!i will switch off the lights!!!unless i doze off?;oP hehe..cant imagine how it be like reading such a book alone in the night :o| hehe...oh that reminds me..does the IT freak u out?it did to me!i guess i just have a problem with 'masks'..facades we each have?hehe..pretty was spooky..tho the clown looked so 'innocent and harmless'...

and smthin just cropped up..and seems like the hr i had to while away just got less hehe..so im outta here...darn was wantin to mention christoper pike hehe..once(long long time ago :o( i can still remember..haha im actually startin to hmm the amercan pie tune hehe) my fren introduced me to his books(he is a he hoina?:o| im really bad with genders!:o| hehe)told me it was horror stuffs...didnt really find those books scary..but def was hooked to them..

anyways hope sat is turning out good...esp if u went to the movies with frens :oD...cya around and def nice to see u writing :oD...sharing any more soon?hope so re kya :oD...

guess i go out sayn..i type ..therefore i am(gettn more weirder?:oS hehe)

good day!:oD

ha ha...IT was watched as a movie first..got properly petrified and then later got round to reading. I guess ,am a adrenaline junkie! And yea,clowns and drains never seemed the same to me afterwards.The poor kid in me:(

Ofcourse,Chris Pike was read....his chain letter series was amazing!! I even din leav Fear street to rest although this was more soft horror. Lurve to hate horror movies but will watch anyway!

Nice going there uudi jaane chari..:D
One question, DO u always choose classic names ho??..:P
Pretty nice fiction!!.:)
Keep writing on!!..:D

audrey...u actually still went on to read the book :o| its really thick hoina?(yeah size does scare me smtimes ;oP hehe) not too sure about the adrenaline junkie..but u def seem like a book junkie :o| hehe...seriously after that movie..i got tainted for life i tell u!!i can never make eye contacts with clowns!!even the friendly lookn Ronald McDonald!!btw doesnt he just looks so evul behind tht friendly smile?:o| see i been tainted arghhh!!!:o( ;oP

and oh i think i kinda have forgotten the details(results of the therapy sessions for the traumas?;oP so pls dun make me remember hai :oD hehe) esp about drains..which is all good..esp since the mention of drains makes me remember of good old stuffs we used to do..u know walk on drains(esp the huge ones) catch fishes(tho not to be consumed..did we ever consume any?cant really remember but most prob we did :oS hehe) and wat not?oops better not stray ;oP

and chain letters?u just made me remember some stuffs!!i think i never got to read them and had really longed to read them then!arghhhhh!!another unfulfilled wish is now added to the already long list of things i wanna finish doin :oS hehe..anyways its all good..just have to wait for the books to fly from the heavens above and onto my laps and which does happen a lot(has been happening all my life?;oP hehe)can only remember those books where it was about vampires(wasnt most of his books about that?;oP hehe)..those snakelike creatures..and most of the time had to do smthing with mars?hehe..dun think i ever heard of "Fear street" which is good for me cos if not i dunno how worse i would have turned out to be right now?:o| just the thot of Elm Street(Freddy) still gives me chills down my spine time to time..not right now tho ;oP....i mean can u just imagine the normal clown(IT) turning into freddy?:o| yeah still not over him since my young havent had nightmares for ages..hopefully wont have any soon *touch wood* ;oP

talkn about horror movies?love to hate re?u sure?why hate?it doesnt hurt does it?;oP hehe...but watchn them is def fun hoina?esp when ur out camping with frens or in some mini trips and where u plan to head to some so called haunted places after watchn some horror flicks?hehe...try watchn friday the 13th during a camping trip!def makes life seem so exciting ;oP hehe...

anyways like juggy mentioned...keep writing and hope to read more fictions or non-fictions soon ...cya and good day!:oD

(still need to type and i guess i better do it in a less public place ;oP hehe..well whilin some time :oD )

Oh ho, another writing in the making! Nicely plotted adn enjoyed it. Somehow, the author of this story sound very familiar. Wonder if this is another case of reincarnation. If it is, I too need to disguise myself. ;-)

Audrey - Hope to hear more from you. :-)

Dan...finally remembered the name of that author of Fear street series"R.L. Stine" Am sure you hearda him!

Flips and Juggiekins..fanks so much for your comments.As for the reincarnation thingy.:) Tis all a matter of perspective wudnt u say? Welcome to the net world after all.Where you can be all you wanna be and nothing if u choose it so to be.

Audrey,
That's a lovely story - enjoyed reading it. Pse do keep it coming.

You a fresh entrant to the Sajha rank and file, no? Just asking.

And also a Hepburn fan? :-)

Have a good one.

Carpe diem.

aud..(sue me for being lazy and not typing the full name ;oP hehe) yeah sure have heard of him...it was yest..duh!;oP when i googled about fear streets hehe..just wanted to check if those were pike stuffs too...i dun think i heard of him(i dun really remember much i guess :oS..smtimes i even think i make it a point to try and not remember :o| hehe)..but now i have..lets see how long i remember him (dun test me hai..i just might be tryn to remember this time ;oP hehe..)..anyways...been sittn on my arse a bit too long(more than i 1st anticipated and the roots are growin deep :o| hehe)

anyways..

sandhurst bro!!*waves!* sheesh the things ppl do to get attn ;oP hehe..anyways lets talk about u..got no more to share?if my memory serves right(which would be too improbable but well there is still a tinee winee chance hoina?hehe)there was one before..just one and not really complete?;oP...well i still remember it(not cos *ahem* my nick was there too ;oP) cos it was crackn..so if there was another one that was gonna come out..well hope so it does ..if time and mood permits eh ;o) hehe..

and yeah am closing my postin count for today..(yes u ppl can breathe again!;oP hehe)

good day all :oD

scarlett,

A dumbo that I am, it took me a while to figure who you are, but what's up with audrey hepburn now? Your refreshing read reminded me of a new Sitara in the making.

Way to go,
John

Gone with the wind to have breakfast at Tiffany's, eh?

AWwhhh Shucksssss@!@#$%

Oho..John Galt you better take that "new sitara in the making" part back. I am still a young shoot compared to her.:P

Thanx anyway..i know u mean only well.

eagerly waiting for the next part................

nepali keta12345..:0 There aint no next part.Ranu could choose any path/
Thanx for reading anyway..

Some one is Mariah Carey Fan..:P