{ "node": { "title": "Stories", "url": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "kind": "collection" }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories" }, "up": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/", "title": "Home" }, "siblings": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/tc/", "title": "Tech Career" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/brickbreaker/", "title": "Brickbreaker" } ], "children": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence" } ], "alternates": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories HTML", "type": "text/html" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/?format=markdown", "title": "Stories Markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/?format=json", "title": "Stories JSON", "type": "application/json" } ] }, "content": {}, "_embedded": { "children": [ { "node": { "title": "The Pair", "url": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "kind": "story" }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair" }, "up": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories" }, "siblings": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence" } ], "children": [], "alternates": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair HTML", "type": "text/html" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair.md", "title": "The Pair Markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair?format=json", "title": "The Pair JSON", "type": "application/json" } ] }, "content": { "markdown": "# The Pair\n\nThe silence of the evening was broken by my sister’s shrill cry, coming from the hall. “Daddy! Johnny has adopted yet another lizard in his shirt”, yelled Lizzie, flying away at top speed from the fine specimen of a creepy-crawly, procured with tremendous effort from a tree outside our house. I knew about it, since I had assisted Johnny in doing it, on a silent agreement that neither our parents, nor our little sister would know anything about me being involved. “Slow down, hon,” called Mother after Lizzie. “You would put an Aventador to shame with that speed”. I went to our hall, and sat down on the sofa, picked up Gaboriau’s book from the table, and yelled for Linda to get me tea.\n\nBeing the eldest son entitled me to such privileges, quite equivalent to those of my father. A truly special thing he exclusively enjoyed was that a separate chair was always set for him at the dinner table. Apart from that, he got to smoke his pipe, which I had looked forward to doing since my childhood, but as I grow older, the interest fades away more and more. Lizzie rushed into Father’s room, to wail about how she was to live amidst brothers who roamed with creatures up their sleeves. “Up their shirts, Liz”, corrected Johnny. My brother was seven years younger to me. He regarded me as an ideal role-model, though I did not find anything in me that could be emulated. Johnny also looked forward to becoming as tall as Father one day, but for now, he was just a skinny and small boy, much like the creatures he owned. His fascination for living things was the only thing recognisable about him, earning him the title “Johnnie Tamer” among our folks.\n\nLizzie had almost no similarity to him. She was a chubby, bright girl with a happy-go-lucky attitude towards everything. Being the youngest, she often pestered Mother as to why she was so. Had she been the eldest, she could have had everything to herself, my room (as if I would part with that!), her own closet where she would hang her pretty frocks (Ew! Closets are for real clothes!), and an awesome view of the nearby Andes from my window. The only thing Lizzie did not approve of was animals. She would be afraid of even a harmless puppy roaming about in the streets. Coming from a family of pet-lovers, she was the only one to have been born thus in our long lineage.\n\nThat evening, we went to sleep around eleven o’clock. Next morning, Lizzie woke up with a start. It was a school-day! And her birthday too!! The previous day’s event of the lizard was forgotten by her, as she rushed into my room, making me jump in fright as she leapt onto my bed. “Brubby, Brubby!! Wake up!! It’s my birthday! For heaven’s sake, wipe the sleep out of your eyes!! It’s my birthday, and I don’t know what to wear, and I’ve got school, all my friends will wish me, I’m another year old. Just you wait Brubby..I’ll catch up with you some day”. She paused for a moment, possibly to catch her breath, while I availed this opportunity to put my glasses on, and make sense of the situation. My perfectly romantic and wonderful dream had been broken, thanks to my little Lizzie. Mother rushed in, along with Father, beaming at my sister. “Guess what we got you, hon.” asked Mother, even as I spied Father clutching a silver-paper wrapped packet. So this was what they had been buying at the store the other day. On being handed over to Lizzie, the beautiful paper was shred to pieces, and cast aside, as if it was of no importance any longer in this world.\n\nJohnny appeared in my room too. For some strange reason, my room had become the family meeting room for that morning. On the way out, Johnny said “Brubby, we did not get Lizzie anything. What should we do? Mom is sure to notice that, although she probably will not mention it.” I listened to him, trying to think of something appropriate for Lizzie. Suddenly, I had a brainwave! “Got it. It’s time Lizzie learnt to love animals”.\n\nAn additional duty of being the eldest was that I had to accompany my sister to school. As she walked with a hop-skip-and-jump over the puddles, I pondered upon the gift I had planned to get her. Would she accept it? God forbid that she would turn it down.\n\nOn leaving her at school, I, accompanied by Johnny went to visit the local pet store. Mr Jonas, the owner, sat on a low stool feeding his eternal dog companion Buster. I call Buster eternal because I’ve never seen him leave his master’s side even once. The plump, amiable man called out “Nice to see you Bobby. You too Tamer. Want a pet?” He walked up to us, and gave short taps on my back. “Petting. That joke never gets old”. Even though I wanted to give that impeccable man a piece of my own mind about adhering to at least a standard while making jokes, I reminded myself of the mission we had to accomplish. “We need a dog, Sir”, said I. “Follow me,” replied Mr Jonas, walking towards his backyard.\n\nWhat a scene! Perhaps all the four-legged varieties in the world had congregated in that place. Bulldogs, German shepherds, Terriers, Poodles, Rottweilers, Boxer Hounds, Dobermans (men?), Spaniels, Shih Tzus, I mean, you name the species and it was there. They immediately bounded up to Mr Jonas, evident of the love and care he showed for them. The massive energy levels in that backyard were enough to drive the breath out of any regular person, for he would be lost amidst the sea of these dogs.\n\n“We want something small, sir. Something suitable for a young girl”, said I. “Small? Let me think. Hmm…” said Mr Jonas, scratching his chin. “Aha! I have just the one”. Saying thus, he led us back into the store, to a small box. He reached in to get hold of the resident inside. “Got her yesterday. Cheap too. Quiet and lovable as well.” Out of the box came a truly lovable Beagle, an adorable puppy, barely a year old. She had quick, darting eyes, an eager expression on her face, and a shrill voice. I need not tell you readers, that a purebred Beagle puppy is one of the most beautiful things in the world to possess, for anyone regular, that is. I was not sure of how Lizzie would react. Forcefully imposing a dog upon her did not seem the right thing to do, but I was firm in my belief, that she had a soft spot for them somewhere. I had always seen Liz staring at the mongrels in the street, smiling from the window. It did not take an expert to figure out what she had in her mind.\n\nMother was uneasy about the prospect, but seemed to be on my side. “She needs to learn to understand animals, to care for them, to nurture them. Excellent character development, I say”, boomed Father, with shining eyes. As Lizzie came home, everyone waited with abated breath. The time had come. Would she accept her gift, or turn it down?\n\n“Surprise Lizzie!” I said, as she bear-hugged me, overjoyed that her Brubby had got her a present. Her friends at school had thrown a big party on this eighth birthday, and her face was full of shine and glory. She rushed up to the box, and opened it. Everyone waited. Johnny was chewing his nails nervously, his lizard appearing as bumps here and there in his shirt. Lizzie gave out a loud cry and rushed to the bedroom, I going after her. I managed to get in before she shut the door.\n\n“I hate you Brubby! I absolutely hate you! You knew I hated animals. Yet you wanted to tease me about my fear, that too on my birthday! You are the meanest and baddest brother in this whole world..” I had no heart to tell her that the word was ‘worst’. She pushed me out of the room, and banged the door on my face. I returned to the hall, crest-fallen. My marvellous brainwave and idea had come crashing down. I felt sorry for dear Lucy, who too had an expression of grief on her face. Dogs are much more capable of judging human behaviour. Lucy knew that Lizzie had well and truly rejected her.\n\nWeeks passed, all uneventful. Although Lucy got all of our care and affection, in her little heart she felt sad. She felt she had somehow failed Lizzie. The little Beagle could be seen wandering around the house, alone inspite of us as companions. As for Lizzie, she never remained in the same room as Lucy. I felt myself guilty for having dealt with such a delicate part of Liz, not knowing that she truly did not like animals. I had been lost in my own ideas that she would accept her gift from the next day, but no.\n\nOne winter morning, while we all sat round the breakfast table, Lucy did not appear. Her whine would be the first thing for us to hear each day, but it so did not occur. “Might have gone into the garden, the poor dear”, said Mother, pouring tea for all of us from the kettle. Afternoon came, still no sign of Lucy. Now all of us began to get worried. Father and I, along with Johnny volunteered to set out to search for her, although it was snowing heavily outside. Lizzie too was nowhere to be seen.\n\nOnce outside, we strode along the pathway, glancing everywhere for the lost dog. At last we found her, lying near the roadside, injured. Apparently, she was hit by some passing vehicle while crossing the road. We put a muzzle on Lucy, to prevent her from lashing out as we carried her to the town vet. He was a most helpful man, and immediately took her under his care. Thankfully, Lucy had sustained only a minor fracture, but tremendous trauma.\n\nIn a few weeks, the fracture had managed to heal (for Lucy was a healthy canine), but not the shock. All of us at home could not help her in the least. Lucy refused to let anyone approach her. Only one person was left to try. Lizzie, my sister. I got her from her room. She was aware of the situation too, and was extremely distressed like the rest of us, but some part of her still told her to keep away from Lucy.\n\n“Give it a try, Liz” I said, trying to be hopeful. Lizzie was doubtful, but I sensed that she was considering it rationally, for once. The doctor had said that a caring and patient parent/guardian was needed to bring Lucy out of her trauma. Lizzie went forward, but drew back her hand. “Come on, Liz, go do it. Lucy needs it. She needs you. Only you.” Lizzie tried again, but closed her eyes, lest Lucy should turn her down and snap back. She placed her small hand on the Beagle’s forehead. And let it stay.\n\nLucy had accepted her. This made Lizzie cry, as she hugged her birthday gift lovingly. She told Lucy that she was sorry for being mean, and believe me or not, Lucy seemed to understand her perfectly. As the two spirits combined, so to say, we all felt eternal bliss, right in that very room.\n\nAs for Lizzie, her joy knew no bounds later. Over the next few weeks, there was no better person in the world more capable of care for Lucy than Lizzie. Her shrill cries and her dog’s s shrill howls resonated perfectly, often forcing us to shut our ears for a minute. Lucy came out of her trauma, and resumed normal activities. Lizzie apologised to me too, for saying bad things. She had been just plain angry, and had felt horrible after saying it. I forgave her, and added, “Oh, I’ll teach you better things to say, better than ‘meanest’ and ‘baddest’ ”, even though I knew Mother would never forgive me for that.\n\nOur family went back to its regular routine, but this time, with a minor change.\n\nLizzie had become an animal lover.\n" } }, { "node": { "title": "The Ding Dong", "url": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "kind": "story" }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong" }, "up": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories" }, "siblings": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence" } ], "children": [], "alternates": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong HTML", "type": "text/html" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong.md", "title": "The Ding Dong Markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong?format=json", "title": "The Ding Dong JSON", "type": "application/json" } ] }, "content": { "markdown": "# The Ding Dong\n\nI got down from the night train. The long journey had completely exhausted me. As I crossed the dull platform, I saw only one being in sight, standing near the main building. A gust of wind made me shiver, and I pulled my jacket closer, in hope of warmth. My stomach felt heavy after the five-course meal aboard the train. My watch showed half past eleven.\n\nNone of the stores were open, and I sighed as I walked past them, feeling nostalgic for a magazine. It had been my childhood habit of demanding one, on any journey whatsoever. However, time and place has deprived me of that joyful glee.\n\nAs I ascended the stairs, I could sense the person (who looked quite hefty), following me, and caught him eyeing the surrounding marshland, from which arose the shrill chirps of crickets.\n\n“Oh dear Lord!”, I thought, “ one push is all that it will take”. My revolver lay in my suitcase, impossible to reach at short notice, if the need arose. It was a .44 Colt, a faithful companion in most of my assignments,but utterly useless without pressing the trigger. He caught up with me before I could finish my train of thought.\n\n“The boss needs to see you about a case”, he said, through gritted teeth.\n\n\n“ Well, I do not accept clients before meeting them myself”, said I, putting on a most apprehensive look.\n\n\n“He promised to make it worth your while”, said my fellow.\n\n\nNow, the last year had seen me being pushed into the depths of debts. I had lost my job at Edelweiss, seemingly due to neglect. The crime rate was much higher then. After the Reformason Movement, criminals seemed to have taken to other means of livelihood, at the cost of detectives like us. My landlady had been demanding the overdue rent for the past few weeks, but had been kind enough to pass on my letters to me.\n\n\nOne of the letters, written in heavy cursive hand, had read,\n\nDear Mr Aldric, If it will please you to come to New Grillsbury Station, I promise to make it worth the efforts.\n\nIn the envelope, I found a train ticket to the said place, and where I now stand. Perhaps the other fellow knew about this, and hence decided to press upon my need of immediate money. It was true. Hence, shaking my head reluctantly, I gestured at him to lead the way.\n\n\nIn the darkness, I made out the faintly visible estate car as we made our way to it. It was black, extremely black. “Ventablack”, my companion added, and blindfolded me before I could react or resist.\n\n\n“Why!?”, I let out, but he countered, ”... just a precautionary measure, sir. The boss does not intend to let his whereabouts be known”.\n“Oh dear”, I sighed, and got into the car. It hurtled ahead.\n\n\nNow, it made no difference to me being blindfolded. Having visited New Grillsbury since my toddler days had enabled me to have a fairly good sense of direction. I figured out that we were headed north. I remembered the local market which I had visited with my father, here in this place. He had been out looking for some antiques.I recall the attendant having almost hunted out the tankha. But that all was so long ago, of what relevance was it now?\n\n\nWe went round in a circle, once or twice, possibly to confuse me, but all in vain. After another tedious and bumpy ride, we came to a halt. The cloth was taken off my eyes, and I saw four other people getting down from the car. “Wow! Personal escorts,” I started abruptly, but stopped as I saw Mr Boss( I shall call him that, for till date, I have not found out his name) walking towards me.\n\n\n“Mr Aldric ”, he said, “ I need some important work done. My Tibetan bell has gone missing, and I need to find it by tomorrow evening”.\n\n\n“So let me guess, he needs a professional detective to hunt for a ding-dong?”, I thought, furious. “Unfortunately, the clapper’s gone, so you cannot find it by its ringing”, he added.\n\n\n“Splendid! Find a ding-dong without making it ring. Moreover a time limit. What has the world come down to?”. But I had to push away these thoughts, as I was desperate for cash.\n\n\nI started hunting on the estate grounds, running after small, insignificant things, and finding them to be a rock, or a bit of muck. “Nothing doing till morning”, I decided. As I walked into the mansion, I couldn’t help being amazed at the enormity of the entire setup. I strode up to my allotted room, and plopped straight into bed, and fell into deep slumber.\n\n\nAround 3 AM or so, I woke up. My throat felt parched. As I proceeded to pour myself a glass of water, I glanced at the open window. I made out the silhouette of a hand, clutching the godforsaken ding-dong without a clapper. I went closer, but in a flash, the hand disappeared, even as the bell tumbled into my room. “Nice. My object of investigation being delivered to me.” I made sure the bell was the one I had been asked to find. Placing it on the table, I went back to sleep with happy thoughts.\n\n\nThe next day brought for me quite a surprise. The bell had disappeared from my table!! I thought, “Well,now at least I can try to FIND it for once.”\nAs I went down into the hall to ask for something for my gnawing stomach, I looked up at a hook, and lo and behold, it was right there! Hanging as though it had never been lost. I soon realised that Mr Boss had not yet seen the restored object.\n\n\nAs he came down, greeting me good morning, I said, “Sir, your ding-sorry!, bell…” suddenly, but checked myself. After all, he had made me, a pro detective, sign up for such an absurd task, only because of my financial trouble. “Let’s have a little fun, shall we?” , I thought, eyeing my client. “… will be found by evening only”, I finished my sentence. “That’s all right.” he said.\n\n\nI relaxed the entire afternoon, leafing through the pages of a book I found on my bedside table, my feet propped up on the window. No one came to ask any questions. As the sun began to set, I stood up, and stretched myself. I went down into the hall, only to see that now, nothing hung by the hook.\n\n\n“Oh dear me,” I thought, “ This is a problem .“\n\n\nI immediately began to think of a plan. Aha! The shop I had visited in my childhood! I rushed out, and literally ran the whole way to the local market, and hunted up the same fellow. He brought out a similar bell. I rushed back and hung it up on the hook, avoiding suspicious eyes of the servants, and when Mr Boss walked down, I dramatically gestured towards it, hoping he would not notice its clapper. He broke into a smile. “ You shall find your payment on the garden table, my dear detective”, he said.\n\n\nAs I walked out, glad at being able to fool Mr Boss, I found the packet which had my payment. On the return train (which I had to pay for), I opened it.\n\n\nNo cash. No, really, no cash.\n\n\nJust a Tibetan bell without a clapper. A note lay by its side. It read,\n\n> You cannot hoodwink me, Mr Aldric. I saw you put up the bell you bought. Consider mine as your payment.\n\nAhh!! How can a ding-dong make up for my shortcomings?\n\n\nWell, my showcase had one empty spot left.\n\n\n" } }, { "node": { "title": "A Fishing Expedition", "url": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "kind": "story" }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition" }, "up": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories" }, "siblings": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence" } ], "children": [], "alternates": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition HTML", "type": "text/html" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition.md", "title": "A Fishing Expedition Markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition?format=json", "title": "A Fishing Expedition JSON", "type": "application/json" } ] }, "content": { "markdown": "# A Fishing Expedition\n\n“It is not the cold that makes me shiver,” he said, “ a mere winter day by the river is not at all cold for the likes of me!”\n“There he goes again,” thought his friend as he sat down just beside him. Both put out their fishing lines. They sat for nearly an hour, without any luck, and well, soon began to lose their patience as the morning dragged on.\n\nThe damp mist, hanging about the entire region, forbade a clear sight of the river. It had arrived a few days back, and now seemed quite reluctant to leave without a substantial halt. Every now and then, the friends would hear a splash in some direction, and on sending their lines flying there, would get them entangled, and would end up spending hours disengaging the mass jumble of lines, and then again resume their positions.\n\n“Fish too is scarce now,” said the first.\n“True. An intense yearning for some fresh air and a nostalgia for old habits brought me down to this Halls Creek, yet no luck so far, not even a sleepy cod,” replied the second. The latter looked around to continue his conversation, but found no one. The fishing line and kit lay in their place, the owner being missing.\n\n“Now, where did that Tyson wander off?”, he asked himself. He presumed Tyson to have walked away into the wilderness, to fascinate himself with the birds. Sam just did not understand how his friend could possibly hold interest in so many varying subjects, right from fishing to birds, from science to literature, from the man-made to the natural.\n\nSam trudged on mumbling and muttering, having to stop his own fishing. Another hour or so would have resulted in at least a few specimens of gudgeon. Nevertheless, he called out to Tyson, was not answered, and sat down, waiting. Just then, he heard a rustle as someone brushed against the low-hanging branches of the old cedar tree under which he was resting. Alarmed, Sam looked this way and that, his body tense with fear and bewilderment. The dim sunlight and the swirling mist made it quite impossible to see anything, and Sam didn’t want to leave the tree, which at least secured him from the backside. Well, the atmosphere was much too comfortable, and the fellow immediately dozed off, dreaming of catching Tyson from the river with his fishing line.\n\nTyson, on the other hand, too was now frantically searching for the way back to the river bank. He had spotted a rare paradise flycatcher, and had walked off after it, without even bothering to think about his return. Now, as he wandered here and there, he realised that he was going around in circles. Had he not just passed the two pines a minute ago? Tyson made up his mind to now go only forward, at least he would end up somewhere. As he went forth, he heard a sigh and a thud. Immediately convinced that it was a miscreant, he advanced stealthily, trying to keep the cedar branches away from his hair, for Tyson was afraid of ants. Just then, he heard a loud snore, and pounced upon the source, and as the other woke up alarmed, and began to run, petrified of the attacker, Tyson hung on for dear life. As the two approached the bank, the runner tripped over a rock and fell headlong, Tyson behind following suit. As they looked at each other, Tyson was amazed to see Sam glaring at him, his hair rather roughly decked with dirt and leaves.\n\n“You bumbling ass, what do you think you were doing?”, demanded Sam. Tyson muttered an apology as they took up their positions at the bank again.\n\nAfter another hour or so of (im)patient waiting, Sam spotted a motion in the swirling water, and threw his line with accurate aim at the archerfish, but failed to hook it. Letting out a few of the choicest curse words, Sam threw his line again in the river, and this time putting it in the holder, lay down on the bank to sleep. (Yes, again for hadn’t Tyson disturbed him?). Tyson, by this time, had just got the wire on the wheel, and after a few moments of satisfaction, realised that he had been holding the rod the wrong way. Enraged, he pushed his rod away, and lay down too. Both slept on, and on, and on, even as the morning turned to afternoon. The mist lifted, they slept on, the sun bathed them in sweat, they slept on, the sun bade farewell to the trees, they slept.\n\nAs they woke up they found out that soon it would be all dark, and Halls Creek was not all that exciting at night. They hurriedly got to their feet, and started packing up. Just then they saw a random person setting up his line a few yards away.\n\n“Poor fellow,” mentioned Tyson, yawning.\n“Not much luck for him, if we managed nothing after an entire morning,” said Sam shaking his head.\n“But let’s watch,” offered Tyson.\n\nThe person caught a fish on his line, gave a sharp jerk, and it came flying into his hand. He immediately threw it away. He caught another, a bigger one, but sighed and made it follow his predecessor. Sam and Tyson were astounded. Who throws back a perfectly good mackerel and a tuna?\n\nThey went up to him, and asked,\n“Good man, why do you throw away the fish you catch?”\n“What can I do, sir? I’ve only a six-inch frying pan at home, so there is a need to match the measurements.”\n\nShaking their heads in disbelief, Sam and Tyson went off, bringing an end to their fishing expedition (only without the fish).\n" } }, { "node": { "title": "Just Toying", "url": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "kind": "story" }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying" }, "up": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories" }, "siblings": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence" } ], "children": [], "alternates": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying HTML", "type": "text/html" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying.md", "title": "Just Toying Markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying?format=json", "title": "Just Toying JSON", "type": "application/json" } ] }, "content": { "markdown": "# Just Toying\n\nThe doors rattled, and almost jumped off their rusty hinges. The windows banged against their frames. The wind rushed in through the cracks, howling like a battalion of banshees. Rain came down in torrents from the dark heavens, thunder rolled, and lightning flashed every now and then, lighting up the small room like a bright electric bulb, dying out the next moment, all within the blink of an eye. Creatures, small and big, sought shelter in their homes with relief. Such could also be said for the thin figure of Theo Klein. Once a burly figure residing in Newcastle, Klein’s stature had now reduced to a mere stick figure, with a head hinged on top of his body, not unlike a black-plumed globe. The toymaker sat at his table, busy with his work. He shivered in his flimsy shirt whenever the wind managed to brush past his body. A mass jumble of small hands, feet, hooves, tails, miniature cloth pieces, and other items, hardly distinguishable, lay at one side on the work table. The expert took his time, chose a perfectly suitable piece, and put it at its appropriate position, where it stayed and would stay on till the end of time. How he did so without stitches, tape, or glue or any other sort of integration methods (not even the one developed by Leibnitz *), shall not be mentioned as requested by the aforementioned virtuoso.\n\n\nAs his hands glided over his equipment, his dexterous fingers at last picked up his special, almost magical tool, a mechanical calliper, and touched its main scale to the back of the horse he had designed with such care. Tutoy would be his best creation yet. Although not much of the sort of the latest equine varieties, Tutoy rather resembled a puppet-horse, not of out place in a children’s play. When the main scale made contact, the click, which otherwise should not have made more sound than a pin drop, could be heard distinctly over the broken-up melody of the flashy heavens. Klein stood up, stretched himself, and beaming at his trotting Tutoy, left the worktable to relieve himself. The horse sat down, yawned, rubbed its beady eyes with his front leg, and with a placid expression, took account of the room he was in.\n\n\nWhen Tutoy turned his head towards the wall to his right, his attention was arrested at once. A screen blinked at him, a progress bar flashing green, indicating a file transfer success. Tutoy realised that his entire life was built out of a computer program, but he didn’t know the reason. Questions devoured his stuffed head. He presumed that he was not supposed to look at the source of his life. No one should ever wonder about one’s reason of coming into existence, for one cannot help but draw a blank every time.\n\n\nJust then, Klein entered the room. “What’ve you done, my beauty?”, he shouted. “Why did you have to look at that screen!? Ooohhh No, blunder blunder. I’m so sorry Tutoy, I created you, but violated a fundamental testament of nature. According to it, “None shall be aware of the origin of his creation and must accept it without doubt, for in violating this principle, he shall be deemed to be composed of non-natural rare matter, created differently.” “In other words, antimatter”, said Klein his brows knitted together. “Then I shall leave all matter and go away”, replied Tutoy resolutely, fully aware of the consequences of matter and antimatter collisions. Klein had tears in his eyes. His month-long efforts had gone in vain. He was forced to send away his beautiful creation, but knew in his heart-of-hearts that it must be done. “There’s this one thing. Something’s gnawing at me from inside”, said Tutoy. “Oh that would be hung.. anti-hunger. Let me get you some antipasto,” offered Klein lovingly. He brought out some meat, olives, mozzarella cheese and vinegar soaked vegetables to satiate Tutoy’s anti-hunger for anti-food.\n\n\nHaving done full justice to the (anti-) meal, Tutoy went out into the dark, damp forest . The rain had thankfully stopped. Klein stared at the retreating horse, hearing the fading clippity clop. The horse could still not believe his ill fate. Having been brought to life, and then to be outcasted just for knowing that-which-should-not-be-known was just unfair. Oh, how wonderful it’d be to become matter and live peacefully ever after with his master! He stomped his hoof on the grass.\n\n\nBack at the toymaker’s hut, Klein heard a deafening explosion as particles and antiparticles annihilated each other giving rise to extreme gamma radiation. The toymaker ran out, unconcerned about himself, and stood aghast. The forest no longer existed, but Tutoy stood there, unharmed. “I anti-died, master, I anti-died”, the horse shouted excitedly. “That is, to say, I lived !”\n\n\n> Note: Baryogenesis is the generic term for the hypothetical physical processes taken place that produced baryonic asymmetry, i.e. the imbalance of matter and antimatter in the observed universe, with matter being more abundant than anti-matter.\n\n> The integral notation ∫ was developed by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz and has been widely used since its publication." } }, { "node": { "title": "The Presence", "url": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "kind": "story" }, "_links": { "self": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence" }, "up": { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/", "title": "Stories" }, "siblings": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-pair", "title": "The Pair" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-ding-dong", "title": "The Ding Dong" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/a-fishing-expedition", "title": "A Fishing Expedition" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/just-toying", "title": "Just Toying" } ], "children": [], "alternates": [ { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence", "title": "The Presence HTML", "type": "text/html" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence.md", "title": "The Presence Markdown", "type": "text/markdown" }, { "href": "https://rg-links.pages.dev/stories/the-presence?format=json", "title": "The Presence JSON", "type": "application/json" } ] }, "content": { "markdown": "# The Presence\n\n“We should wait”, he said, with a hint of fear in his voice, but desperate to keep his calm in the face of horror. His friend, on the contrary, was not at all used to dealing with ghosts and other paranormal creatures. Jack, the former, was a professional ghost-buster, only now without his equipment, for finding ghosts was not a task for bare hands, to try and catch one seemed to take matters to an extreme. Finn, the latter, had a white-collar job at a multinational company, in control of several production facilities, but unable to control his fear now. The cemetery grew silent, even as the moon shone from the dark heavens.\n\n\nIt was the first time Jack had felt the presence of a ghost so near. The dark night closed in, making it impossible to discern anything. Finn grabbed Jack’s hand in terror, and assisted by his stretch of imagination and fear, began thinking of all creatures, dimly visible in the moonlight, to be werewolves, banshees, and heaven knew what else. Jack had to spend almost an hour reassuring him that a frog hardly qualifies as a werewolf, and the “wailing banshee” had just been a seemingly curious cat, who had actually cared to leave its peaceful place of rest to interest itself in the doings of these strangers. When the presence had approached, the temperature had abruptly dropped, but now it began to get warmer.\n\nJack, eager to get to the bottom of the case, left Finn after a round of violent protests from the latter. “C-c-cc-come b-back soon”, Finn said, nervously chewing his nails, looking hither and thither. The presence seemed to have altogether vanished. Jack could only see the feline species, staring at him with its bright green eyes, licking itself occasionally and purring, apparently bored. After having gone round in circles, a disgruntled Jack made his way back to his friend, and suggested that they should wait, for at least a few more moments, if only the ghost would show itself again. Jack sat down beside Finn, and lit a cigarette, and further blew out three complete smoke rings. Finn gave a silent clap, and said, “How do you do it every single time?” Jack didn’t answer, but smiled to himself, proud of his little feat.\n\n“Good heavens, ten minutes to two!!”, Finn exclaimed, looking at his pocket watch, “Let’s get going Jack, the ghost got the better of us. The Mayor seems to have his head full of rubbish stories. I tell you not to go after stupid rumours, and you come all the same, dragging me along too…” As Finn grumbled, and proceeded to put his watch back, the chain came loose, and clanged on the ground. He registered that. Chains never clang on bare moist soil! Finn turned his head.\n\nHe saw no one. “J-J-Jjaa-Jack!? DID THE G-GHOST GET YOU? “, stuttered Finn, almost shouting, his limited courage fading away. “Au contraire, mon ami”, a wavy voice replied, composed of a thousand different pitches, resonating gently. Jack appeared, a white figure, his shirt white, his pants white, his cap white, even his shoes, spotless white. His feet didn’t touch the ground. “You? Ghost!?” Finn managed, unable to string a sentence, disbelieving his own eyes. “Ah, yes, sorry about that rumour. I am, what do they call it now…, a Homo-Spiritus, a kind of an awakened human being, conceived and created on realisation of the inner self. Well, now some idiot person went about spreading the rumour of me being a ghost. Do I look like a ghost?”, Jack enquired of his friend. Finn had an intense wish to answer in the affirmative, but decided not to hurt Jack’s sentiments.\n\n”I can only project this form for 10 minutes. Beyond that, this world of bleakness and sorrow shrouds me.” Finn looked on enviously, not because his friend was a Homo-whatever, but because he could never get that sort of whiteness onto his shirt, try as he might. As the friends exited the graveyard, Jack resumed his former self, a disguise to be allowed to function in this world, to eliminate all other evil spirits. (He was a ghost buster, wasn’t he?\n\nAs they shut the gates behind them, the leaves of a nearby tree rustled in the wind. Few fell on the ground. The cat followed their curved path for an entire minute, then yawned and disappeared in a “Poof!”\n\n" } } ] } }