Wasted Souls
by R.G Shivakeshavan
Hold thy activities and hearken,
To the strange sound that fills the air.
Ne'er heard before on the mist over moors,
Nor wafting above the green grass of thy lawn.
Sworn to the wind, it lasts but a second.
Rendering the amuck to placidity.
And as it fades and diffuses into the dusky sky,
Sighs of a million abysmal souls rise
To form the tail of that sound.
Hearken to the unspoken words it speaks.
Ne’er the same twice.
Re-regulating calm arterial pressures,
It makes old men want to leave.
Taming the Boor and exciting the country maid,
Probably a bargain of the god and the devil,
It was created today.
But thereafter eternal.
Now read on..
Phillip made his way down the lonely path, a shortcut to his house. Phillip the simple, his friends and co-workers called him. But for all his simplicity and friendliness he managed to get many against him.
He stumbled and fell face down. It seemed that even the ground he was walking on was his enemy. He got up and brushed the dust off himself. He saw that his watch had slipped off and was lying in a bush. As he stooped down to pick it up, two figures cloaked in black, stealthily appeared and murmured something to each other. Then a transaction took place. Phillip crouched to remain undetected.
After the two persons had gone, Phillip walked up to the place where they had stood and looked at the ground. There was a small heap of fine white powder. He bent and took a pinch of the powder and sniffed it. It was Blankash, probably one of the most addictive and dangerous narcotic on the planet. It was almost like poison. Blankash was extracted from the ash of a reptile-like creature. Once taken, the addict had to take another dose within the next two hours or the addict would turn pale and slowly writhed to his death. He flung the powder away with fear and disgust and hastily brushed his hands on his coat.
Visibly shaken, he made his way home. It would have taken less than 2 hours to put those two criminals in prison. It would have been better if he had done that, but he being a simple person, went home.
The planet of Quinsech evolved very much like that of the Earth. Almost all the species were similar. The only difference was that Quinsech was a little more advanced in technology, particularly in defense mechanisms and warfare. A man-like species had evolved and emerged supreme among all the other species. The planet of Quinsech had almost the same amount of landmass as that of Earth. However all major landmasses were linked except for a few insignificant islands. Since all landmasses were conveniently placed, all major landmasses were raised as a single nation. While the islands were more or less regarded as rouge nations full of rebels.
The major nation followed a rule similar to communism with only one head to rule the nation though. So it wasn’t surprising that the nation held very strict laws and harsh punishments for lawbreakers.
The sun raised its head gently over the shimmering ocean waters, creating an elongated image of itself along the ocean and painting the whole planet a rosy color.
Phillip the leading research scientist in the National Lab Of Warfare, woke up to a gentle beam of light, which played on his face. It was morning and he had to hurry to the lab. After rushing through his prior business in the bathroom, he sank down in his sofa sipping his coffee. Then he took the papers and started reading them. He still had an hour to spare.
When he saw the headlines, he almost threw the coffee mug away. He went pale in fear and excitement. When he had finished reading the paper, he dropped it and started sobbing. His life was about to be wasted.
Some of Phillips enemies, in high up places had managed to convince the head of the nation through trickery and money, that Phillip was indulging in criminal activities such as selling secrets to rouge nations, and so Phillip was to be executed without even a trial.
Obviously the first thing to cross his mind was to escape. So he dashed up the stairs to his room and started dumping all that he needed into a small suitcase. Even in times of calamities he could remember his work. He dumped his laptop and tapes containing backups of his research into his suitcase and shut it. As he carried the suitcase downstairs, he heard loud angry shouts and when he looked through the blinds, he saw an angry mob of people and policemen collecting around his house.
He knew that there was nothing he could do. He sat on the steps and cried in anguish and frustration. People started banging on the door.
Phillip hurriedly zipped open the suitcase and took out a small metal cylinder as big as his middle finger and pressed its top. It started beeping at one-second intervals. Phillip ran to his pantry and dropped the device into an empty jar. Then he came to his living room.
The door crashed open and the mob dragged him to the public hanging grounds. He stood on a stool and a noose was slipped over his head and tightened by the hangman. Then the stool was kicked from beneath his feet. He didn’t even struggle as the rope slowly crushed his esophagus, and the light from his eyes slowly faded, and god temporarily claimed his soul.
The excitement faded as the sun hid its face beneath the ocean casting a reddish tinge on the sky as if sending a warning to the occupants of its planet.
Night gently settled on the planet of Quinsech, which was the fourth and last planet of the mini star Xyt. The lights went out from each house on the planet except for a couple of shops and offices. A dense silence settled on the planet like a fog, occasionally broken by the howling of a dog-like creature.
Then there was an uneasy feeling in the air, and many animals started whimpering. The planet started rocking gently and then broke into a violent tremble. There was a blinding white flash, which lasted for a few minutes. When it faded the fourth planet of Xyt was gone along with its neighbor.
And so Phillip tested his last but successful device in warfare…..
And God temporarily claimed some more souls.