Sun Never Rises

By Ani Tom Maria

The book comprises five stories: He has done it well remarkably and brilliantly. Sun Never Rises. It is a story surely unputdownable. Three children are going into the forest in pursue of unleashed wild animals from a circus, but the dangers they confronted put themselves in menace. You Too Eva, tells us life of slaves in America during 1865. Blood And Caste, tells us story of religion and caste systems in India, it is still dwelling in India shamelessly. The Dilemma of Gandhi, is a story materializing afore Gandhi sculpture, indeed he is in a quandary, what is he facing and seeing. A melancholic work. The Mist of Kashmir, is an evocative and resplendent work and it will remain in our heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Dec 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482843453

Ani Tom Maria

He was born in India, lives in UK. SUN NEVER RISES is his first work.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Ani Tom Maria.

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4828-4344-6

                Softcover        978-1-4828-4343-9

                eBook             978-1-4828-4345-3

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Contents

You Too, Eva

The Dilemma of Gandhi

Blood and Caste

Sun Never Rises

The Mist of Kashmir

You Too, Eva

Washington DC

P resident Abraham Lincoln has amended Thirteenth Bill to abolish slavery in the House of Commons. Amid hue and cry, the historical bill has been passed by the representatives of House of Commons in the month of January 1865.

Mississippi

February 1865

E van Mac Briber, a black slave, was still looking into the cotton field anticipating someone. His dark eyes glazed while minutes passed by. He took off his brown hat from his head. His clean shaven head was bathed with sweat. He wiped it off with a handkerchief. His newly stitched white suit fitted him well. A cheerful whistling came across the cotton field. In response to that, Evan returned a noise similar to the whistle, but this noise came from the deep of his throat like how a goat herder does. With a smile on his face, he ran along the cotton field. His friends stood on the other side. One short black guy was not dressed properly. It was a clear indication that he was in a hurry, so he didn’t care about his dressing. His name was Antony Cober, who was of the same age as Evan, twenty- three. The other tall black guy called Kim Roo had dressed neatly. He was older than them, nearly thirty.

‘We are getting late, Evan. We should be moving quickly.’ Antony said to them impatiently. ‘We ought to get to Natchez.’

‘I don’t think we will make,’ Kim said in a mild voice.

‘Mr President will call at Natchez at two o’ clock. Now the time is quarter past one.’ Antony said as he looked at his new Zenith watch. He pushed his shirt flap up to his elbow in order for it to be visible to his friends. His face felt proud while he was doing that.

Evan and Kim looked at it surreptitiously. Antony smiled and said; ‘No peeping, please.’

‘Where did you get it from?’ They asked unanimously amused.

‘I have got my wages for thirteen years.’

‘Lewson gave you money?’ Evan enquired.

‘Yes, he did. Slavery is illegal now, sir. You understand that, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do, but… fucking miser planter.’ Evan stopped halfway.

‘It is not a precarious thing in this time of context, my friends. We ought to hurry to Natchez to see the president.’

‘Yes, that is the important thing we are aiming at,’ Antony said.

‘What are you waiting for? Come on then.’ Evan moved forward. The scorching sun had been casting its merciless heat upon them. Swirling wind flying across the muddy road left behind dust on their way.

‘Evan, shall we rent bikes from the shop?’

‘Are you crazy, Kim?’ Those shops belong to Thadevoos Walter, the white man. Would you dare to dream he would give his bikes to black niggers like us?’ Evan responded.

‘But slavery has come to an end. It has been outlawed.’ Kim responded.

‘Since when?’ Evan asked in a harsh voice.

‘Since 31 January.’

‘The law has only been passed by the House of Commons. The president has to sign it, and federal court may review it, so it will take three or four months more to establish as a federal law.’

‘In the meantime, we are free, free to think, free to sing a song, free to come outside from the attics of fiefdoms. We are emancipated from the nasty hands of white men,’ Antony roared.

On the way, they saw a white boy called Michael Elroy. He was twenty-one, and he was riding a bike towards them. He scanned them eagerly as he was riding it.

‘Who is that, Evan?’ Kim asked in a soft voice. He pulled over the bike on the way.

‘He is the son of Morgan Elroy, the inn-keeper.’ Evan replied.

‘Yes, I know that son of a bitch Elroy and The Fighting Cock Inn, the inn for the white people only. There was board hanging in the front courtyard saying, Dogs will be served but not blacks, Antony said.

They were both fearful of each other. ‘Don’t try to attack him. He might have gangs behind him. If we attempt any unwise assault, we will certainly be in trouble.’ Evan said mildly. As they were heading towards him, he reversed his bike and made his way towards where he came from. ‘Coward, little monkey.’ They laughed.

Natchez was a small town where there weren’t many shops. An inn in front of it bore the name The Fighting Cock, opposite to that was a bike shop, another one adjacent to that was possessed by Thadevoos Walter. There was also a restaurant owned by Frodo Jackson. The menu displayed on the blackboard written in white chalk ran like this: ‘Today’s special: black peas, black monkey’s soup, fried black turtle liver, boiled black rice.’ All those black stuffs were being served only for the whites. On the corner, there was an old tailoring shop: an old name board bore the name Sisley’s Tailoring shop. There were some other small shops selling cigars, beers, and wines. On the right-hand side, the Mississippi river flowed continuously.

When they came along at the town there were around a three hundred enthusiastic people gathered to see President. All of the black people wanted to have a look at the President of United States of America. They were chanting and cheering together. Some of them were applauding and making sounds harmonically. They had been waiting for the president since morning. Although they were in high spirits, they have got new faces and chaste smiles. Elroy came out from the inn. There was a weighty contempt on his face.

‘Emancipated black folks,’ he cried out.

‘Wait, Elroy.’ Thadevoos said to him from his shop, ‘we will hang those bastards publicly.’ Evan overheard the yelling of Thadevoos. He approached him. ‘Do you want us hanged?’ He said in a threatening tone.

‘Hey, hey, listen to me,’ he cried out. The mob stopped their celebration and lent their ears to Evan’s voice.

‘This man wants us to be hanged publicly. Can you hear me?’ The crowd clenched their fists in fury and moved towards him. ‘Kill that bastard,’ someone yelled from the crowd. It was Antony who flew into his shop and pulled off his bikes one by one. After him, Evan got into the shop and threw away all the bike parts out off the shop. Evan was blind with a surge of anger. He pushed a table off to the floor where he found out a matchbox. He lit it and then put it on a pile of old tyres in the corner. Within a minute, the shop was burnt to ashes. Soon, Elroy took off the controversial inn board and made some changes on it, and he was ready to welcome any one regardless of their skin, black, white, yellow or green, he was even ready to welcome a skinless man at that moment. Frodo Jackson’s black menu board turned out to be white one.

President turned up at nearly three o’ clock in the evening. He sat on black horse cart that came along the Mississippi road. It was his unofficial visit to somewhere to the Mississippi. As the crowd saw him, they roared in a feeling of awe.

‘There is Mr Lincoln, our beloved president,’ someone roared from the crowd.

‘Evan, can you see the president?’ Kim asked.

‘No, I can’t, Kim.’

‘Let’s push through the crowd, and get ourselves in the front row,’ Evan replied.

‘That is not as easy as we think, Evan.’

‘Let’s go to the further end,’ Antony yelled.

‘That is a bad idea. It will take time,’ Evan said.

‘Then what we gonna do?’ Evan looked around. It is not easy to get to the front. How can I see the president? He thought. His eyes got a glimpse of a big sycamore tree close to the road. "That would be a good idea," he said to himself. He ran towards it. Dust swirled across town. There was roaring, applauding, dancing, sound of joy, and shouts of exclamation. Evan climbed up the tree. The thick foliage was an obstruction to see through even though he managed to get to the end of the branch. Now, he could see the President Mr Lincoln. His face lightened up with a smile. President had on a black suit. Over the suit, there was a coat long enough to cover his knee. His black top hat adorned with a golden lining around it was amazing. He stood up on the open cart and raised his hat and waved towards the crowd. His black long beard was neatly cut and brushed like his hair. There was a smile that spread across his face. When he came under the sycamore tree with a thrust of enthusiasm, or over whelming joy, he turned around quickly to get himself down to see the President closer. While attempting to do that, he dropped his hat, and it came all the way down onto the road in front of president’s cart. The driver pulled over the cart, and security aimed their gun up at the tree.

‘Who