Daredevil Dreams

By Karthick Hemabhushana

His parents are unaware and even the doctors seem clueless. This ghost then draws him as a witness to the various crimes in the city. Arjun stands in the media spotlight as he successfully helps the police to crack the old cases which had bamboozled them initially but Arjun’s life becomes miserable when he reveals the truth to the police and the ghost starts threatening him, finally putting his life in jeopardy.

Would this boy survive? Would he be freed from the daredevil dreams and live like a normal kid?

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Oct 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9789390266791

Karthick Hemabhushana

Karthick Hemabushanam is a software engineer by profession, but fell in love with writing. He did his Bachelor of Engineering and worked with many reputed companies like Larsen and Toubro Technology Services, HCL Technologies Ltd, and now currently working with Visteon technical and services center. He is based in Chennai and living with his wife and two kids. He was nominated as the Author of the Year, 2018 by StoryMirror for his contribution to the Writing World.You can reach him through his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/phkarthickHe is active on Twitter @phkarthickAlso available on Instagram @karthickhemabushanam

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

SWAMI, WE HAVE COME TO MEET you to know if I am able to bear a child, the lady said in a low voice. Her husband was sitting next to her. They had come to meet a renowned priest, who can foretell what’s going to happen in the future. He wore various sacred beads around his neck, falling below to his chest. His eyebrows were thick and darkish, and his grey beard was sweeping the floor. The big and round vermilion dot in between his eyebrows almost threatened anyone to look at him. He wore a saffron shawl and veshti tied around his waist.

The priest’s voice boomed as he looked at them and narrowing his eyes on the woman, asked, What’s your name?

Meera, she said.

How did you know about this place? he asked.

My mother told me to come and see you. It seems her neighbourhood friend Janaki had suggested it to her because her daughter-in-law was able to conceive only after meeting you here, Meera said. She was struggling to speak her mind with him. His appearance alone had threatened her. Also, his ferocious eyes glimmered like a new sword. Her husband too looked frightened after meeting this priest in person.

Ah, that lady. Okay, do you know for how long they didn’t have a child? the priest asked.

Meera didn’t know the answer. She turned her head to look at her husband who shrugged his slightly. No, we don’t, she said finally.

The priest swabbed his long beard with his fingers and stared at her. She didn’t have a child for eleven years before she came to meet me and the very next year she had a bright girl growing in her womb. Did you know about this? His voice was still thick and firm. His barely covered hairy chest heaved up and down as his gaze flicked from one to another.

On hearing this, Meera’s face blossomed like a morning flower. She threw a happy face at her husband and looked into the priest’s eyes and said, That’s good to hear. We too are hoping for such miracles to happen in our life.

Don’t worry. When someone comes seeking me for a good purpose, the positivity follows them immediately. How long have you two been living together? He grabbed the plastic bottle of lamp oil on his right and poured it slowly into the brass diya. The ambience in the room made it seem like they were inside a temple.

We have been married for fourteen years. I haven’t once carried a child in my womb. Few tears managed to escape from her eyes and she used the corner of her sari to wipe them away gently. The priest noticed and shook his head slowly.

That’s fine. You don’t need to feel bad about this. Good things will happen to you in the future. Believe me. He looked at her and asked to see her hand.

Meera extended her right hand, palm up, which was slightly yellow as if she had applied turmeric on it. Her hands shivered because she didn’t want to hear anything negative from him. She was hoping for a miracle which seemed out of her reach. She had prayed to all the gods in the world day and night, but nothing had happened. Though she was a Hindu, she had even visited mosques and churches to receive the blessings from heaven to make her womb fertile but there was no luck. Sometimes she felt like tossing away the pictures and idols of deities from her house but she didn’t because her belief in god hadn’t yet died. She still dreamed of giving birth to an adorable baby girl or boy. Though she and her husband were fit to have a baby as medical reports claimed, she didn’t know the exact reason why she was unable to bear a child. They had gone to at least fifty hospitals in the city, but every doctor said, You both are absolutely fine and there is a possibility that you can bear a child by next month. Years passed by swiftly but her womb wasn’t fertilized yet. Even her husband’s semen was injected into her cervix a few times but without much luck. Their final option was implanting a surrogate with donor eggs but her husband had refused it bluntly.

The priest cleaned her palm gently with a white cloth and took a magnifying glass in his hand, tracing the lines with it as his eyes narrowed. It took him about fifteen minutes to completely understand the lines across her palm. He read her head line and heart line initially and tilted her hand slightly down to look at the line for offspring very carefully. The light from the lamp shone on it brighter, but he suddenly released her hand and jerked back as if something had bit him. He swallowed a thick lump down his throat and refused to meet her eyes.

"What happened, swami?" Meera’s husband looked worried.

Nothing, nothing, the priest said as his chest rapidly rose and fell. Anxiety filled his eyes.

"Tell me, swami. What’s wrong with me? Should I do any parishkar to sanctify myself?" the lady asked, equally concerned. Based on the priest’s reaction, she was sure it was something bad.

Is he going to tell me that I am impotent and cannot bear a child anymore? Am I aged too much to grow a fetus in my womb? Thousands of questions swarmed in her mind. She was desperately waiting for his answer.

The priest stood up and went back to his study room which was adjacent to the puja room where they all were seated. It had an enormous bookshelf which contained thick books related to palm reading, horoscope, and some old Vedanta scripts. He grabbed a leather-bound book which had detailed explanations on rare cases of palm reading. He began to go through it, flipping the pages as sweat trickled down from his forehead and fell on the paper. As he turned each page, the fear on his face grew. He had never been afraid like this before. After five minutes of studying, he shut the book and placed it on the small table in front of him and came back to the puja room. His heart was beating loudly inside him as if it were a drum. He could hear every beat reverberating through his body.

"What’s wrong, swami?" Meera asked upon seeing his horror stricken face. He sat down once again in front of her. His earlier peaceful face was now a mask of panic.

He took a deep breath. Take this fruit with you. You should eat it only on the upcoming full moon day and you should see the moon with your eyes wide open. If you don’t, your child will undergo some anomaly in his body. I can’t tell you what it is. He handed her an apple, picking it up from the round steel plate in front of him full of fresh fruits.

The husband and wife were drenched in happiness. She still couldn’t believe the priest’s words. Did he truly mean I’ll bear a child if I eat this fruit? Dear God, what a piece of wonderful news it is. You haven’t destroyed our faith in you.

She had been worried he was going to tell them something was wrong with her. But this news was so pleasant to her ears. She didn’t expect in her wildest dreams that she would have the possibility of holding her child in her arms. Though the doctors had told her she need not worry about anything, she still worried all the time because for a decade of their married life nothing had happened. But here, she trusted this priest and believed there to be a possibility she could become a mother. She accepted the apple with her right hand which was covered with the edge of the sari; it also displayed humbleness while receiving something from a holy person like him. She then brought it close to her face and softly touched it to both her closed eyes to acknowledge that it was really a sacred fruit. Her husband folded his hands and thanked the swami. He gave him two five-hundred rupees notes as an offering but the swami returned one of them and wished them to meet him again with their child.

♦

Meera conceived immediately the next month post eating the fruit but she was worried because on the day she was meant to eat the fruit, the most fearsome thunderstorm had wreaked the town. She couldn’t see the full moon and had waited out under the showers of rain, eating the fruit as her fingers trembled. Her sari was drenched and drops of water crawled down from her thick hair. She caught a fever that night as a bad and ominous feeling took over her. But she didn’t tell this to the priest because she feared he might reveal something unacceptable to her. Her husband consoled her with everything will be alright.

Don’t worry about it, dear. You see, we are going to have a charming child in nine months. He said but she wept the whole day and prayed to god to keep her child safe.

The fetus grew bigger as days rolled by and she often rubbed her swollen belly while she leaned on her husband for support. It was nothing short of a miracle for her to bear this child in her womb and she eagerly awaited to kiss her baby. She smiled whenever the baby kicked her stomach. Why would she not? She had waited for this moment to happen for more than fifteen years. She had already bought a pile of toys and new clothes for her yet to born baby. A few days after she finished the ninth month, Meera went into labor.

Nurse, I need fentanyl, quick! the doctor said. He was an aged man with thinning hair at the front of his head. He wore a blue surgical mask.

Meera was lying in the bed and unable to push harder. She had tried to push her baby out at least twenty times now and had no energy left anymore. Her body felt heavy, almost as if it were dead. However hard she tried, the baby’s head wasn’t coming out. The doctors were perplexed and worried.

Okay, doctor! the nurse said and hurried down to the medical store downstairs, her shoes clicking on the floor.

Seeing the nurse rush out, Meera’s husband and his parents got instantly worried. They were clueless as to what was happening inside the surgery room. They panicked, knowing something had gone wrong inside. Her husband’s eyes were already glistening with unshed tears. Looking at his face, his father placed his hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed it.

The nurse returned with the necessary medicines and handed it to the chief doctor. Her chest heaved up and down as she panted, having run all the way to and back.

Sashidhar, start monitoring her BP and heartbeat. I think we should operate get the baby out, the chief doctor said to his junior and sighed softly. I haven’t seen such a case before. I thought it would be a normal delivery but I don’t know how it suddenly got this complicated.

I think the baby is too big and hence struggling to get out, the junior said as he pressed his palm lightly against her stomach and watched the fetus on the monitoring machine, which was clearly showing the baby was shaking its arms and legs inside her womb. Meera was still reeling as her face contorted in pain while her body writhed and bucked on the bed.

The nurse put earplugs on Meera’s ears because the doctors didn’t want her to know what they were talking about and alarm her.

The chief doctor ran his hand over chin and asked the nurse for patient’s history. He looked at the reports once again and said glumly, I don’t think so. The weight is only 3.2 kgs; this is normal. I don’t think the baby put on more than a kg in the last fifteen days. It’s impossible.

But look at the head of the baby. It seems larger than usual, Sashidhar, the young doctor said. He pointed his finger towards the monitor where they could see the fetus.

The chief doctor had pushed his glasses close to his eyes and looked at the monitor suspiciously. The size of his eyeballs grew when he understood the complexity of the delivery. Oh goodness, how did that happen? It was normal until few hours ago. Do you think the swelling happened suddenly?

Of course, another doctor who stood next to the chief said. She was chubby and white as cream cheese with thick glossy red lipstick on her lips.

But how did this happen? I have never seen such a case before. Maybe because of the pressure on the baby’s head when she tried pushing harder? Sashidhar murmured a suggestion but the chief shook his head in disappointment.

No, the normal pressure exerted by the mother wouldn’t cause this. We don’t have time to research on this now. I think we need to operate immediately. Don’t mention this issue in the report, the chief said.

Everyone nodded.

Meera’s earplugs were removed.

The chief looked at her and said calmly, Hello Meera, you and your baby are absolutely fine. We are going to do a small surgery and within twenty minutes your baby will be in your arms.

Meera opened her eyes slowly. She was relieved to hear this, being in no shape to push anymore.

Nurse, please get the forms signed by her husband for this operation, the chief commanded.

She hastened to complete the formalities. Though Meera’s husband worried about the operation, he was finally persuaded by his father to sign the form.

The cesarean operation was done without any complication. The doctors were amazed and puzzled upon seeing the baby with the usual sized head. This was the first time for them experiencing such a case.

It’s a boy, one of the doctors took the baby in her arms and grinned at everyone. Meera was too tired to react and shut her eyes. She hadn’t even looked at her child’s face yet. The IV drips were flowing into her body to provide her sustenance.

The chief didn’t want to worry her husband any further by informing him that the baby was born with a congenital defect. He knew how they both would be left mentally and physically defeated if they come to know about having a defective child after waiting for more than a decade. He didn’t want to disappoint them so he lied and mentioned in the report: the baby is born without any defects. It was against the rules of the hospital but he went ahead with a fake report because he wanted to see the parents happy.

After four days of bed rest, Meera had recovered considerably. Her husband took care of everything while she rested in the hospital. He had availed a month-long leave to spend time with her and their baby boy. He felt beyond happy when he held his son in his arms for the first time, and he didn’t even know how to hold a baby. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed his boy next to his wife and embraced them warmly, kissing his wife’s forehead, thanking her for making him a father. He felt immensely proud and one could see the joy in his moist eyes. Meera smiled slowly and held his right hand tightly as if she didn’t want to miss him in her life.

Good morning, Meera and Venkat Raghav, the doctor said as peered into the room now.

Good morning, ma’am, Venkat said, standing up immediately.

She smiled warmly at them. How do you feel now?

I am fine, doctor, Meera’s voice was low, quite close to a whisper.

Okay, what’s your little boy telling you? I think he has already started disturbing you, hasn’t he? the doctor grinned.

Yes, he’s always hungry and is not sleeping at night. Always waking me up with his frantic squeals, Meera said fondly caressing her fingers over his soft cheeks.

"This is only the beginning. You have to bear a lot more nuances from this boy in the future. You might say so yourself the next time we see each other: ‘I don’t know why I had this frenzy boy. We would have lived freely without