ROOM NUMBER NINE--SHORT STORY BY ANIRUDDHA DEY
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Chapter
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The snowfall is on the anvil and the
clouds over the mighty Kanchenjunga have lost their dominance. The upcoming
sunset has started casting a mysterious shadow over the beautiful hill
station. Sansthana lodge, like most motels in
southern Darjeeling is extremely busy with the ceaseless movement of tourists
and hippies during this time of the year. “Please ma’am.” The young
lad Abhimanyu almost shouted in desperation to the old lady who wasn’t even
looking at him. “I really can’t remember, Sir. You
know there are so many tourists roaming this place.” Mrs Mukherjee, the owner
of the lodge replied unmindfully. “But, she did come here for the show,
I have credible information. And this is the hotel the band members put up
in..” “I am really sorry, Sir.” “If you can please check the
registers, her name is Aarushi-Aarushi Arora.” Abhimanyu pleaded. The lady was more concerned about
filling the register with the details of the new entrant and hardly listened
to what Abhimanyu was trying to inquire about. The incessant
movement of hippies are a bit irritating for the old lady, even though the
earnings of her lodge have skyrocketed. She is particularly worried about
room number nine on the third floor-a bad reputation precedes the room and
even during this peak season the fully furnished room is seldom occupied. “This guy looks like a gullible
candidate-careless and possibly drugged.” She said to herself as she cried
aloud, “Abhimanyu…” “Roy.” Abhimanyu answered
reluctantly, giving up on his attempts to extract any relevant information
from the lady. “There’s only one room available,
Sir.” Mrs Mukherjee said in her rough, hoarse voice as she completed filing
of her check-in register. “We have just one small room at the third floor.”
Mrs Mukherjee prayed that the guest agrees. “It’s extremely well furnished,
you won’t be having any troubles at all.” The exhausted Abhimanyu hardly cared
about the room. He has been running from pillar to post in search of his lost
sweetheart- Aarushi Arora. He followed the lady up the stairs.
His mind wandered around blankly in search of his love.
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Chapter
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The room indeed is well-furnished.
The room heater is in perfect working condition- something that is rare in
motels of this kind, the bed is well maintained and the washrooms
well-cleaned. The windows, though lightly shut now due to the ensuing dip in
temperature, promises a beautiful view of the arena during the daytime. Abhimanyu was exhausted by the
constant effort and dropped his body over the bed with a thud. His
eyelids got heavy with the lack of sleep and the extreme exertion that he has
been though. Aarushi, the beautiful daughter
of his boss. Her tall, slim figure, her wavy dark brown hair and the small
mole on her cheeks- he sees her every moment and yet she is so very far from
him. He just can’t get rid of her-especially the mole on her cheeks keeps
coming back in every thought that surfaces in his mind. Aarushi ate, drank and lived her
music. Nothing mattered to her more than her music-her guitar and her
notations were her God. Thereafter Arushi kept hopping
between the musical groups and it was extremely difficult to track her.
Besides, being an adult, there was little in the law of the land to force her
back home. One glimpse here one text message from some unknown number was all
that Abhimanyu, who was madly in love with her, had to live on. However, since
the last one year she seemed to have vanished altogether and there have been
no information about her whereabouts. The police and her parents have given
up after searching for about eight months but Abhimanyu just couldn’t get rid
of her thoughts and scaled every possible part of West Bengal, the state
where she was last heard of, to search for her. He has been scanning through every
music group and trying to track every musical event that takes place in the
state. However so far his luck has deluded him and he has got absolutely no
information about his lady love. Last week he got an information from
a journalist friend of his that a Kolkata based band is having a performance
in Darjeeling and the lead singer is a female, whose age and description
matches with that of Aarushi. Abhimanyu rushed to the hill station but his
tough luck continues to follow him.
A cold breeze swept over Abhimanyu as
he was about to glide into deep slumber. He felt as if Aarushi’s hands waved
over his body. He woke up with a start.
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Chapter
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“So you did manage to get a tenant
for Room nine.” Mr Mukherjee was appreciative of his wife. “Yeah, after what happened last week,
it was really difficult.” She replied as she poured brandy into her glass.
"She, basically ruined our season." “Right you are, I still have no idea
why that girl committed suicide.” He said as he took a sip from his half-filled
wine glass. “She was extremely beautiful as well-wasn’t she?” “Beautiful? Well may be except for
the mole on her cheek.” “Whatever, let’s open the new bottle
of wine you bought last week.” Mr Mukherjee said as he reclined on his easy
chair and lit a cigar. "What was her name again?" "Aarushi, I forgot the
surname." Her voice faded as the wine touched her lips.
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