Adultery The Old Toothbrush by Trambak

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Ahana said dubiously, "Dada, are you talking about us?"

Adishakti said only one word, "Liar!"

That settled it.

The arrangements were made quickly and the evening turned to night as we assembled outside for the gala evening. Fortunately, we were only the four of us. The sound of the waves breaking the shore was loud enough to impart an ethereal ambiance.

Ahana was clutching the arms of Probal.

"We may have guests tonight." Shakti calmly vocalized my innermost predicament.

"Anything's the matter?" enquired Probal, clearly confused.

Ahana was quicker on the uptake. She said, "Does it have to do something with this couple Keya and Karan; you know them?"

Shakti considered the question for a second and before I could say something said, "Well, I don't know them but have some idea. Your dada knows them well. They may be coming to ask him questions."

"Questions?" Probal queried. "Are they some sort of detectives?"

"Detectives! You could say that but of a different type." Shakti said.

Exasperated, Ahana jumped in, "Dada, stop being a mystery man. What's the scene?"

Being cornered, I spoke being careful not to mess it up, "Look, Keya and Karan are characters in a story that I created. And there are a few more. This was a story that I wrote as a continuation of another story that affected me seriously. Though not desirable, I felt that certain aspects of the original story needed closure and a few characters deserved empathy. So, I took permission of the original author and with her blessings continued the story."

Ahana interrupted me, "Dada! You mean to say the people I met today are not real? What are they? Ghosts or what?"

I did not know how to counter her question but now the die was cast, "Probal, Ahana, look, it's a complicated matter. After I completed the story, I felt that each aspect had reached their logical conclusions. However, one night, I had a dream where all the characters in the story appeared and demanded explanations of my points of views. They were very insistent and I had a distinct feeling that they weren't going to leave till I answered their questions satisfactorily. In the end, they left, apparently satisfied."

"So, why are they back?" Probal asked with incredulity in his voice.

"They may have fresh questions or it may be something else," I replied.

Ahana came close to me and put her hand on my shoulders and said seriously, "Dada, I hope you are not taking some funny stuff or some medications. Are you ok?"

Shakti responded from her hammock, "He does not need anything. He is congenitally creepy. All this has started since the time he has started writing there."

"Writing where?" Probal interjected.

"Where else, the website! He is seriously into it. This place is full of people who have never seen each other but communicate like friends, foes, and lovers through aliases. He too has three VMs that he is smitten with."

Concerned by the unrecognizable terminology to an otherwise accurate description, I interrupted, "What are VMs?"

Shakti laughed, "That's my abbreviation for 'virtual mohinis (beautiful damsels)'. He has three of them, one is apparently cute, the other one insists that she is indeed Rachel and the third one seems to be suffixed in 2016. The last of the mohinis specifically uses the English vocabulary as if this place is witnessing some sort of an ongoing philosophical deliberation attended by Kafka, Aristotle and Nietzsche espousing skepticism, hedonism, and nihilism all at once."