Science fiction. Ghost's final apology!

Science fiction. Ghost's final apology!

Ferocity, a tamed rush of tenacity, and a deep liking for agility defined him. All these virtues were injected in him by fate that engineered his biological construction. He was who he always claimed to be. The one willing to be defeated, but the one defiant not to lose, never! And this is very special; because if you are defeated you automatically lose. But in his case it was not so, if you defeated him, he still did not lose.

Are you interested in knowing why?

If you are, then I must begin from where it all started. That exact day when I first encountered him and we happened to cross each other while crossing a lane.

It was a narrow lane, and it was cloudy that day; all of a sudden everything appeared dark and dismal. Similar to the darkness that spreads everywhere in a dense pine tree forest. Where light gets lost somewhere as it descends upon the forest from above.

Under this effect of light we happened to cross each other and his right hand that was dangling outwards, hit the glass vase that I was holding in my hand. It fell on the ground and broke into pieces. By the time I could realise what had happened, he said something that felt like the most earnest form of apology I had ever heard in my life.

"I am utterly sorry! I deeply apologise for the carelessness of my hand. It somehow keeps waving in all directions without consulting my mind. I would like to compensate you for the loss, please allow me to. Even if that means I have to accompany you to the shop from where you bought it. Please!"

I felt touched by his earnestness to express his true feelings and how apologetic he felt about this incident. He really meant every word and I could feel it. However, I was not able to deal with one fact still. The shop from where I had bought the glass vase, had just one left; and they did not make vases with similar design anymore. I was caught in this thought, and unable to decide what to tell him.

I knew he felt sorry about the incident and he meant it, but now I too was feeling sorry, and sad as well. Because the glass vase that I had been waiting for almost two years lay there on the road, shattered into pieces.

Somehow, I made up my mind and I told him the fact about how I was feeling and how long I had waited for the glass vase.

When I felt I had expressed my actual intent, I stopped and let him react. And his reaction was instant.

" In that case, I stand defeated gentleman, but let me assure you we have not lost the vase yet. Please help me gather these broken pieces and put them in this bag."

We both collected every piece of the broken glass vase and put them into the bag. When we were sure we had secured every piece of it, he asked me to accompany him.

He indeed was a stranger to me, and I had never seen him in this town before. So, without any hesitation I asked him, where?

He pointed towards an old building that stood on the bank of the river, and based on my knowledge nobody lived there. It had been abandoned many decades ago. In our younger days we called it the haunted mansion, where only ghosts and ogres resided. And we believed in this story with such dedication that I and my friends never ventured into this ghost mansion. Therefore, I had another valid reason to ask him one more straight forward question.

"Why there?"

Once again he answered quickly.

"Because that is where I live!"

The moment I heard him say this, I felt I had seen the devil, the devil who appears in front of you out of nowhere and leaves you totally shocked with feelings of strange fear gripping you completely.