The Red Moon

Ch- 9: Eden

It was not possible for me to say that I didn't like this behavioral changes. I had this family in my grasp. I enjoyed it. Mind you, my father was a wealthy businessman and so, I cannot be the side dish on a table full of numerous dishes. I have to be the main course, the center of attraction.  All eyes must be on me. All spoken words must be in my favor.  Yes, habit is one such thing that cannot be given up even in extreme financial problems.
The last one to be brought under my control was Eden. He had deep, meaningful and mysterious eyes that did speak something strange.  His cold, calm and serious expressions made me more curious to know about him. Whenever I looked at those eyes of his, I felt as if I had traveled to some unknown world. I used to be completely lost in wondering about the person that lay inside that fair- skinned young boy, who had the capability of weaving a net to entrap the hearts of young women just as a spider entraps insects in their web and the insects can never escape until the spider comes to eat them.
There aroused a series of tireless efforts to understand me from morning to night. It started with serving me a bread that was just at the previous stage of turning into ashes,a half boiled egg and an orange juice which had no juice in it,but only oranges. Sometimes this orange juice would be replaced by a glass of cold milk, so cold that it felt as if someone had brought the ice right from the Arctic. So I was unable to have breakfast until uncle interfered in it.
As for the lunch, I insisted on having it from the school canteen with my friends. Uncle supported me, as ge knew that if I didn't say this, then probably I would get some amount of ash for lunch. Evening snacks were not given to me, because the last time it wad given, I had to eat it since Uncle was at his work, and there was nobody else to help me. After that, I suffered a severe stomach upset for three days. Xia was very angry at this and wanted to punch everyone of my brothers, but I resisted her.
Anyways,  so the focus was on Eden. I imagined in my mind how a hand woven green scarf would look on those broad shoulders of his. I wondered if he would like it if I presented him such a scarf as a Christmas gift this year. In total, I had to weave six scarfs, four for the four sons of Mr. Williams, one for Mr. Williams himself, and one for Clement. As for Xia, uncle said that he would get me something that I can present her.
Christmas arrived. We had been preparing for the Christmas festival as usual. On the final day, our acts were presented before the audience.  This audience included every other person I had mentioned earlier, or those who are yet to be mentioned.  If you cannot find someone in the audience, then understand that they were on stage with me, performing.  Till this year, Eden wasn't there. The following year included him too, because of the incident that happened on this Christmas night.
Our Christmas festival usually included competitions of singing, dancing and drawing,  followed by a drama, which was a complete collection of songs, dance performances and acting. When it got over, all of us reached home in uncle's car.
When I was back in my room, I changed my clothes and looked up at the old clock on the wall. Half an hour past eleven.  Dinner wasn't required because participants were always provided with food packets. I had finished eating the contents of it right after our performances were over.
The night was silent. I didn't turn on the lights of my room because I had changed my clothes in the bathroom and hence didn't find it necessary to switch on the lights. The moon beams slided into my room through the glass window located on the opposite side of my bed, at a height above it. The green scarf that I had weaved for Eden was lying on my bed.
I took slow steos towards my bed and eventually sat down on it. Sighing,  I tried to remember Eden's face when he had opened the door for us thus night. It was same as usual, undoubtedly.  Austerity was a key factor of his character, or perhaps, the only attractive character.  I slowly laid down on my bed, my legs hanging from it's side. I put my hands behind my head, thinking whether or not I should give the scarf to Eden.
At last, I sat up straight on my bed, looked at the scarf, and grabbed it with both my hands. Then I diverted my gaze towards the clock. Ten minutes left before it striked 12. I slided down from my bed.
I sliwly went towards the door of my room and cautiously opened it. It was dark outside,  so dark that the huge dinning room and the kitchen seemed to extend into infinity. The moon light was there,  but it had entered in here after battling it's way through a lot of obstacles.  My room was comparatively a bit more lit off, because it was small and the trees and bushes in front of it were less in number. I reached fir the switch board on tge right side of tge door of my room.
The dining room was lit up. I feared that the lights will wake someone up. All the rooms with inhabitants were situated on the first floor of the house. There were rooms on the ground floor too, but those were all uninhabited except mine.
Walking slowly,  I looked up at the stairs. The scarf was still in my hand, but it was getting wet with the sweat from my hands. I felt scared and nervous.  Was Eden going to be as happy as Richard,  John and Frederick on receiving his present? Or was he going to throw the scarf on my face and shout at me as if I had comitted a heinous crime ?