The Spooky Maze

Naman's Numbness

           Black. That’s all I could see. The last thing I remember was climbing up the stairs with my friends. My friends, where were they? I tried to move but I couldn’t. What was happening to me? I couldn’t feel my body; it was totally numb. I needed to get to my friends. I had to. With all the energy I could muster I tried to move but to no avail.
            And then the lights turned on and I wasn’t at all prepared for the sight that unfolded in front of my eyes. I was lying on the highest step of what looked like a theatre. I stared up at the ceiling. But that wasn’t it. Hanging from the ceiling were clowns, innumerable. All of them staring down at me. I couldn’t take this anymore. I was going to die alone in here and nobody would even find out as to what went down here.
           Clowns scared me like hell. I would never forget that dreadful day when I was seven years old. The scar it left behind on my right wrist. I had to get out of there. “Naman, get up”, the voice rang in my head I shrieked in pain as I got up to see blood oozing out of my left leg.
           A devilish laughter rang out into the theatre and the curtains of the stage slowly began to draw. And it blacked out! Suddenly the lights focused on the stage and three massive, hideous looking clowns came into view.
           You’ve got to be kidding me. First those clowns from the ceiling and now this? I didn’t sign up for this. What had I put myself into. We shouldn’t have ever gone there in the first place. What was I even thinking? How was I supposed to get out of there?
        Another shrill reverberated in the theatre and I snapped out of my thoughts. Those clowns just kept on getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I couldn't think straight. I could feel myself shivering.
        “Hey you ! Why so scared? Let’s have some fun!”, the clown said in a voice that sent a chill down my spine. I was rooted to the floor. I tried to speak but no words came out.
        "Thinking won't help you overcome your fears but action will." I remembered my mother's words and hence I decided to step forward. The moment I took my first step, I could feel a little less fear, I could see the shock and surprise on the clowns' faces. I then moved ahead, closer to the stage, closer to my worst nightmare. It was a situation of now or never.
       I risked a glance towards the clowns and I could see them fading slightly. I was confused. What was happening? But I kept moving.
      With every step, I wondered if it was really this hard to let go of my fear. And suddenly I stopped. I looked behind and OH MY GOD! the theatre was now replaced by a deep chasm. I couldn't go back.
   "What happened, kid? Afraid of us? Come on kiddie we are friends." I could see the devilish smirk. No. I had to do this. I mustered all the courage and slowly put my next step forward. I calculated the number of steps roughly in my mind. Ten more steps, Naman and you'll will be free of this fear. I heard myself.
     As I moved forward, I noticed the frowns on their faces, the smirking, the laughing and the teasing, all had stopped. They were becoming transparent with every step.
     And then, when I was standing right in front of them, I felt no fear. I felt brave, proud of myself. I said, "Don't you worry, little clowns. I'm no more afraid of you. Because I know that you're nothing more than a joker, who jokes around."
     And I don't know why my instincts told me to touch them. As soon as I touched the first clown, he faded away completely. And then I placed my precious fingers on the other two and boom! I was back to the place where we had started this game