The Secret in the Attic.!

In a normal young boy`s mind, anything dark and eerie is not just scary. It is also his need, his complete fantasy and the answer to his quest for adventure, for he sees in it an opportunity to explore, an occasion to become an hero and perhaps discover deep secrets of the past.

I was once this normal young boy, who often went dreamy eyed to his ancestral house in kerala, with a great craving for that discovery in the most darkest and dangerous corners of the house looking for secret doors and traps, hidden treasures, or documents with details of unknown property. There is no limit to a child`s imagination. The stories read, the tales and experiences heard from elders are often the main fodder for this great exercise of the mind and body.

In that huge ancestral house, there was a place of primary interest though. It was called the ' Thattumpuram', in other words, the attic, where there were old furniture, books, plenty of dust and above all, a multitude of stories linked to it. Unnerving stories of ghosts, murders and scheming spirits which were embedded in it`s walls and were ready to throw stones at you. It only took a gentle breeze to knock down something, and this normal young boy and his band of pirates and explorers would shriek and scream in unison and rush downstairs.

The stories and secrets remained smiling in the dark...

Years passed and time kept rolling and the once young boy was now in his college reading things much more advanced or rather suiting his age as his friends had instructed him to. One fine day, he however did walk up to the attic, just to look around. He wasn't scared, nor was he intimidated by the dark walls and once heard stories. However nostalgia is a strange feeling. One tends to relive the past, and so he kept walking around, looking at things.

And then he saw that beautiful thing, an added surprise which set his heart light. There upon a small ledge below the roof of tiles sat this wonderful creature, a pretty barn owl, with it`s cute eyes closed as if sitting in penance.

The attic had done it again, It had performed magic once again for his uninterested soul. He brought all the children of the house and showed them his discovery, happy in looking at their smiling faces, admonishing them, when they made a noise. But children make a noise and there is no known solution for stopping that, because their excitement, is something the world stops to relish.

The barn owl flew away in a few days, leaving the attic behind. Children however kept rushing there every day awaiting the visit of the barn owl. They knew he would come. Their wise big brother had assured them that it would.

Years still kept rolling, time never stopping to wait.

The once young child had by then, grown up into a young man, ready to face life in all seriousness, ready to bear the strain of all family responsibilities and prove himself worthy of his difficult upbringing. He had no time to spare and was always busy with his life, but certain encounters are preplanned by nature and there`s nothing one can do about it.

And so one fine day, this young man found himself at the same ancestral house again and as if by effect of some unearthly interference he found himself walking up to that dark attic again. He felt stupid for doing so, but like we already discussed nostalgia is a strange feeling. He found himself searching for something..

perhaps for hidden treasures, perhaps for a barn owl in penance..

or perhaps he was just seeking to rediscover the child in him, to relive the past and become that normal young child again.

I can only tell you that he left in tears...