tales of Suchita

It is becoming a habit, Kilney running out of the house. But Ramshackle does not think he can hurry the process so lets him run. Only to have him run back five minutes later.

“No.”

The bemused expression returns. Out of nowhere, Ramshackle feels a change run through his body and his nails start growing. He looks…mildly concerned.

“Oh god, what are you?”

The nails return to normal. Ramshackle is so confused, that he blurts out a truth he has not shared with a living human before. “I’m not from Earth. My realm does not exist on the corporeal plane.”

Kilney wants to scream. Whatever lesson the Mona Lisa had been trying to teach him didn’t tilt his universe. But a stupid impulse, what Ramshackle would look like in long nails, is freaking him out.

“I think I’m having a panic attack.”

“I think so too.”

“Isn’t this house supposed to calm me?”

Ramshackle chuckles. “I think we’re a bit confused as to how to achieve it. When we try to soothe you, you get angry. We don’t know how to help.”

Kilney knew that Ramshackle was not from this world. But seeing the evidence has unhinged him a little. “Say something, please, before I pass out.”

Ramshackle searches the table like it’ll give him a clue. It doesn’t. He looks at his chair and an idea occurs to him. He sits down and motions for Kilney to sit too.

Then he says, “You came to me because you wanted to understand. You knew it wouldn’t be straightforward. This is what you want.”

“I don’t understand what you just showed me.”

Ramshackle steeples his fingers. The house has finally figured out how to help and it is feeding information to Ramshackle.

“You do understand. You just don’t want to admit it.”

He snorts. Never would he have thought that a calm discussion over why he’s panicking would soothe him, but it does. “That’s bullshit.”

“Is it really?”

“Okay,” says Kilney and gets up. He needs the motion to order his thoughts.

“Okay, so the Mona Lisa was the common point. Everyone saw her for different reasons. Are you saying that different people have different desires from the same thing?”

“No,” he says. “I was trying to show you that too many people waste their lives making something, in this case, the Mona Lisa, as the centre of their lives. They think that…”

“If they could just reach her, they’d be okay,” finishes Kilney.

He sits back down on the chair. He licks his lips and as soon as the thought occurs, there’s a glass of water on the table. He isn’t scared this time. He picks it up and gulps it down. It’s the exact right temperature.

“You did understand,” says Ramshackle, a bit of awe in his voice.

He has thought long and hard about why he agreed to converse and reveal his secrets to Kilney. He thinks he finally has an answer. Trying to understand humans on his own is getting him nowhere. Maybe talking to one can help him.

“How does this translate to Gimby and my relationship?”

Ramshackle looks truly sorry. “I wish I could help you with that.”

Kilney nods. “I think this is enough for today. I’ll…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Once he is out the door, he decides to walk home instead of taking a taxi. As he walks, he thinks. If Ramshackle’s logic is to be followed, did Gimby make Kilney the centre of her world thinking it’ll be enough, before realising it wasn’t enough?

It is a sobering thought. Because here his responsibility is of not noticing her needs. Maybe even steamrolling hers over his own needs.

The weather has been surprisingly cool for April and it’s perfect for walking. His thoughts bounce around in his head as his feet carry him to Gimby’s best friend’s house. They haven’t spoken since Gimby died but suddenly, Kilney knows it is the right time to speak to her.

Freya opens the door on the second ring. The delay is explained when he sees a little girl in her arms. She’s asleep.

He expects hostility but he only gets a grim smile.

“I was expecting you a lot sooner,” she says. She motions with her head.

“I hope I’m not…”

“Don’t worry about it. Come in.”

He goes inside. The house is such a cosy mess that a lump forms in his throat. This is all he had wanted with Gimby. Exactly this. He clears his throat as he takes a seat.

Freya is still standing. “Do you want a drink?”

He raises his hands. “I just want to ask a couple of things.”

She smiles and sits opposite him, ensuring the girl’s legs are to either side of her torso. She settles the girl on her chest and says, “What did you want to ask?”

“Was Gimby happy with me?”

Freya takes no time to respond. “She was.”

“Did you know?”

She shakes her head. “I think she chose not to tell me because she knew I’d talk her out of it.”

He nods and then the next question is ripped out of him. “Were we so…overbearing that she couldn’t even safely tell us what she was going through?”

He likes that Freya doesn’t immediately deny the claim. She says by and by, “I think maybe we were. I mean Gimby could never really make a decision.”

His lips quirk in a half smile. She really couldn’t but, “Did she ever explicitly ask for help?”

Freya opens and closes her mouth. Her left knee starts dancing on the floor. Her nervousness makes a cold sweat break out on Kilney’s upper lip.

“She didn’t, did she?” He’s whispering. “We just assumed she needed…handling.”

Freya makes a sound of protest in her throat. But Kilney continues. “You know what her parents told me when I met them for the first time? They said they were happy Gimble had found such a mature man who could protect her from her own flightiness.”

Freya’s eyes widen in shock. “They told me something similar when I met them in college.”

“Oh god no.”

There is stunned silence for a while.

“Is it our fault?” Freya asks.

Kilney gets up. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

He takes his leave. This time, he flags down a taxi, heart sore. Did everyone in Gimby’s life think she couldn’t handle things on her own?

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15 of 26 of an ongoing series The Dream Maker. You can read all posts here. Written as part of #BlogchatterA2Z.

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