6th March 1985

“Ah! Another beautiful day, cleaning and clearing garbage,” Sam chuckled,” Have you gone job hunting inside your head?”

Sam was trying to ease the tension in the air as Murphy was glossing over the comedown events that happened lately.

He was a sweet distraction that she would allow being around.

“Someone’s in a delightful mood”, Murphy interrupted his delight and tried to ease her thoughts.

“Yeah! As long it’s not raining and I am having a great company, everything seems fine”, he said in a delightful mood and walked to her and sat beside her.

Murphy had a constant sad musing gaze into the air. She was deeply saddened by her life turning so harsh on her.

“I wish that being orphaned, homeless and poor was the only problems in my life”, she looked at Sam blankly.

“Oh, so we have got new entries?”, Sam exclaimed, keeping his tone light, “seems like, someone’s keeping secrets”.

Murphy looked down at her feet, trying to pretend that she didn’t hear him say anything.

“Let’s get to work! If we finish early, we can enjoy then”, Murphy smiled at him, trying to look better, she said playfully,

“You take the right half of the lawn and I’ll do the left one, let’s see who wins”.

“Good luck”

Both of them laughed as they parted over to start off the work. 

The lawn was way too overgrown. Sam operated over the lawnmower while Murphy started to clip her fancy plants using a cutter.

“Murph don’t you think that the Maple tree is going nuts?”, Sam laughed with amazement, “just look at the roots it’s spreading over a vast expanse”.

Murphy suddenly remembered yesterday’s discovery of hers about the roots, that was true she thought, the lawn was a bit strange today.

“Come over! Let’s see”, Sam called.

Walking over the grass to reach him, she just noticed that the roots didn’t seem to be grown in a day, they were thick enough to be a result of yearly growth.

But how could that be happening? The garden was kept moved fortnightly, if not weekly.

Sam was taken by amazement too. That was something too unusual to accept.

Sam trimmed the grass neatly around the edges to reveal it. Murphy helped him to pull out the sprouting and examine the atypical behavior of the radicles.

“Sam? Don’t you think it’s growing towards the window panel of the room over there?”, Murphy said in a perplexed tone.

“It seems so, but that’s something beyond normal to think about”, Sam tried to calm her down, “Roots can be grown in any direction naturally, there stands no point at thinking that why towards that window?”

“That’s your bedroom!”, Sam said thoughtfully.

Murphy was now staring at the window so thoughtfully as if she is gonna perform autopsy on the roots at the instant. 

Watching Murphy drowned in curiosity, that Sam decided to cut the reason off to finish the debate about unusual and unnatural looking ordinary acts of nature.

“Okay, I’ll cut them off, they are making the lawn look ugly”, Sam walked over to the strongest branching and raised the ax to cut off the radical reaching the window panel.

Murphy’s heart started racing, she shook a leaf, there was something wrong around, she was losing her consciousness, there was some deep unrest arising in her head. She tried to reach Sam and ask her to stop, but the puzzle inside her head kept her froze in the air and she was unable to make any move. 

As the Sam hit the roots with all his might, the roots split like vessels of body and blood spurted out, Murphy screeched with immense pain, as someone has pierced her rib cage with a spear.

“Saaammmm!”, Murphy screamed in torment.

Sam pulled back abruptly with shocked eyes and ran towards Murphy to save her from falling on her back, Murphy had already her eyes closed...

. . . . . .

She was walking in a huge corridor of some old and architecturally picturesque castle, the ceilings were high enough to seem like sky touching, the walls seemed glorious and magnificent, the old stone masterfully carved statues standing beside the pavement seemed alert to spring into action anytime.

She walked towards the end huge royal gate, across the white pillars there were thousands of ancient steps leading to some odd place.

She wishes to go down the stairs.

As she walks down the stairs, she notices some enchanting notes in the air.

A really beautiful flute melody is in the air.

She continues to listen to it so carefully as not to miss a single note even. That seemed so magical to her.

Captivating her head.

As she moves deep downstairs, she felt the power of something pulling her even closer.

There was some hissing voice in the air.

‘Come to me, Teressa’

A hissing voice said.

As she looked deeper to the destiny of stairs, there seemed some ancient temple-like a place at the end of the stairs.

The ominous old temple-like building.

She wished to turn back, but the melody kept her pushing and walking towards it.

She was wearing a royal blue gown, so beautiful and so elegantly she walked towards the caller.

‘Murphy. . .’

‘Wake up please’

Sam stood there tapping over on her face, holding her as Murphy opened her eyes.

“You scared the daylights out of me”, Sam exclaimed in horror, “What happened? What’s wrong?”

She just remembered the blood spurts out of roots splitting, she dashed to see that. . .

‘But?’

‘Where is it?’

“Sam? The blood! Did you see it?”

“That bleeding roots!”

Sam’s blood ran cold and held her tightly,

“There isn’t any blood anywhere, you must have got frightened, you fainted”, he assured, “There’s nothing”.

He took her inside, she was still trembling with the memory of insights she had,

‘what was she seeing?

Why was she dreaming about the odd place? Why was she wearing a royal gown?

Why did that seem like the one she dreamt about earlier.

What was going on?

Teressa?

Who is she?

Who is Anna?’

Her mind was boiling up with unanswered questions that Sam brought in a glass of fresh juice and held it over to her.

She was skeptically looking at him, she couldn’t even imagine the reality of the event that happened.

Sam dragged a chair near her and sat on the edge reaching to her. Looking at her with questioning eyes.

“Your face seems differently worried this time”, he said in a concerned tone, “You know you can tell me anything, so what’s on your mind?”

She couldn’t muster up the courage to open that book of unusual events happening lately, she couldn’t even make anything out of it in her mind, that was something so unnatural to say.

“I can’t stay here anymore”, her voice shivered, “I feel someone’s following me, I feel being hunted”.

She started to feel the heaviness and burden over her rib cage as if she has been hurt. She could feel tears trickling down her cheek.

She couldn’t make sense out of anything, neither was she able to open up to him.

Sam sat beside her looking at her quietly, trying to absorb the new entry to their lives.

His face seemed sucked out of the blood and his eyes weren't calm today.

“Let’s move to my apartment”, Sam estimated, “Everything will get fine in few days”.

Sam wanted to take a gap from everything, and letting time heal it.

He offered a few days off from this place and a good talk over issues prevailing.

Murphy agreed to move to his apartment.

. . . .