A Night of Light
A short story.
Once, there was a lonely man who used to visit his wife’s grave everyday, whom he loved a lot. His wife died an uncertain death and he was still not over the grief.
One day, he found a bright red note above his wife’s grave. He opened and read it, then looked around but couldn’t understand anything. The note said, “W” in bold white colour. He left the note there and went back home.
As he stepped inside, he saw another note lying on the table by the door. It was the same red coloured note but this time it said, “go to the diner and have some food”.
He was, now, anxious and more confused than ever. He couldn’t understand who was this “W” and why did it tell to go a diner but he still followed what the note said.
As soon as he reached the diner, he saw another red note lying on the table of booth where he always used to sit at.
But this time it wasn’t a note, but a map. A treasure map. It was titled as, “The Treasure of Hers”. Behind the map there were a set of rules among which one said, in bold letters, “no going back or else no going home!”.
He had no choice left than to follow the instructions. He was afraid but curious at the same time because he thought he was going to find a hidden treasure buried by some ancient queen and that he will finally find some happiness after his wife’s death.
He followed the route and the sun, by then, had already set out. He was now far away from his town and inside a forest. Suddenly, he saw flying fire balls making his way towards him. They circled around him first and followed him wherever he went.
He kept walking and soon came across a deep dark cave. He went inside and tried to find the treasure. He kept walking deep into the cave and saw bones and skulls lying on the ground. At times, he thought to give up and go back but some strange force was pulling him inside.
He soon found a big X made up of bones, which signified the treasure spot. He looked around but couldn’t find any treasure box, not even a single gold coin. He took a deep breath, turned around and started making his way out but when he looked at the map for the way to go back, it had vanished. There was no map in his hand anymore and the fire balls had disappeared too.
It was all black wherever he looked. He got the idea to turn on the flashlight on his phone. He took out his phone but the screen went black. He tapped furiously on it and a message appeared on the screen which said, “Don’t move!”.
He got scared and didn’t knew what to do. He sat down hopelessly and ran his fingers everywhere around him.
Suddenly, a ray of bright light made its way into the cave which made him think that it was the way to go out. He followed it and saw a huge treasure box. He was no more interested in treasure and just wanted to go out but again a strange force pulled him towards the box. After feeling defeated, he opened it and was shocked when he saw what was inside.
There were no coins, no expensive jewellery, but none other than his wife! She looked up at him affectionately, smiled the way she used to and pulled out her hand in front of him. Then, everything came to its place and he understood that the “treasure of hers” is itself his wife, the “W” referred to as “Wife” and she was the one who was calling him so that he wouldn’t be in pain anymore and that they could be together.
So, without any hesitation, the man took his wife’s hand with admiration in his eyes and went inside the treasure box which he found by following the light.
It was the night when all his dark and lonely days, which he had been living in, ended and when he was going to be happy again. It was, indeed, a night of light for him.
