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| Sunday, 15 January 2006 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Short story Mystery It was 2 'o' clock in the morning, when Lisa was suddenly jolted up from her sleep. She was alone in her dome room that day, because her room-mate had gone home for the weekend.
She quietly listened to her surroundings with her heart beating rapidly. It was eerily quiet, yet she felt that something was not right. Then suddenly, she heard a loud banging noise, just like the one that had woken her up earlier. At first, she thought someone was trying to break in to her room. She aqueezed her eyes shut, and listened. Even though she was 21, she now felt like a frightened 5-year-old. Scream Nothing happened. The banging stopped, and just as she was about to breathe sigh of relief, she heard an ear-piercing scream from the room nest door. Lisa quickly jumped out of her bed. Not even thinking what she was doing, she opened her door, and ran into the adjoining corridor, which ran in front of the line of rooms. Many other students had also come out to see what had happened. Everyone was puzzled. Stella's Only one room remained shut. It was Stella's room next door. They softly tapped on the door. It easily slid open. The lock on the door was broken As they entered the room, they were amazed at the site which greeted them. The whole place looked like it had been hit by a tornado. The place was a total mess! There seemed to be signs of struggle, but, there was no one in the room. Stella, the girl who stayed in the room, was missing. She had disappeared in to thin air! About half an hour later, the Police arrived. They investigated the place, and filed a missing person's report. After hearing the evidence given by Lisa, and the others, the investigators guessed that Stella must have been kidnapped. Since Stella had no family, there was not even anyone to notify, or to find out anything much about her. All they knew about her was what Stella herself had told her friends. All these students were studying at the Aesthetic University. Lisa and Stella were good friends, and they had decided to stay in the dorm rooms for convenience, and security. But now, panic began to spread. Most of the students suspected that Stella was murdered. The media gave a lot of publicity to the issue, and frightened parents took their children out of the dorms. Most of the students moved out on their free will. Even though the whole place was in chaos, and everyone was looking for the missing girl, no trace of her was found. Skull Two weeks later, a homeless man had found a human skull on the beach, half buried under the sand. There was no trace of the rest of the body. The skull was soon brought in for testing. It was of a person who had died recently. Most suspected that it belonged to the missing girl. They were right. After investigations, it was revealed that it was indeed Stella's skull! There was a huge commotion about the incident. The public pointed their fingers at the University, blaming it for the incident. The students demanded justice for their friend. The police department had twice the workload! The public awaited the finding and wanted the killer to be brought to justice. Everyone was worried, because they believed that the killer must have been a psycho, and could strike again anytime. Anyone could be a victim. Everyone was now in fear. Journalist Jake, a 25-year-old journalist was temporarily staying at the university. This was his first assignment, in his first job. He was supposed to find everything he could, and report it. This was no easy task, because nothing new could be found. The administrators of the University didn't like his presence much either. They didn't like the fact that everything that happened, every word spoken, was openly given to the public. He did have the cooperation of the students, however. Especially thanks to his good looks, being 6ft tall, with green, sharp eyes, female students were more than willing to help! But as a time passed by, with no result, even he had to admit that he was wasting his time. But if he screwed this up, it was going to cost him his job. Exams About one month had passed. The end of semester exams was beginning that day. When the students entered the exam hall, they saw a sight that drove all thoughts of the exam out of their minds! The girl who died had taken her place for the exam! She was back. But not from the dead! She was as alive as you and me. There was not even a scratch on her. When she heard about the events that had taken place in the past month, she was amazed. "All this fuss about me, when I'm quite all right!" was all she said. No one quite knew what to think anymore. If Stella was here, then who had died? Why was she/he identified as Stella? But this was easily said than done! Getting answers out of Stella, was as hard as getting a wing from a tortoise. She never spoke to anyone about what had happened, where she was for the past day. She merely said that she had had a nightmare, and screamed. The lock had to be broken because she couldn't find the key in her hurry. As for where she was, it appeared to be her personal business! Mysterious He knew he was struck with a mysterious case. But he felt that he couldn't solve it, not by himself. He needed a partner, and it had to be someone who knew Stella well. Jake slowly sipped his coffee as he thought about it. The coffee shop was now filling with students, as they broke off from the class. Suddenly, he saw the answer to his problems. A pretty girl, with pale blue eyes, and long dark hair, had just entered. It was Lisa. He knew who she was and that she stayed in the room next to Stella's. He walked over to her, hoping that she'd be willing to cooperate. As he approached her, she looked at him and gave a friendly smile. He saw this as a good sign, and took a seat in front of her. "Hi! I'm Jake" he said as he extended his hand to her. "I know. I'm Lisa. Well, what can I do to help?" she asked, obviously thinking that he had just come over to interview her for more information. She listened patiently, as he explained the situation. As he went on, the more interested she became. She agreed that Stella didn't seem to be herself, after she had returned. She could also see that most of the places in Stella's story didn't add up. The two set off to crack the case. But no matter what they did, they always seemed to end up in square one. Having slept late, Lisa was running out of her room in a hurry. As soon as she came out, she collided head on with someone, causing both of them to fall. The other person was Stella. She had a long scar along her upper arm. Lisa noticed this as she helped her up. "I'm really sorry. It's my fault. Are you ok?" Lisa asked. Other said that she was. "What happened to your arm?" Lisa asked, pointing to the scar. "This? Oh I've had it since I was a kid", Stella said, as she walked away. Lisa stood there, glued to the spot. Sure, the scar seemed old. But the Stella she knew didn't have a scar like that! Not knowing what to think, she ran off to find Jake. As she told him what had happened, he nodded his head, as if he expected something like this to happen. "I sort of guessed this" he said. "I don't know if you'd believe me or not, but I don't think this is Stella." "What?!" Lisa asked him, incredulously. "Of course it's her. She looks just as I remember." "But, not everything is as it seems, dear", Jake said, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. Mistake No leads could be found. Both of them were sort of willing to admit, that maybe they had made a mistake. But then, god decided to give them a hand! A few days later, Lisa was leafing through her mail, when she came upon a letter addressed to Stella. It had been delivered to her by mistake. It was from a hospital, in a city she had never even heard of. Since Stella had no family, Lisa wondered why she was suddenly getting a letter. Stella seemed well enough, and didn't seem to be in the need to go to a hospital either. Feeling guilty, she tore open the envelope, and read the contents. Her eyes almost popped out of the sockets, when she finished reading it. Thoughts in a whirl, she ran to find Jake. When she gave him the letter, his reaction was identical. "I think we've got it this time", he said, with a big grin. A beam of sunlight rested on the letter through the open window. The two of them packed up some things, and drove off to the hospital in the letter. They had some answers to find. It was rather late when they arrived. But luckily, not too late to find their answers. They found the doctor. She was more than willing to help. At the end they finally cracked the case. They took the files and all the evidence back with them. The couple arrived at the university premises early, next morning. Unsuspecting students were getting on with their own business. The police investigators were called in. Everything had to be done quietly, and a sharp lookout was kept on Stella. They were waiting for the best time to catch their prey. Finally, the time came. The police arrested Stella, and charged her for murder. Everyone was puzzled about the incident. They soon got their answers. The whole story came out. It was in the front page of Jake's newspaper. It appeared that Stella really had died that night. The skull indeed belonged to her. The rest of the body, now lay somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Stella had, a sister. An identical twin. When they were about 11, her sister had burned their home down. Both their parents had died in the fire. The sister had also burnt her arm, resulting in the scar which Lisa had seen. After that, the two sisters had been brought to an orphanage. They had lived together for a while in peace. But then, her sister had started to attack Stella, often resulting in urgent trips to the hospital. The two of them were separated after a few more incidents of that sort. Anna had confessed to everything, when charged for her crimes, at the police. She was found guilty. Justice had been given to Stella. The public was ecstatic. To see such an unusual case be solved, was rare. The whole credit went to the young journalist and Lisa. by Sachintha Arunodani Lokuarachchi, Faculty of Medicine, Galle. |
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