The Rejection

8

I was appointed to Cave’s third floor. The third floor of Cave is as risky as every third floor of any horror movie’s third floor would be. The reason was an unknown creature’s presence on the floor and its entrance was tricky too. The entrance of the third floor of the Cave is through the graveyard. In the graveyard, there is one place, where there is no one’s body is buried but the grave is made just to keep people away from it. That place leads straight to the third floor of Cave. The third floor is risky but yet it is safe as no one would go to the graveyard for searching for anything. The graveyard was elder than the cave was so our ancestors could build the entrance through it. Almost all the entrances were made in a way that it was impossible for any villagers to find it easily and the cave was secure with what it had inside it. All the old places were chosen to make a secret passageway to reach Cave. The older places were old yet strong so we all could rely on them. There is a fifth-floor in Cave, which is never appointed to anyone; no one knows where its entrance is. No one has yet been able to explore it. The old saying, “Finders Keepers “Exactly fits that particular floor.

When we grew up and our father appointed to each of the floors of a cave, we always used to tell us stories about the fifth floor. The fifth floor is most precious and it carries so costliest thing inside it. Anyone who could see what it had inside would be so amazed that they would stop expecting anything more from god or from the universe to give them. My father had seen the fifth floor and he knew how important that floor was. He had decided to never let any of his sons to appoint to that floor, after seeing what he had seen inside it, he was greedy and he did not want to share with any of us easily, if anyone could find it on their own, they could deserve it and own it. He could not possess all that it was inside so the fifth floor was a special task for him and even for us. He had some expectations that one of us (Our brothers) could find it and with the help of one of us, he would be able to possess all that it was inside. 

 I was very furious with my father after he gave me the way to the Cave through the graveyard. But he told me something that touched my heart. “You are the one who is youngest, and brightest, and very dearer to me rest than others. No matter which road or journey I give you, I know you will be always able to find the fifth floor’s way and nothing will matter other than after. You will find it because you are looking for it, searching for it, in order to search and not to use it for yourself. Your innocence and purity will help you find it. So I have appointed you to the third floor and I have high hopes that you will find the fifth floor and then we could use it together. ” All of the us-My brothers and I knew we all have been given the way to enter the Cave and yet everyone was still in search of the Cave’s fifth floor, everyone was told about the stories of the fifth floor. I really am innocent, as I could not understand why my father had never included my sister, Aakriti in this. I decided to ask this to my middle brother, Aashray, who was with a great intellectual and rational mind, he was just like my father when it comes to taking decisions. I asked him about my doubt, he replied that “It is our ancestor’s procedure which they had passed it to our father and then he passes it to us; no daughter will be included or should ever be aware of this Cave’s existence. For our ancestors the girls are never part of any family, neither in which she borns nor in the one does she die. So girls are always considered outsiders. As she will marry someday, and she might slip this information of Cave to her husband and in-laws of her, which will jeopardize our secret of wealth. As more people know about it, there will be more division of our wealth, or might we could get into some more serious trouble. As we are holding the rights of a cave, it should only lie with us. ” I then started to act very strangely with my sister. Not because I wanted to hide all the things from her but because I was innocent and nervous around her that I had to be so conscious that I do not slip any information that she is not a part of a family and she is considered an outsider in her own family. I was so disappointed by this thinking mentality but could not change it and I just had to accept the fact that it was what it was and we could not change it.

 Her wedding was close too-so I did not have to hide my normal behavior from her for long period. I was happy that she was going to married to the love of her life and neither I nor anyone from my family had any objections to it. We started preparing for the wedding function and we all were in search of the fifth floor’s entrance too. The wedding decorations and wedding planning were going all good. But nothing helped in finding the fifth-floor entrance of the cave. One day a strange incident took place. As I was drawing the map of the village and was looking after any place or thing which has not been in use or have been not existed for people of village or place where no one ever goes – which might lead me to the fifth floor as all other floors had an entrance through all places which had not been in use. I heard some quarrel, which was coming from the floor above mine. From the floor where my brother, Aahan lives. Aahan had made some mistakes and my father was confronting him for the same. Aahan had made such a blunder which could not be overlooked and he had made the whole secret of our Cave into big trouble. Aahan had drawn the route of the first floor of Cave and its interior.

As I earlier mentioned Cave is very huge and within a floor too, one might get lost. So he had drawn a map of the first floor very particularly, describing every single object inside that floor. How to get to the particular thing which is present is the Cave, and is most important and for it, we all had to go through all the trouble -for which we all were appointed too in the first place. He had mentioned every single detail, from how to get to reach to the first floor through well and how to get the particular thing out of it and where to put it. By mistake that map had gotten into the hand of one of our servants. That servant took a map with him and flew away at his house. Aahan had made such a huge mistake; our secret was open to others, which had never happened before. All the years that secret has been within our family but now it was a big risk. I could hear that Aahan was constantly apologizing to our father and was crying for the mistake he had made. My father then told Aahan to clean his mess by killing that servant and getting that map back. Aahan searched grounds for him and after two days he was found by Aahan at his in-laws' place. When the servant learned that he had known a secret that he should not have known, he hid at his in-laws' house, where no one could find him. When Aahan found him, a servant was alone at that time. That servant knew his life was at risk so he sent his wife and daughter to someplace far far away, he did not have enough money to go with them, so he stayed back in the village only and hid. Aahan asked him when he found him if he had told anyone about that first floor and about the Cave and everything. That servant denied it and he even showed that map which was still with him and he had not told to anyone about it. But he was scared so he had hidden but he swore that he had not told anyone about it and the secret was with him only. Aahan did not believe him and he tortured him still he did not say anything and then Aahan killed him and threw his body in the river. That servant was hiding and disguised himself as a woman, so he was wearing a red cloth to cover his face and body. Aahan took out the red cloth and wrapped his body inside it and threw it in a river, where it would look like death and not the murder. The same red cloth was found by villagers and they assumed it was cursed and Aahan made fun of the story. 

I along with other villagers was in shock for a longer period of time. One day I asked Aahan how he found that servant, who was disguised as a woman and was hiding at his in-law's place. Aahan told me that he just simply paid money to his in-laws and he slipped all the information about where the servant was. Aahan told me that with money anything is possible and when money matters no one cares about the relation and money is of the highest relation. He even taught me that if I ever get stuck in a situation like that, I should also do the same and should buy things and people with money. Our father warned us to be more precise so since then we all started to be very accurate about our stuff and our drawings and maps and we always mind, when we are going, if someone is following us or not. We all were under pressure and started doubting villagers. The villagers who had nothing but good intentions from us, still it made us all doubt on them and we were becoming more and more conscious about everything. 

One man, who used to come to our house when we were growing up, was our own paternal uncle. We did not know our relationship with him until we were introduced to the concept of the Cave. That paternal uncle of ours was a man with ethics and he never wanted to get involved or let his sons get involved in the little Cave’s crusade. So he had decided that he would always stay away from the cave and would never stay in a village or would use any money or belongings that were coming out from the cave. So he was just helping my father and he used to take those precious things from the cave and would sell it. My paternal uncle had stayed in a city and there only he grew up. My uncle thought the cave was of nature and we were using it- what it had inside, was illegal and we should not use it for our own profits. So he always used to stay away from the cave, his sons were full of ethics too and they were not curious or greedy and were happy in the simple life they were living. I had so much respect for my uncle and I wished I could also follow his ethics but when I had seen what I had seen on the third floor, I had sold my ethics to myself and was happy that I did not have any such ethics and I could follow my father’s legacy and led myself through fortunes.

After a year or some, of getting appointed to the third floor and probing for the fifth floor, I have had found the fifth floor’s entrance from the place, no one would have ever imagined it to be. I told my father about it and he was very proud of me and told me he always knew I was the one who would found it. I could sense that my father was not as happier as I thought of him to be, it was like I was going to take away something from him after finding the fifth floor. And I remembered Aahan’s words as when it comes to money, no other relations are as important as money. My father let my other brothers know that I have found it and it was mine, so no one has to make more efforts to find it as will be of no use. I wrote in here before that each floor’s entrance was appointed to each brother specifically and no other brother knows about it. Yet I know all floor’s entrance because each brother came to me independently and told me about it. They wanted to trade it off. Each one of them told me, that I could get four floors of Cave for myself except the fifth and the three of them will divide the fifth floor of Cave among themselves-the fortune the fifth floor had, they would divide it between them. I am pretty sure it was the idea of Aahan, as he was rational, he would have talked with Aashray and Aman about it, thinking I will be convinced in their decision because all knew I never wanted to use all the fortune for myself and I was just searching it for the sake of searching it. I sure will consider myself innocent but I am not an i***t, there was no way in hell, I was going to be convinced of it after I had seen what I have seen on the fifth floor of Cave, there was no way I would be ready to do that trading. All three of them have just heard about the stories of that fifth floor of the cave were fascinated by it, but I had seen it by myself, how would I give it up. Since I rejected their proposal, all of them are very furious with me because now I know the entrance of all floors and they are still stuck with each floor respectively. If I ever wanted, I could easily go to any floor of the cave, take the fortune out of it and no one would ask me anything. I am writing this diary to express my stress that I have got a strong gut feeling that they are going to kill me. If they cannot have the access to the fifth floor, they sure will try to stop me to get to it. If they cannot have it they are not going to me let me have it. Because I know everything, every floor’s entrance and the amount of fortune that floor holds, and in addition, I found the fifth floor. So, in the end, I knew everything and they individually were left with only one floor. I don’t know if I will be killed or not but I know one thing; my father is also not very much happy after knowing I have known all the entrance. So might be, he would also support them in killing me. The thing is secret so I cannot even ask for help from anyone and I just have to protect myself, I thought of asking for help from My brother in law, Manan, but it would create more problems and I might get into bigger trouble than I already am right now. Maybe I did not find the entrance of the fifth floor but have found the entrance of my own grave and I will be buried in it by my own family, no they will not wait for me to die to bury me but will bury me alive.  I also know one thing even if I die, my father will not tell the entrance of the fifth floor to anyone and they-my brothers would be in search of it till they die. I don’t know if anyone would ever find this diary and would care to read it and if anyone reads it and will believe it in or not but it is the diary of fact and not fictional, every detail mentioned in it are true and someone like me would never just write to make up stuff like this, I am sure the reader of the diary will try to understand the fact that what I am trying to say through this diary. I will be glad if anyone finds it because it will serve justice to the death of that servant and Aahan would be punished for his sins. But I cannot reveal about the fifth floor. I will not mind if anyone finds it and uses it for their own, though it should be with my family I am completely okay in knowing that it will be in hands of others. If that floor is going to be the reason for my death, then also I will not reveal the secret of the entrance because if I will, it will be the reason for several other deaths too. All I can mention is that something inside the cave is the reason for our fortune and wealth in our family.