Sample chapter for the book 'A girl in a star'

1. A girl ina star Ratna Chandu:ratnamech3@gmail.com
Chapter 1
It was probably one of the darkest of nights. The power in the entire north lane had
been out for the last couple of hours. The streets witnessed a deadly silence like never before.
The moon hid behind thick clouds intensifying the eeriness and the lane looked haunted.
A small house sat at the corner of the wickedly dark lane. Inside, a tall man stood in
front of the table lit by a single candle. He clamped his hands over his chest, his eyes glued on
a drawing, admiring its flawless lines, which could be seen below the object on top of it.
The guy bent little forward to get a perfect view.
It was a drawing of two boys, probably in their teens who sat on a low cliff facing a
waterfall. The foaming waters were streaming down the huge mountain. Though the boys’
faces couldn’t be seen, one could easily feel the laughter on their faces, their chins raised up in
a warm chuckle. The drawing looked like a full moon. It was so vivid and real that it felt as if a
long-lost moment had passed right in front your eyes. But a full moon had a dark side too
which only few can see.
Suddenly, the guy was struck by strange nostalgia. In fact, whenever he saw any
drawing a very similar emotion crawled in. “Isn’t drawing in his blood? He can depict any
beauty and experience on a piece of paper. But this specific drawing can be drawn at any time
just from memory. He himself does not know how many times he has drawn this,” the guy
thought, his chest filled with immense pride and appreciation.
Outside, the deadly silence was interrupted by howling winds all of a sudden. They
blew harder and harder, signaling the approach of a monstrous storm, and the arrival of
something terrible. As expected, huge raindrops began to fall turning the roads into rivers of
mud suddenly, which had been parched dry minutes before, just the way fate changed in the
flick of a moment.
Just then, a fast moving dilapidated van came to a screeching halt, squirting a stream of
dirty water on both sides. It stopped right outside the small house. The door slid open. A
bunch of men stepped out hurriedly, their faces covered with bandannas. They made their way
straight to the house and marched in through the open door. There was no one around to see

2. A girl ina star Ratna Chandu:ratnamech3@gmail.com
the horror of what one man was carrying in his hands. It was a butcher’s knife, probably the
one used to chop serious pieces of meat hidden behind a piece of cloth.
Inside the house, the guy could clearly hear the sound of doused men’s sandals against
the floor. But neither did he turn around to look nor moved an inch. Instead, he stood rooted
in his place. Strangely, his eyes bore no sign of panic or fright, though a tear rolled down his
cheek and fell on the drawing. The goons advanced closer to him. An average human being
would jump to defend himself by grabbing something heavy near him and hurl it at the
attackers or at least run away before any mishap struck. But the guy stood there until it was
too late, like he was anticipating their arrival.
Sooner, one of the goons approached him and gave a quick stab in his ribs. The razor-
sharp knife smoothly sliced through his body, crushing thousands of nerve fibers. The other
men stood back, all set to attack in case he made a counterattack.
But no! There was no retaliation from the guy yet.
He stood as if he had not taken a jab. But the pain was unbearable, making it
impossible for him to breathe. Beads of blood sputtered down to the floor. And yet, he stood
tall like an unflinching warrior, until another stab pierced his ribs. It was more forceful and
intense than the previous one. Now, the guy’s body shook like the fluttering candlelight that
sat on the table, one of his hands clamped over the bleeding ribs. His legs nearly buckled,
trembling. When he couldn’t stand anymore, he collapsed on the floor with a heavy thud, his
face down. Soon, he felt his breath leave him slowly.
The goons stood there making sure he no longer moved, ready to launch into yet
another strike if there was a trace of moment. One of them came forward and recklessly
pushed his foot at the lifeless body and snapped his head around and nodded at other men
signaling it was to time to leave. Soon they all left the house in rush before someone caught
them.
The guy lay on the floor in the pool of his own blood, his limbs strewn across in an
impossible manner, motionless, for a very long time. His body shook with a coughing pit and
he knew he wasn’t going to make it. But strangely, his lips were curved in a quirky, mysterious

3. A girl ina star Ratna Chandu:ratnamech3@gmail.com
smile. Could someone really smile at their own death, even if they had anticipated it? If so,
how on earth could one anticipate their own death?
Soon, the fluttering candle went off. The rain outside came to halt and it was dark
again like before. The guy’s eye lids began to droop until they stopped dead.
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