The Monster

THE MONSTER INSIDE



The sun which rose up in the eastern horizon made the sky and the place look  with bright yellow light as a shimmering gold and

people on the streets were gleaming with joy in their face with  festive spirit because that happens to be 4th of July,  independence

day of USA.  Trumpets were blowing and beating of the drums resonated with the humdrum of daily menacing traffic horns

due to heavy traffic jam and people everywhere were gleaming with joy as though celebrating their own function. Suddenly

a Car horn disturbed the Rhythm of the patriotic song played on the trumpet and James and Mary returning from the

shopping complex after the purchases from the nearest departmental stores got a frightened look since they never expected the

Mercedes car to be that much close when blowing the horn. Since the signal changed suddenly, they tried to rush but were scorned

by the driver. Still they managed to maintain their cool since their loving daughters Jane and Janet will be anxiously waiting in the

house for their arrival so as to celebrate the day with pomp and gay.



Jane and Janet were happily living sisters with their parents James and Mary in the sub urban area o f Texas near to Kansas City.

They lived in a separate villa near to the Wisconsin avenue, 4th Lane, Madalyn Square, Texas. Their life moved like anyone

as a normal life and jane and janet were in-separable twins  like bread and butter with love and caring for people who lived in

their neighbor hood. They never went alone to any place and they are referred to as Madalyn sisters in their area.



They from their birth onwards were so close to each other that it was very difficult for others to who is who. Their school was in

a locality not far away from their house and they went to school every day by the same bus. Their father James was working

in the local Engineering factory as a supervisor and their mother mary did some part time jobs to earn their living. Though

they remained as inseparable sisters and even played together in the local play ground. Both were  Good Squash players and

their interest for the game knew no bounds since they played like Serena and Venus Williams  in the tennis circuit always winning

every tournament.



Therefore they are well known in the circle as Madlalyn sisters only even though they have names. No body even separated them in any

way and they also dressed and behaved in the same way in terms of mannerisms also so that they remained indistinguishable of their true

identity.



Every evening they used to chat together in the local park and used to eat in the nearby restaurant every week end. There fore during

dining and playing they used to pass comments and make jokes so that the place is always filled with laughter. Their face always gleamed

with joy. This made some time their adversaries jealous about their friendship and love towards each other..



Even Jane’s friend Margret used to tease Jane…”Hey…Jane you both seem to be inseparable…what will you happen when you get married

r u gone to marry the same person…?”



For this Jane used to reply jokingly “Why not? ,. If the lover is willing we are ready too…:”.



Only person who used to disturb their privacy is Margret who lived along with his parents in the near by house. Therefore only time

the sisters get separated is when Margret is there.



Thus their life went on a very smooth note, going to school and colleges together, dining and playing and having fun with their friends in college.



On one Sunday night during the winter season, there was heavy rain due to worst climate and the cloud roared, thundered with striking thunder

bolts as if to break the sky and earth into two. Strong Winds were also blowing intermittently and every where due to power cut the building

looked  like alien monsters waiting to intrude into the privacy of fear stricken people just struck as kittens or chickens. Every one is fleeing

towards their home in cars, Jane and Janet were traveling in their car crossing the Wisconsin avenue .Suddenly due to heavy downpour,

Jane lowered the glasses and wipers started cleaning the wind shield and the front view for easy visibility of the road. Still their house is very

far off and reaching the house may take at least an hour.



Therefore they decided to take a break and eat in the nearby restaurant which is also a drive in. There was heavy crowd and waiters were

serving the people with hurricane speed never wanted to loose a single customer. All the tables were booked. Therefore they found every

where only filled tables and name plates gleaming with the names reserved  for a particular person. Since due to the heavy downpour,

they never wanted to leave the restaurant for another one but squeeze them selves in some place in which they wanted to have a Pork Fry

since always they liked the taste of it. Pork when roasted in glistening butter looked brownish and crispy. Their saliva got dripping inside their

mouth since it appeared so tasty and people were relishing their night dinner with their friends enjoying their week end after a good movie

in a multiplex or after making their shopping spree.



Jane enquire Janet “Jane…shall we move on to some other place or are you Okay to be hungry?”.



“No…No way…I can’t wait …I’m damn hungry .Want to have some thing before going to our home…Since Mom is coming today

very late…Daddy also has left for some inspection purpose…I can’t  wait till you prepare something for me.. It is also getting very late..

I’m also very tired to wait and very eager to go and sleep in the comforts of the warm blanket and foam”.



“Okay…Janet …I too agree. Let us finish the dinner together. After that we can get back as early as possible since the heavy down pour

will also recede and the drizzle will not make us to stay a long time here itself”.



Then Janet ordered Pork Fry and Salmon fish toast …They just had a rapacious dinner and when they finished their faces were reddened

by the spicy food…Still they liked the hot due to the cold climate. Toasted bread with clarified butter and jam will taste good but they were

in no mood to taste that bland food for the time being.



They just returned to their car….Janet was driving the car…Suddenly Janet had a Dizzy feeling and the rushing vehicles coming opposite in the

lane were appearing like dim lit monsters trying to over power her and since the feeling zapped her energy she was not even able to look -

proper with her dimming eye sight and the night lamps making a shade in the dark filled night.



“Hey Janet …You look so tired and emaciated…what happened.. Are You Okay…” enquired Jane.



“No…Jane…I’m having a very dizzy feeling suddenly feeling heavy in my head…”



“Okay…Janet will u be able to manage to drive the car?”



“Oh…No…I find it very difficult to bear the brunt of the attack in my head and it gives an impression that my head is banged by hammers “



“May be a Migraine due to climate change and also for a very long time you had been suppressing your hunger”



“I don’t know Jane…What ever the reason it is , I’m going to stop the car for the time being and it is better you come to the driver seat

and drive..”



“Okay…Janet Don’t worry…You will be alright in a short time…”



Having told this Jane sat in the driver seat and started driving and Janet was uneasy with her trouble and appeared pale stricken.



Jane got afraid since it has become very late and in this rainy night , it will be very difficult to rush to the doctor also without prior

appointment. Therefore Jane thought that she will be alright once she returned to the comfort of the home and took rest in the cozy

surrounding of the bed.





Chapter – 2



Janet’s decision to leave for work



In the morning after peaceful rest, Janet felt some what better and thought of going to work since she had some very important assignment to be finished and M.D also rang up twice early in the morning. Therefore it is better that if I go to office, I can finish the remaining work since the M.D was planning to visit NEW YORK for a business assignment.



Therefore he asked Janet to come a little earlier than other days and Jane made preparations for her early departure packing her break fast. It’s usually the practice of Janet not to eat in the house but only to sip a coffee before leaving and have something when she rushes to catch the metro, there will be several road side fast food joints along the path with temporary shelters always crowded leading to the station and she used to have something there itself, rather than bothering their mother or Jane..



She used to always rush in the morning hours to catch the metro that she will not have even time to tie her loosely held hair and always use a hair band which will hold her hair very tight. She some times used to wear the wind cheater or jerkins and some times used to feel very cold and sometimes difficult to breathe not able to adjust her body lesion to the outside climate. The months December and February are very harder to survive in the biting cold and it is usually the practice of Jane to keep everything packed before her leaving so that even whenever he rushes also, she will be able to take the jerkins or wind cheater outside along the journey.



Janet this time also rushed very fast pumping her adrenalin inside to keep with the time and race along with it to catch the metro at 7.15 AM, since  the boss told her to be present in the office around 7.45 AM. It is usually the practice of Janet to arrive in time but somehow over the years it made her to suffocate her breath and some time hard to climb when the conveyors are not operating properly.



Only advantage she had is she already took her monthly pass…Therefore in the morning hours she need not have to stand in the long queue or look for change when the amount is not exact. The Metro train is also pretty fast covering the distance of 200-250 km within an hour. Therefore she never misses that train.



Her office is in PARKINSON SQUARE, 12 PARKINSON AVENUE, KANSAS .Even then she rushed to the office with a dash and arrived at the right time. Her Boss was waiting for her and was very urgent in leaving a message and leaving in the morning flight of US Airlines to be present in the evening meeting in NEWYORK.



“Hi  Janet!!! Well… you have come …But I need at least 10 minutes time to explain everything to you and then leave “



“Kindly bear with me…I’m feeling very emaciated having rushed in the office hour…I shall just come within 5 minutes after washing my face and just relaxing my self”



“Okay … Take your time….Come with your Note Pad and the important Agenda to be noted in my absence so that no clients are missed and they should never face my absence in case they need some urgent clarification”.



“Here it is the normal practice of people to stay glued to their work without caring for the client satisfaction but if the business gets affected , it will lead to heavy loss resulting to employees retention that I want to avoid at any cost”.



“Kindly be co-operative with the people who come and give business to us”



“Okay…Chief You don’t have to worry…I’m here to support you and I‘ll never let you down…I have already made all the plans and I have jotted it down …You can verify them and make an approval so that I will proceed after your approval”



“Thanks …Janet for understanding me….I’m here to help you in case of need…Even if you need any urgent leave …you can contact me in my New York office and then leave…Please give the status update also before leaving even in case of emergency…”.



After helping him in his departure, she thought of leaving for sometime outside since again she felt a pain which made her to bear with grim since she cannot immediately leave the office. She just managed to divert her attention towards her work and tried to concentrate on her work so that she can make some progress before leaving the office on that day. She left very early in the evening before the office closes but had seen her work is finished.





Chapter – 3



Janet’s agony and her trial with her pain



She slept in the night covering her also in the pillow by putting a sleeping tablet and somehow managed to get a proper sleep. But in the morning when she got up she again had pain in the head somewhat unbearable than the earlier lesion.  But never mind, she just got up from her bed and tried

tried her best to move towards the bathroom for keeping herself fresh Even though the night sleep has reduced her tired ness , she felt somewhat dizzy and uncomfortable even the legs not co-operating the way in which she wanted to move.



She felt as if she is walking cross-legged putting in each and every step in a disorderly manner and somehow tried to reach the bathroom. The sound

“REEM…RUUM…REEM…RUUM” which emanated from her right part of the brain especially near to the back and the sound hiss coming from her brain made her to feel somewhat afraid of her condition. She felt a very heavy burden as though she is carrying a heavy metallic water pot on her head.



To get rid of the pain, she just put her hands on top and started to rub her scalp. There she saw a big, round protrusion on her head in some 5 different places and in some places he felt that some blood is also oozing out. she thought that may be a figment of imagination due to her delusion and dizziness, due to the pain emanating so wild that she felt as if her top scalp is being under great pressure.



That pressure she was not actually able to gauge what it is …but she felt that “PAIN is a PAIN …is a PAIN whatever it is”.



She just dragged her feet inside the bath room and never felt comfortable walking up right. She is in some sort of hallucinated walk as though she is just doing a moon walk without the gravitation pulling her feet ankle to the floor.



Sometimes due to severe pain, she was not even able to realize her pain in that dizzy state. May be she thought that she may fell down without herself knowing but somehow managed to stand up right.



This sort of dizzy feeling she carried thorough out an elongated period of time even more than the previous day and the pain also heavier than the earlier time. Somehow she felt sometimes her thought is indifferent to the body and the coordinated movements for the neural signals from the brain passing through the spinal card got stopped due to some heavy pressure block. This gives her impression that some mechanical valve closed inside her brain.

.

She just sat on the floor and again rubbed her head to get rid of the brain and she felt that instead of pouring cold water if warm water is poured, she can endure the pain and get some mitigation from the suffering. But when she tried to sit on the floor trying to bend her back, she felt more painful in the spinal card and she was not even able to bend very fast to sit..



She just bend…bend…bend very slowly to squat on the floor but the dizzy feeling still continued with the “REEM…VROOM” sound still continuing in her brain. Slowly, Slowly she reached the tap and  put the geyser switch but still when she tried to get up , she felt the enormity of the pain that she tried to coordinate her movement of straightening up her knee joint and then making up right the spinal cord portion of the back.



She thought that how agonizing it is even to sit and again stand. But never able to co-ordinate her thoughts also very well since the brain due to its maximum tolerant endurance tried to disobey the brain signals and the nerve impulses she felt as though got jammed that each and every rib in the back of her seemed  loaded with tones of weight. Thus for making even for a single coordinated movement, she has to make a tireless effort and every task seems to be very arduous.



“Okay…she thought …Let us not waste thought on unnecessary fears and apprehensions “ ,  and tried to wash away her negative thought infusing with positive thoughts so that she can regain some confidence.



Thus somehow she managed to wash her face with some warm water and tried to get out of her bathroom …Again before reaching the bed,  she felt some sort of seizures and awkward movements and just fell down on the bed with aggrandize pain. ”PAIN…PAIN…PAIN everywhere but not a thought to leave…”…some times dizzy , some times drowsy and some times having an hallucinated thought , sometimes half asleep state…Whatever it is she is the epitome of pain in the never centers and  felt very heavy as though she is carrying on heavy burden.



Somehow she thought that seizure of pain will reduce after sometime….Like that after sometime , her pain receded and she started moving, walking normally even with the slightest ting of the earlier pain.



She prepared herself by brushing her teeth, combing her hair and making an urgent knot putting her hair in the back to plait with a comb.



Thus she made an urgent preparation of a coffee and sat in her dining table watching the TV, browsing the latest news and started leaving after switching off the CNN channel. Now her mind is all set and tuned to get the morning metro. She thought that these might be the problem of - migraine head ache which used to come earlier also and thought that once the pain subsided with the tablet she need not have to worry about it..



Thus those haunting memories of the pain went to her back yard of her sub conscious and again she was in a hurry to leave putting her Jeans and tops .This time she made a choice of her favorite pink and the blue jeans with embroidery in it. Since the chief is not there and also this seems to be the week end she thought of wearing her favorite jeans rather than the baggy she usually wear.



When she was about to leave, Jane came to her and enquired about her health…”What happened…In the morning you took a lot of time after reaching the bathroom.. Actually I was in very much urgency of having to attend an important seminar along with my boss. I felt very impatient when you are the bathroom…May be due to lack of time, I felt in that way…Is there any problem with you?”



“No…Not like that my dear …it is the usual migraine I feel .may be due to the pressure or some climate change , I’m not sure…May be I might have the dinner very early …I just want to leave those behind the back of my mind for proceeding towards the office and reach there in time”.



“Okay…I don’t want to disturb you early in the morning…It is better you leave for the office …If you want I shall drop you at the station so that you can make up your time very easily”



“Okay!!!  Jane!!!… Thanks for your help …Anyway I needed a little help from you at this time…Therefore you can drop me in that station “



After that both left the house, locking it and went to the station in the car.





Chapter – 4



Janet’s meeting with Jonathan and her explanation of her problem





Today the metro rail arrived in time and she hurried to insert her card in the identification machine for it to open to give her a gap to leave so swiftly that she felt as if like an arrow darting towards its target catching the train in time before leaving. Thus it took her breath to make it slow a few seconds…and checking her belongings whether anything has been lost pulling along the crowd to reach a safe place to stand. Thereafter she pulled her belongings to her side and started searching for the tablet in case if it is needed. Even though the outside temperature is very cold nearing -3 to -4 degree centigrade, she was sweating profusely and felt somewhat uneasy in her neck region and even some pain not only in spinal card but a very heavy feeling in the pelvic region as well as numbness in the tips of the finger that she thought blood is not flowing to those parts and rubbed her shoulders to ease the pain. The pain subsided a little but she thought that it is better to have the tablets in her hand itself so that she can put them when in case of need.



The sweat made her feel like dehydrated and she started drinking water from the mineral water bottle she was carrying for her emergency need. She will not leave water bottle at any cost even when she leaves unknowingly her jerkins or wind cheater. Slowly the pain receded and felt some pain in the knee joints. There fore she adjusted her standing posture and tired to stand in a better posture so that the pain is not much. The fellow passengers felt somewhat uneasy and started to gribble in a low tone murmuring that she is putting her leg on theirs and with the pointed shoes making them more agonizing frowned against her. Therefore she thought of leaving to some other place and started noticing for some familiar person or face to stand along with them.



At that time suddenly she noticed Jonathan who is her office colleague and a close friend of her. She just went near by and started conversing with him to ease out the tension.



“Hi Jonathan.!!! .Good Morning!!! It’s pretty nice to see you here finding very early in the morning a pleasant and a very cheerful guy!!!!”



“Hi Janet …Don’t make too much fuss out of nothing…I also noticed you and wanted to greet you…But I felt that you are so uncomfortable in the standing crowd that I don’t want to further disturb you…Kindly excuse me….”



“Okay…Yeah…leave it …somehow I felt very comfortable having seen you…and want to share with you some urgent work which our boss discussed.. But I don’t think I can speak in this sound…There fore after reaching the office itself I will tell you…”



Thus having told about this he just felt very uncomfortable thinking some burden in his head for the day…to be loaded that too this early. Just to divert the conversation for exchanging some fine pleasantries.



“Okay….it’s alright.. Yeah…what happened yesterday…I noticed you….even in office you had some uneasy feelings…”



“Yeah.. I felt some what dizzy and also had some pain in the upper portion of the torso that I felt that by taking proper rest…I can get out of it…That’s why I left early not able to discuss with you the important agenda which the chief discussed with me….”



“Okay yeah…leave it. I’m in no mood to listen to that. At least I can be friendly with you of sharing your problems…”



“Okay…thanks for your love and support…I’m having pain in my head but I’m not sure whether it is due to climate change or due to not eating properly or due to lack of water…May be the combination of all these factors…”



“It’s definitely not a serious matter I suppose…I Pray and hope so…”



“Yeah.. Well…I also thought in that way only previously …but now I feel that this is not that much easy to solve…”.



“May be I need a thorough check up of my body especially I feel there should be a MRI scan of my brain and the brain co-ordination”



“Oh.. don’t imagine too many things….May be your problem may be not that much serious…why do you bother much that also in the wrong way where you yourself was not sure of what is the problem…?”



“Okay.. ..Yeah. .what you are saying may be correct…I also want to recompose myself and leave my thoughts outside so that not to loose my confidence in matters in which there is no proper clue…”



“Only thing is that pain is that the pain is not that much enduring and it is not limiting to a particular part of the body so that I’m not able to exactly make a composition of the things which is happening,, Better still I can make out that some sort of movement in my brain part and also the region is so sensitive that I feel very uneasy and feel like going to a COMA stage because of the enduring pain which recedes but comes very often…”



“Yeah…I understood your problem.. it is better you leave some time at least from this place and take treatment so that your cure is earlier and better”



“Okay.. thanks for your advice but I want to assess the exact estimate of the dimension and magnitude of the problem before coming to the conclusion that this is going to cost  me a dime  or diamond.”



“Okay…I suggest a local doctor who is a neuron surgeon who can help in solving your problem in a better way …His name is Neil who is living near by”



At that time since the destination place approached, they just stopped the conversation and made preparations to get out of the train. The train stopped with a screeching halt and people to start to get out of the train for their departure towards their destination.



Janet also got down and started moving along with Jonathan towards the office. They both hurriedly got out of the lift and started to move towards the conveyors which made them to get out of the station.



Having reached office Janet quickly washed and got ready afresh and started to explain to Jonathan about the matters to discuss and the clients to be met in MD’s absence to Jonathan and also told Jonathan in case if he needs some assistance, he can take the help of Carol who is a close friend of hers.



“Okay.. Janet just quickly finish your part as early as possible and also explain to Carol about the part of work done so that she can immediately take over”



“Okay …Jonathan…Thanks for your interest in taking over the project so early…I have already explained some of the things to Carol also”.



“When is the chief expected to return…May be after 2 weeks…”



“That I’m not very sure but I know that we have a two week tentative schedule to be finished early”



“How are you feeling now, Janet?”



“Now I’m a little Okay…But it is not that I don’t have the where-withal to stand and endure the pain but sometimes I feel so emaciated that I’m not able to control the pain”



“It’s Okay.. It is better you meet Neil as early as possible so that your cure will be speedier”



“Thanks …Jonathan…I shall fix an appointment with Neil today itself and go to him at the earliest”



After this conversation,  Janet carried on with her work but somehow she never felt easy when during her movement of the head sometimes backward or forward. Thus it took a little time to adjust with the pain but whenever she felt that when she was not in her straightened position without the movement, she felt somewhat better. Otherwise she felt some intense pressure inside the top portion of the brain.



“Yeah…Well…. I ‘ll finish the work and leave as early as possible so that I can take some rest and then go the doctor” she thought.



She started off finishing the work very early and thought of moving out of the office informing Jonathan about her departure.