As a vampire, I never feel hungry. But this evening I wasn’t even feeling thirsty. I was sitting on my tree branch minding my own business when King Vikram hauled me on to his back and started walking towards a place where he intended to kill me.
-Listen up O’ King, I said, I will tell you a story. At the end of the story, I will ask you a question. If you know the answer and speak it to me, I will escape and fly away. However, if you know the answer and remain silent, your head will burst into a thousand pieces, in which case you will find it impossible to floss your teeth effectively.
Near the West Coast of America, O’ King, I began, is the relatively inscrutable state of Texas.
Surely, it's smaller than Dallas
The citizens of this state live in a daily fear of its Supreme Court, an institution staffed with judges that are extremely quick to judge. “Guilty is the most popular word heard within the hallowed halls of the Texan Supreme Court, followed by “Surely, it’s not bigger than Dallas”.
One day a young boy by the name of Marc found himself accused of a particularly heinous crime. Marc was innocent of the the crime. In fact, he was largely a innocent fellow – he hadn’t even been on a third date with a girl (something he had rather been looking forward to).
Marc was a young man — but a proud one. He held his head upright even as the prosecution sprayed a dizzying assortment of allegations on his blameless character. Even the judge kept forming his fingers into imaginary quotation marks every time he said the words “innocent.” On such occasions, Marc’s eyes flashed with anger.
I don’t know if you have observed this O’ King, I said, but anger is a taut emotion. It lends personality and sharpness to the most haggard face. When angry, even a humble ass takes on even momentarily, the proud personality of a horse. Under the influence of anger, Marc, who was a fine gentleman to begin with, glowed with the radiance of a particularly splendid kind of monarch.
Leslie was not immune to Marc’s (unintended) charms. She was the crime beat reporter for the local newspaper. She also doubled up as its food critic. Under the influence of Marc’s proud fury, she experienced a squishy sensation in her heart as though it were a clove of garlic being pulverized by the outpourings of a revolver. She also felt a cold and tingling shiver run down her spine. At first, she thought it to be malaria, but her doctor told her later that it was love.
Leslie observed the case proceed with the predictability of a waterfall plunging towards the ground. Evidence, fabricated and circumstantial was produced against Marc. As Marc galloped towards the gallows, Leslie turned a deathly pale like the skin of a tangerine that had been bled of it’s color. In a decision that surprised absolutely nobody, Marc was found guilty of the crime he had never committed.
Soon enough, the day arrived when Marc was to be sent to the electric chair. Leslie sent a message to Marc through a prison guard. The prison guard was convinced of Marc’s innocence because of his angelic face, kind speech and mostly because it was he, the prison guard who has committed the heinous deed that Marc was accused of. He gave Marc Leslie’s message that had words like reincarnation and love, often in the same sentence.
Leslie’s message kindled Marc’s curiosity. As he sat strapped to the electric chair, he cast a look at the audience that had gathered to observe his death. He could easily single out Leslie. She was the girl who already looked as if she has passed on through to the other side.
The prison guard flipped the switch
The prison guard flipped the switch. Marc sizzled like a moth that has made contact against a particularly hot filament. But he laughed. Then he died.
-Tell me O’ King, I said Why did Marc laugh before he died? If you know the answer, speak it now else your head will burst into a thousand pieces.
-Hear your answer Foul Devil! said King Vikram. Marc was laughing at the ways of the universe that are every bit as unjust as the Supreme Court of Texas. Our universe is one that rains on stony mountains, snows on helpless flowers and makes love possible for people Marc just as they are living out their final moments. Marc laughed as he saw with utter clarity in his final moments that the world has and will always function with a complete indifference to man.
-Well said O’ King. As a wise man like you has no doubt realized, your answer has set me free.
So saying, I flew back to my tree. I felt happy to be alive. It had been eight says since I had changed my host body. I cleaned my teeth with a twig and wondered what sort of body I should inhabit next.
