time writing poetry. For some reason, he liked to believe that he was quite good at it. Well, at least someone believed in his non-existent skills. He claimed that he always wanted to compile all his poems and turn it into a classic soon, just that he never had the time to put his words into action.
They say nature inspires the poets and being an amateur Hound couldn’t have been more privileged to be in a place like this where the cadence of the nature beautifully blended with the routine of the inhabitants of the place. This place was just perfect and he’d have all the time in the world to work on it.
Derek wanted to spend his time playing golf. The place offered him a 9-hole golf course where he could just spend his time doing nothing. The estate seemed to attract some pretty good crowd per its website, so we were sure that we’d also get lucky around the place.
The reviews about the mansion had been good. It offered very few suites and promised a break from civilization. It had promised us breathtakingly beautiful, quaint suites with awesome views overlooking coffee estates. There were just seven suites in the building, yet they called it a resort.
It had stopped raining when we finally arrived at the mansion to check in at 11:30 PM. It wasn’t exactly a five-star resort though. It was an old, ancient, building from the colonial era, but hell, this is exactly what we’d signed up for when we all voted unanimously for this place.
As the smell of the wet earth filled up the atmosphere, calmness began to seep in. It had been a long day and we were dead tired, mentally and physically.
The mansion looked ambrosial, bathed in faint yellow light. The mercury lamps at the entrance made the water drops on the tree leaves resplendent as the water shimmered with golden tint.
The road that led to the reception arch of the mansion was graveled and lined by jasmine plants on either side that exuded their characteristic smell giving comfort to the soul. A huge chandelier hung from the arch and it gave a royal look to the fabled ‘Mansion of the Gods’.
Jenny was there to receive us at the door along with her uncle. Standing along with them was an ancient woman, probably a few hundred years old, as old as the mansion itself. Dressed in a garishly pink gown, the old bat looked a lot scarier than the apparitions I had seen in front of the old cemetery that night.
The security guards at the gate stopped at the perimeter of the mansion itself, it seemed that they weren’t allowed inside. Jenny introduced the shockingly old and pink disaster of a witch as ‘Nanny’.
I was sure she looked after the estate by flying around on her pink broom every night. Probably she had more wrinkles on her face than she had hair on her head. It was close to the witching hour and I hoped the old bat would soon take off anytime now, at least out of my sight.
Jeremy D’Silva, the owner of the place, was a man in his late fifties, trim and fit but looked and reeked like a dipsomaniac. His lanky appearance and a full crop of hair made him look a lot younger than he actually was. He had an athletic build and always carried a pleasant smile on his face.
He wore rich clothes, some branded stuff that not many people can afford. He was Jenny’s Uncle. Right now, he was wearing neatly ironed black trousers and a white shirt. I figured that the family had an abundance of white shirts.
“Jenny tells me that you saved her life today. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude. You’re lucky that you made your reservations in advance. We have just six suites for guests. Counting you, we’re going full starting tomorrow. I’ll personally ensure you good service, Nanny is here at your service as well, aren’t you, Nanny?” said Jenny’s uncle, pointing to the ancient bag of bones resembling an old woman. Nanny smiled an evil smile and said, “At your service”.
I bet she was already dreaming