Requiem of a Dream.

Jonnathan James Taylor was a merchant. His trade was related to spices, which consisted of importing and exporting, for which he used to travel three times a year. It always has been his family's bread and butter for years. People used to call him JJ as in James Junior. James was his grandfather's name. His father was killed in a war that he never wished to fight for. He was a merchant and could never master the art of using gun powder. In contrast, JJ has always had a knack for guns. His grandfather has taught him well enough after realizing that war could happen anytime and one must be prepared to defend themselves in such a crisis. This he realized when his only son was dragged into the war and was killed fighting for the cause. 

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JJ woke up to the fresh aroma of the spices that filled the house. He just came from India with a variety of spices and he was excited about the day to sell them as these were some rare spices. His wife brought him a morning tea, which he brought while trading in India. The smell of the fresh tea leaves in his cup made him forget all the burden. Then there was his wife who radiated the lavender scent throughout the room. His daughter was just a few months old and just started walking. He couldn't have been happier with his life. 

There was a loud creak which bolted to sit aright.  He had been dreaming. The happy moment ruined by the morning bell , which made an annoying noise waking up the people telling them to get ready for work. He felt nauseated with the pungent odor coupled with the smell of the sweat of the people. People were jam packed in a small room where they were told to sleep where the number of people exceeded the actual capacity. He hasn't been home for 3 years now. He gets the same dream every single night. He so hopes to get back to his family one day. 

3 years ago while he was in his quarterly trip to India for trading spices as usual, they were attacked my the pirate ships in the pacific ocean who then sold them as slaves to the eastern Africa.  Tough they had no idea what to do with the spices which they ceased. they simply threw it in the ocean. For the last three, JJ along with the 30 other who were on the ship have been working against their will building homes and pyramids. Of the 5 people who managed to escape 4 were dead, apparently killed by the guards and no one knows about the 5th one. One can't be sure what's happening outside the huge walls that surround the ancient city of Africa. 

JJ had made a thousand plans already to escape the barriers and swore to himself never to travel through that path ever again. Of all the plans, one was most efficient to plan his escape. He never understood their language nor did they understood his language. But they knew the language of fear and guns. 

Every single night when he went to sleep in the swamp of sweat and hot desert smell he held a piece of Lenin cloth which reminded him of home, the lavender smell of his wife and the aroma of spices and the little cries of his baby girl. this kept his sane during the nights and helped him forget about the humid , tense and futile atmosphere in the hottest place on the planet. 

Every morning he had the same dream and wished to go back home. That day he saw a trader for whom they were building homes and whatnot smuggle guns into his house which the trader hid behinds the walls of under-constructed house. JJ thought it was his opportunity that moment and he along with 3 other people smuggled the guns back to their sleeping den and hid them well enough for no one to find out. They now planned for an escape and wanted to implement their plan as soon as the opportunity presented itself. The number of guards have substantially reduced as the people trying to escape decreased over the couple of months. And moreover the guards have started drinking with the advent of the traders who brought ecstasies from places far beyond. 

On one such night, most of the guards were heavily drunk as the new traders came to the city once in a quarter. They felt it was their opportunity that  they had been waiting for. The twenty five of them prepared themselves for the escape. Those who knew how to use a firearm armed themselves with the guns that they had safely hid. As the night grew darker, they ascended the darkness with the aim of fleeing and never come back. As they had anticipated for all the guards to be drunk and half asleep, there were still some guards who did their work. Some of the people were already afraid and thought that they were dead, for sure. But JJ convinced them that they can still pull it off. He told the other two people who knew how to use a gun  to aim at their heads. one of them protested that the sound of the bullet  piercing through the silent night could wake everyone up. Before he could complete, JJ handed him a sack filed with cotton and told him to aim perfectly. They only had 6 shots off the rifle they had and there were three guards scouring the premises while the other two slept in wine. 

JJ easily took down two of the people on the wall. They had taken different positions to get a clear shot at those people. After JJ had successfully taken two people, it was York the other one to take the other two of which one was sleeping. The first shot nearly missed the guard which hit the wall behind him. Since he had to shoot through the sack of cotton in order to avoid making any noise. It is just a matter of time before the guard realizes that the other two guards lying on the wall were no where to be seen from the ground. He had to act quick. He reloaded the rifle and shot correctly this time but his timing was wrong. As the guard was walking across the main entrance  the shot landed him just behind the sleeping guard who was in his chair. The loud thud woke up the guard while all the people who had planned to escape froze to death. They were sure that they were dead in no time. JJ didn't waste a moment as he saw the guard raise on his feet and slowly turned around rubbing his eyes. He snatched the third gun from the third person and without aiming or even thinking shot at the guard through the cotton sack which this time partially failed to prevent the noise of the gun fire. As the guard turned to the distinctive bang sound, the bullet pierced through his heart. That was a fluke shot and if it wasn't for the noise they all would have been dead in no time.

They didn't think twice as the guard fell down on the ground. They quickly grabbed a rope clamped to the wall and started climbing it. As the men started climbing the only rope, JJ ran towards the guards on the ground to make them look as if they were doing their job if someone else came for the rounds and also to buy some time before anyone figures out what actually happened. While he was doing that he stumbled across a lot money placed in the small pouches which apparently were bribes offered to them by the traders who came in and went out. JJ safely held on to that money which he thought could be used for food and the journey back home and that would be sufficient for the whole group. They all climbed down the other side of the wall and ran for their lives hoping that no one comes to knowledge before they are long gone. 

JJ woke up to the morning tea which his wife had specially prepared for him. His wife radiated the lavender scent which filled the whole room. That he could never forget. The smell of the fresh tea leaves in his cup of tea refreshed him as he took each sip enjoying it. There was his daughter who came running to him with a doll in her hand speaking gibberish yet cutely. 

He took a deep breath and felt relived that this moment was no longer a dream. 

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This post is written for "Smelly to Smiley!" contest conducted by AmbiPurIndia in association with IndiBlogger.

#Fiction