Short Story The Katherines Letter - Essay Example

Short story: Katherine’s Letter The incident happened more than 6 months ago on a balmy spring night. With three term papers due in the next few days, I was forced to stay behind as her friends went out for their usual Friday night outings. I hate being left behind but the wretched term papers had piled up and I had not done much research to be able write a decent paper so instead of heading downtown with my friends and party until the bar owners throw us out, I dragged my feet towards the library and did what any decent student ought to do – study, study, study. Yeah, the whole research thing was really tedious but as they always say, a good college education can get you places and since I plan to go to some really great places, I needed to work hard on getting good grades. The library was almost empty when I got there and the room was so silent you can almost hear a feather falling. As usual, Mrs. Jenkins, the librarian, gave me one of her weathering stare which says “keep quite!” as if the library is not so quite already! Mrs. Jenkins was already in her 60’s but she had that air of authority that make you want to tiptoe and stay quite as a mouse around her. Unfortunately, I really do not need such deafening silence when I study so I took out my ipod and played my favorite music. I like it better when Adam Lambert screams his brains out while I try to digest Marx’s teachings about the bourgeoisie and the proletariats. Go figure! With music blaring on my ears and causing some serious damage to my eardrums, I went through the list of references that my teachers wanted me to use for my term papers. The list looked terribly long so I took a corner table and stacked up some books to read. Although it is more fashionable to read ebook these days, I really do not feel comfortable staring at the computer screen for hours. I still prefer to use those printed, leather bound things called books! As went through the pages of Marx and Engel’s book, I noticed a piece of paper inserted in between the pages of the book. The paper looked old and its corners had turned yellowish. Someone must have used it as a bookmark a long time ago and forgot to remove it. Curious as I was, I took a peak at what was written on the paper. To my surprise, the piece of paper actually contained a letter written by Katherine and addressed to a certain Gupta. The letter was dated September 6, 1975. The letter was written more than 30 years ago! In the letter, Katherine wrote that she was with child and that she was afraid that her family will disown her if they learn that she was carrying a bastard child. She said that she wants to get rid of the child and that she hoped that Gupta would understand. She also said that she has made up her mind and that nothing can stop her from getting rid of the baby. She kept saying in her letter that she was sorry and that she loved him so much but the pressure from her family was just too much for her to handle. As I read the letter, I felt a cold breeze touched the skin of my neck. I am not a superstitious person and I certainly did not believe in ghosts at that time but, that night, something was different. I could feel a pair of eyes staring at me but when I looked up, nobody there except for Mrs. Jenkins who was busy sorting out some books to return to the shelves. At first, I tried to ignore the feeling that I am being watched but as the minutes ticked away, even Adam Lambert’s screaming could not mask my uneasiness. It was as if the walls of the library were closing down on me and I found it difficult to breath. It felt like someone was trying to choke the life out of me. Unable to stand the feeling of uneasiness, I put the letter back in between the pages of the book and pushed book away. I gathered my things and staggered towards the door. Once outside, I gulped air greedily like a drowning person. Shaken by the incident at the library, I decided to use online resources for my term paper instead of those good old library books so I headed back to the dorm. Since the library had somehow became a hostile place to study, I thought that it would be better if I just do my research inside my room and try to get enough materials online to write a decent paper. My roommate was out partying with the rest of gang so I had the room to myself. Armed with my laptop, I sat down to do some writing but I found it difficult to concentrate on my work. It seemed that the presence in the library had followed me to my room. Determined to shake off the funny feeling on the pit of my stomach, I rummaged through my backpack to look for my ipod. As I sorted through the contents of my backpack, I noticed a piece of paper tucked in its pocket. With my heart pounding, I reached for the piece of paper. It was the same letter I found on the book at the library! I remembered shoving the letter back into the book before I left the library. I am pretty sure that I did not bring it with me. How on earth did it got into the pocket of my backpack? With trembling fingers, I tossed the letter into the trash. I didn’t want to have anything to do with the letter anymore. At that moment, I felt someone touched my right shoulder. I turned around but nobody was there. My roommate was out partying and the door was locked so nobody could enter without knocking or breaking the door down. I told myself that it was just my imagination and that I should get back to work. As I sat down on my study table, I noticed something underneath my laptop… it was Katherine’s letter! I stared at the letter in disbelief not knowing what to do. I was about to put the letter back into the trash when I felt someone whispered in my ear. I couldn’t make out what it was saying but I felt the hair on nape rising. Suddenly, my laptop came to life on its own. The screen flickered and an eerie light filled the room. Scared out of my wits, I grabbed my cellular phone and tried to call one of my friends but I could not get a signal. In panic, I rushed to the door and ran all the way to the dorm’s receiving area. The place was deserted so I went out of the building and sat on the front steps shaking. I had never been so scared in my life and I didn’t know what to do. I tried calling my friends but I still could not a signal. I tried to use the payphone at the hallway of the dorm but I left my wallet in my room. I didn’t even have a single cent in my pocket. My car keys were also in my room so I cannot use my car. In desperation, I sat on the font steps of the dorm to wait for my roommate and my friends to come home. After sitting on the front steps of the dorm for about half an hour, I convinced myself to return to my room, confront the ghost and get rid of it for good. With every ounce of courage I had, I marched back to my room to confront the ghost. With trembling fingers, I opened the room and slowly walked inside. The place was so quite and everything looked normal. Katherine’s letter was still on the table but my laptop was off. With a sigh, I sat down on the table and took the letter. In a soft voice I said, “Katherine, if it is you who is haunting me, I need you to stop scaring me. I don’t want to have anything to do with you or any ghost for that matter. This is not the right time to play games.” I waited for a few minutes for any signs that the ghost heard me but nothing happened. Half an hour passed and nothing extraordinary happened. Feeling really silly, I tossed the letter inside the drawer and turned my laptop on. I must have imagined all those scary things. At half past midnight, I finished one of the three term papers. Feeling really happy about my achievement, I got up from my chair to make some coffee and that’s when I noticed something odd. Katherine’s letter was back under my laptop! With my heart pounding so fast, I took the letter from underneath the laptop and felt a presence inside the room. I was about to put the letter back inside the drawer but stopped when I felt the table rattle and the drawers opened and slammed. I backed away from the table as I felt an angry presence in the room. My instincts told me that I should run like the way I did earlier but I stood my ground. I am not going to be driven out of my room by a ghost again. In a shaky voice, I asked the presence, “What do you want?” This time, I heard a very soft female voice saying, “Help me…” I said, “How? Tell me how can I help you?” I repeated the question twice but never got an answer. The presence was gone. Not knowing how to help the ghost, I went online and did a search for a student of the school named Katherine enrolled in 1975. There were 15 Katherines studying in the school that year and I didn’t which Katharine to look for. Hoping that there would be fewer Guptas in the campus at that time, I tried to search for Gupta. Fortunately, there were only two Guptas in the campus that year; one was a student who used to work as a library assistant and the other was the cook at the school cafeteria. Confident that I had found the right person, I resolved to pay Mrs. Jenkins a visit the next day. I was the first person to arrive at the library the following morning. Mrs. Jenkins came next with an armload of books so I rushed to help her. As we entered the library, I asked Mrs. Jenkins if she remembered a library assistant named Gupta. She looked at me sternly and said, “Why? What do you want from him?” I told her that I found a letter written by a certain Katherine addressed to Gupta. I gave her a letter and she read it. She had tears in her eyes when she handed the letter back to me. “Gupta was a very nice young man from India and he was like a son to me. He won a scholarship and came to the United States as an exchange student,” Mrs. Jenkins said. “He used to work here at the library where he met Katherine Carmichael, the daughter of one of the plantation owners down south. Katherine was the perfect golden girl with lovely blue eyes. She had a really lively personality that one cannot help but fall in love with her. Katherine’s family was very conservative and they believed that Katherine should marry someone who was just as wealthy and influential as their family” Mrs. Jenkins added. “I warned Gupta that Katherine was not the right girl for him but he was so in love with her and was foolish enough to believe that they could be happy together. The two of them dated secretly for months until Katherine’s family discovered that she was seeing Gupta. Katherine’s brother came to Gupta’s house one day and warned him to stay away from his sister or else he will be sorry. Gupta did not heed to the warning. One day, the boys from the plantation came and beat Gupta. He almost died from his injuries but he would not even think about letting go of Katherine,” Mrs. Jenkins explained. “One day, Katherine came here at the library, visibly agitated. She wanted to see Gupta but he was out on an errand that day. She said never mind and returned to me the book she borrowed. That was the last time I saw her alive.” “What happened to her?” I asked Mrs. Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins sighed and said, “Katherine discovered that she was pregnant and decided to have an abortion in some dark alley clinics downtown. The procedure went bad and she hemorrhaged to death. Gupta went crazy when he received the news of her death. He was inconsolable and he dropped out of school after that. Katherine’s family reported her death as a heart attack to protect their family name. You have to understand that back in the 70’s, young girls were supposed to behave honorably and in the eyes of her family, Katherine’s behavior was shameful.” I asked Mrs. Jenkins if Gupta knew that Katherine was pregnant and she said yes. “Gupta wanted her to keep the baby and they argued about it a lot. He wanted to bring her to India but she would not hear of it. The poor girl was scared out of her wits that her family would kill Gupta if they know that he got her pregnant,” she explained. “Gupta never saw Katherine before she died. He told me that they had a fight three days before she died and that was the last time he saw her. He blamed himself for what happened to her… Gupta lives in India now and has a family of his own. He is a professor in one of the universities there and we exchange emails from time to time. If you like, I can send Katherine’s letter to him. Maybe that letter will give him some peace,” she said. “Yes, I would that very much please,” I replied, handing her the letter. That night, I studied until dawn and finished my second term paper. I never noticed anything extraordinary. Katherine was gone. She finally had her letter delivered to Gupta. Read More