The temple of ashes

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 David and Anne relocated to the enchanting country of India. David landed a good job, working for an American company in India. The couple settled into a lovely home and had two lovely kids. Matthew was eight and Kate was four years old. The family included a hardworking housekeeper, Savathri.   

  Unfortunately, Matthew became ill and had passed on, at the tender age of eight. David and Anne were devastated. The demise of their beautiful little son began to affect their relationship. Kate became lonely without her big brother and Anne began to suffer from insomnia.      

  One morning, Savathri, the housekeeper, pacifies Anne by telling her that she had lost a set of twin boys. She mentioned to Anne how she had found closure. One evening, Savathri had went to the temple of ashes, late at night when no one was watching. She stole a handful of scattered ashes and went home and mixed the ashes with her late twin boy’s ashes.  An old Indian witch doctor asked her to do this and said she would find closure. She enlightened Anne that she had seen the boys, they did not talk, they just smiled at her. After this, she said that she found closure.   

  Two weeks pass and Anne notices that Savathri doesn’t look too well. She tells her to take some time off. Savathri refuses and advices Anne not to go through with the ashes ritual. Anne insists that Savathri must tell her what was going on. Savathri refuses and leaves the house. Savathri does not return to work the next day.    

  Anne decides to venture out looking for the temple of ashes. After a long and tiring day, she finds herself in front of a dark and gloomy temple, surrounded by layers of scattered ashes. She enters the temple and snatches three handfuls of ashes and returns home. No sign of Savathri. Anne persuades her gardener to help her exhume her son Matthew’s body.   

  She scatters the ashes over the body, like Savathri had mentioned to her. They then close the casket and lower it into the ground. When Anne and the gardener return home, David is outside with Kate and conveys a message from Savathri’s family that Savathri has passed on. Her burnt body was found near the temple of ashes.     

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  Anne becomes a bit concerned, before Savathri’s death, she warned Anne not to do the ritual. That evening, Anne kept having nightmares. She repeatedly had the same nightmare for the entire week. It was a dream of Matthew, not in his original form, he was somewhat frightening. In the nightmare, he tells Anne that he is coming for her.     

  Anne seeks out for help from a wise and old man, who dealt with the paranormal. Anne confesses to what she had done with the ashes. The wise old man informs Anne that the deceased are no longer in the world. It is the evil of men that makes the bereaved believe that what they see is their loved one. Instead it is an evil spirit that interferes with the living through the hands of evil witch doctors, who gain power from these things.  The wise old man warns Anne that Savathri’s death was due to her stubbornness, she did not want to return the ashes to the temple.   

  “If you do not remove the ashes from your son’s casket, the sprit will surely come for you. But beware, during the removal of the ashes, the spirit might try to harm you. Only the one who scattered the ashes can remove it.”       

  Anne immediately picked up the vacuum cleaner from her home and begged the gardener to help her.  After much persuasion and a few dollars, he helps Anne. They exhume the body and before opening the casket, Matthew appears and pleads, ‘Mamma don’t do this, don’t you love me.” Anne breaks down and began to cry. The gardener warns Anne that it is just the spirit interfering. She quickly opens the casket and vacumes the ashes. They bury Matthew’s body once again and she hastens towards the temple of ashes and returns the ash where she had found it.   

  Two weeks later, life was back to normal. Anne was the loving wife and responsible mother she once was. Anne never discussed or spoke of her incident. Once someone has passed on, let them rest in peace.