A journey towards Independent

Shadows

The smell of dust and aged paper enveloped Jashmin as she went through the things of her sister Gemma. The attic, a tomb of lost treasures felt constricting and at the same time calming. Gemma had disappeared from the face of the earth six years ago and the absence had left a painful hole in Jashmin’s chest. The official investigation had not brought any results, it said, the case is hopeless. Jashmin however, couldn’t agree to that. A small leather diary lying inside a wooden trunk covered in dust interested her. The pages were yellowed, and the script of Gemma was frail, delicate and cramped; it was her record of her dreams, hopes, and fears.

The diary refered to some family shame, a secret that had been kept for years and which was about to come out. One of them was written few days before Gemma’s disappearance, and in the letter, her siser mentioned some man, a stranger, who used to frequent their house. A man with intense looking blue eyes and a scar which was located diagonally on her cheek. This man, Gemma had penned down was the cause of her rising fear, the horrifying cause of feeling that one is being followed. Jashmin went further down and collected old photographs and notes that had more blurred letters and figures something about the plot was getting more complex. Gradually, certain aspects which are essential to a family’s existence and background began unraveling, giving far more sinister tones than what she had initially expected.

Gemma’s father turned mute about the issue regarding her disappearance. He closed up and looked as desolate as Jashmin felt; he was in pain. She wanted him to tell the truth but he kept silenced, she knew he was the only one who could solve the puzzle. One day while rummaging Gemma’s art supplies, Jashmin found a seemingly ordinary sketch in a small piece of paper. It portrayed the man that was in her sister’s diary. The sketch was signed “Amelia."

Jashmin went in search of Amelia who had isolated herself from the rest of the family members many years ago. It was like getting into another universe of secrets that were not voiced out. Amelia had been her father’s younger sister who was gifted with painting but was shunned from the family for some reason. Amelia was a woman who was weighed with the past, a woman whose sorrows were similar to that of Jashmin. They both grieved and both loved art; and so they spoke the same language and their sorrows became music. Gemma’s disappearance is said to be linked to a dark secret in the family which had affected Amelia. The man that Gemma wrote about was her uncle, his name was David and he had r***d h and later she committed suicide.

Jashmin was surprised, the truth that shattered her entire reality. She also came to know that her uncle was dead for the last 2 years. It led her to the man she was always afraid of in the whole investigation phase. His capture however did not afford the his family the satisfaction they sought; it only compounded their suffering. The absence of Gemma continued to haunt them, to leave an open sore in the family’s life, a constant symbol of the evil that existed within them. Jashmin finally freed herself by leaving Amelia and had found a way to continue with her life, she even started a process of healing which means one has to go on even with a heart full of sorrow and pain. She realized that the truth will set her free no matter how much it would hurt. And in the shadow, she was able to keep on believing that Gemma will live on through their artistry for she will always be with them.