Short Story : Things said under the breath

It is often said that there is some truth to every rumour that is peddled around. In as much as I'd like to rubbish all rumours I hear, I'd like to find alternatives to the "things that we say under our breath."


I don't know where to begin this story; my best friend, Benjamin is of the opinion that the whole thing started after he (not Benjamin) had lost everything, my mom was also also of the opinion that the story should begin from when he married that abomination, my father too has a different opinion about where this story should begin from, so as everybody. This story was so surreal that it was impossible to find a common denominator to start the story.

So it is convenient therefore to start the story by stating that no one knew how this story begin, no one knows how this story is going to end either and everyone was scared about narrating this story and hence it was only said under our breath. To be factual, he was a mental case but no one could speak of it, we all pretended that everything was alright with him but he wasn't. Everyone was so much afraid of him that we couldn't even mention his name. So day and night, we only watched him go to and fro doing what he only knew.
His family only watched him as he went about his daily activities and couldn't advise him.


His activities affected everyone but it was all "the things we said under our breath." I don't know whether he noticed our gestures towards him or whether he had thought of the effects his actions had on us. His actions worried everyone and for it for us to be less troubled with it, we simply agreed that he was mad but he wasn't-- he knew exactly what he was doing but as greedy as he was, he just wouldn't stop! We all had lost hope for him, at times we wish he was dead but there's no use in wishing someone dead when we all knew that his death might set the chain for worse things to happen.


In fact, I now know where to start from. This story is the legend of the phoenix, its beginning is with its end and its end is with its beginning. The beginning of this story is when he (not this man in question) vanished. We knew the circumstances leading to his vanishing were bizarre but again those were "the things we said under our breath". That is when everything changed and it is on this story that this particular story will end. This story makes no sense and it is all what we all say under our breath. Anything resolved will bring more pain.


This is a story no one wants to speak of it