"Some souls are built sadder than the others," was a line spoken by my grandmother, who I often found to be low-spirited despite all the affection and care she received. Her words never really made much sense to me when she was alive because I was just a kid then. But I guess, with time, I have come to realize perhaps what she said was a truth that I could relate to personally.

Being the last-born, I had always got love and attention more than anyone else I knew. My family adored me. They treated me well. They gave me everything they could. But, I myself never felt fully contented with my life.

It's not that I was not happy or grateful. I was all of that. But then there was this some kind of emptiness within me. A sadness without a reason. A longing for something more than what I already had.

Most of the times, I didn't even know why I felt what I felt. And I didn't know what I really wanted out of life. But I believed there was a greater purpose waiting for me outside the boundaries that I dwelled in.

I spent a great deal of time struggling to find that one thing that would make me happier. I often felt like leaving home and living alone would be the only solution to figure things out. But my parents disagreed. They thought it was a silly idea. They gave me various reasons as to why I cannot do that. Some very weird ones that even made me laugh.

Anyway, I never got convinced with what they said. So, I decided to wait for the right time to take things to my hand.

Meanwhile, I found a new love. An ardent passion that I developed — not in a man but on a device.

I fell in love with cameras, which I soon started considering as my third eye. A single device that made me view the world with a whole new perspective.

I decided to pursue my higher studies in photography, an activity that seemed to soothe my soul. For my bad luck, none of the universities in my district or even the whole of Eastern province had a related degree programme. But I knew the ones in the Western Province would definitely have something for me. So, I forwarded some applications to more than 10 universities that were 200 miles away from home. I did this without my parents' knowledge of course. Just to satisfy them, I also applied for a few universities close to my place.

Weeks passed. Months passed. I received no response from any of the prestigious universities that I wholeheartedly applied for. However, I did get some letters from two nearby universities, which put my family over the moon and shattered my heart.

A few days later, when I had almost made up my mind to attend a university in Batticaloa, something very unusual happened.

I got a call from The School of Fine Arts (SOFA) and they told me I was selected. I was asked to enroll within three days. At first I thought it was a prank because as far as I knew, universities sent letters of acceptance and did not make phone calls. But then the person on the other end sounded very genuine and my best friend too assured me that there was nothing to fear. Apparently, universities around the globe were evolving and phone calls were a new practice. She also told me that SOFA was one of the best universities in South Asia, specialized in all things related to art.

Since I knew what type of response I might get from my family, I did not even bother to tell them. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I was not ready to give it up for anyone or anything.

So, I got into a night bus to Colombo with a few clothes, some cash, my brother's DSLR camera and my phone.

Yes, I ran away from home without even bidding a proper goodbye to my family. Since I didn't want anyone to assume that I eloped with a boy, I asked my best friend to inform my parents — that too only after I reached my destination the next morning.

So yeah, that's how my journey started in Colombo, a new town where I did not know anyone or anything. A busy town that was too noisy and with people around almost in every nook and corner of it.

Within the first few hours after I arrived, I hung around clothing stores and bookshops, trying to engage in conversation with the people of this town. Not that I enjoyed small talk but I had to do it for a reason.

With my limited knowledge in Sinhalese, I spoke to some of them and came to know of a few houses that rented out rooms particularly to working girls. I phoned each of these places and went to check them out.

It was almost 8:00 pm that night when I finally found a room close to SOFA for a considerable rate. It was an okay place with a washroom and a small kitchen area. Anyway, I did not like the landlady a bit. She seemed to be too inquisitive about my private life and kept giving me strange looks. This is why, even when she asked me questions about why I was in Colombo, I only told her that it was for educational purposes and did not say anything beyond that.

The other thing that I disliked was the fact that it was a shared room. As an introvert who valued my personal space a little too much, I did not really like the idea of roommates. But I still had to go for it because there was no other option.

Anyway, one good thing that my landlady told me about my roommate was that she was working on a night shift. Therefore, I knew we both would hardly meet. That itself was a huge relief.

The next two days, I woke up and left the room before my roommate came back from work and returned by the time her next shift started. I spent most of my time eating out, hanging around malls and doing shopping all by myself without anyone's support or guidance.

For some reason, I wasn't willing to talk to anyone in this town. There was something uncanny about them. Or maybe I was just prejudiced. I wasn't sure. So, I decided to take things slow with them.

However, on the third day, while I was getting ready to leave to the university for enrollment, my roommate arrived from work.

"Hey! I'm Sonali, the person you've been hiding from for the past few days," said my roommate in a jovial tone. She gave off completely normal and friendly vibes, almost like the ones I got from my best friend back in my hometown. Nothing unusual like the rest of the town. Thank God!

"Hi Sonali. I'm Maya," I replied awkwardly and added, "it wasn't my intention to hide by the way."

"Oh I was just kidding girl! Good to have you here," she said with a warm smile. Before I could respond, she asked, "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, to the university," I said.

"Nice. So, you are a college girl, huh?"

"Yeah, hopefully after enrolling today, I will be."

"Good luck! Which university?"

"Thank you! It's the School of Fine Arts," I said with a sense of pride. I expected Sonali to congratulate me with even more excitement but she did not. She started laughing.

"Good one! I like your sense of humor," she said, clapping her hands. I had no idea what was so funny about it. I wanted to ask her but then I knew I was getting late. So, I bid goodbye to her and rushed out of the room.

After a while, I reached SOFA. The building itself was an awe-inspiring masterpiece. With each step I took, I felt anxious. Doing things on my own was new to me. Back at home, I always had people to accompany me to places, especially if it involved important tasks like enrollment.

The 'Undergraduate Admissions' department was situated close to the entrance. There were long queues outside and the staff were busy, signing up new students.

The other candidates were speaking to each other but I did not attempt small talk with anyone. Being the awkward introvert that I am, I buried my face in my phone the whole time while I stood there. By the time it was my turn, I walked in, expecting the staff to be insolent like most of them in this town but surprisingly they weren't. At least the lady who handled me wasn't.

When I mentioned to her that I came all the way from Batticaloa to study here, she commended me for my boldness. She also told me that I need not fill in a form as my details have already been extracted into the computer from my initial application. It was a little strange but I thought maybe it was yet another modern way of tackling things in this university.

Once that procedure was over, I made my way to my favorite place — the library. It was the most beautiful library that I had ever seen in my life. And it had a collection of books higher than even the main one at Batticaloa. I immediately fell in love with the spot and I knew it would be the place where I would spend most of my time for the next four years because there was hardly any soul and it was very quiet too.

I wanted to make some pictures of the bookshelves but I wasn't sure whether it was allowed in there. So, I picked a book and sat down to read when I heard a shutter sound.

I turned around to see a guy clicking pictures with his fancy camera. There was a girl and a Chinese dude along with him. They looked like friends. They were discussing some photography techniques and without my knowledge I started paying attention to their conversation.

A few minutes later, one of them made a beckoning sign at me. I knew I was in trouble because the gesture proved that they were seniors. I had always feared the idea of seniors because of all the ragging incidents that I had heard about before.

"New to the university?" asked the girl. She did not sound anything intimidating but I was afraid.

"Yeah, first day," I replied awkwardly.

"Are you afraid?" asked the Chinese guy.

"Umm—" I started and the guy with the camera said, "Don't worry. We won't do anything to you. We don't like ragging either." The other two nodded. All three of them had matey grins on their faces. They did not look like bullies.

"Thanks so much. I'm Maya," I said. Then the girl told me her name was Piyumi and introduced the camera guy as Krish and the Chinese guy as Chen.

We continued to speak for a while and I really started liking all three of them. I almost felt like they were my friends and it was weird because it was generally not a normal thing for me to get acquainted with strangers so easily. But then again, I knew that most people I had met before weren't as welcoming as these three.

This trio was different.

They gave me a tour of the university and even taught me a few photography techniques, without me asking for any of it. While passing the canteen area, Krish pointed towards a senior gang and mentioned, "Now, those are the troublemakers. Better be careful around them as they are capable of ragging, especially since you are not from this area."

Then Chen added with a chuckle, "If you ever get scared of them and want to feel safe, just go to the library because it is the safest place here. The bullies don't like visiting it. It's mostly us in there." We all broke into laughter and took leave at the same time. When I returned to the room, it was quite late and Sonali had already gone to work.

The same thing happened for the next few days too, especially because I got busy with my studies. I left early in the mornings and returned by late evenings. At SOFA, I spent most of my time with the trio despite the fact that I was a junior to them. My batch-mates did give me strange looks but I didn't mind that.

The four of us hung out at the library often like a proper gang. Soon, I got very close to them, especially with Krish. He was sort of like my mentor at the university. I didn't know what I felt with him — whether it was just a friendly bond or more than that but I really appreciated his presence in my life. He was sweet, caring and kind to me. He treated me so well that I stopped missing home.

For once, I was completely happy in my life.

And I felt that my grandmother was not entirely right with her statement. Perhaps it should have been rephrased as, "Some souls are sadder than the others until they find the right company."

So yeah, everything was going great until one fateful evening.

As always, the four of us reached the gate to leave home together. But then, I remembered the fact that I had left my camera at the library. So, I excused myself to go and get it. Krish promised to wait for me. The other two left as they were getting late.

By the time I returned, Krish was missing. I looked for him everywhere and I still couldn't find him. It was then that the bullies' gang approached me for the very first time. I was afraid, so I tried to walk away but there were too many of them for me to make an escape easily.

I expected them to rag me by giving some challenge but instead, one of them touched my shoulder unnecessarily while talking. I did not like it a bit. I raised my voice against them and soon the whole gang started intimidating me with their gestures. I didn't know what came over me but I took a stone nearby and hit one of them on the head. He started bleeding and I was more afraid than before. Then while the others were distracted looking at his injury, I quickly ran out of the university, got into a threewheeler and returned to my boarding place.

It was almost like a miracle how I escaped.

I was afraid. I was shivering. I didn't know what awaited me at the university the next day. I wasn't even sure whether I could go back there after what happened. More than anything else, I was mad at Krish for leaving me alone. I wanted to drop everything and go back home.

With that thought in mind, I stepped into the room and I realized that Sonali was in there. It was strange because ideally it was time for her to be at work. I really did not have the energy to even greet her but then she spoke,
"Hey Maya! Finally we meet for a proper discussion. Since it's my off day, I made dinner for us."

I replied with a fake smile, "Thank you." And even though I wasn't hungry, I sat with her to eat because it was the only polite thing to do. She served me the food but she did not eat. It was strange but I didn't ask her why.

While I was eating, she asked, "What's wrong? Why are you covering your body with the shawl like that?"

I didn't want to tell her anything about the incident. So, I said, "Just feeling cold."

She gave me a strange look and asked, "Are you sure? If you don't want to tell me, it's fine. Anyway, where were you all this time?"

"University."

"Oh okay. By the way, you still didn't tell me which university you're going to."

"I told you. It's SOFA."

"Oh come on! At least now tell me the truth. Enough of that prank. Maybe you should try it with the landlady. She might really get scared," said Sonali with a chuckle.

"What do you mean? It's the truth. Why would I prank anyone on this and what's scary anyway?" I asked with a confused look. I awaited yet another crazy laughter without an explanation but this time her face changed.

"Please Maya. It's kind of creeping me out now. Just tell me you're kidding," she said with a grim expression. No smile. Almost like she was afraid.

Even after I told her all the details about the acceptance call, my visits to SOFA and my new friends, she still didn't seem to believe. The doubtful look persisted.

"You do know that university is rumored to be haunted, right? So many ghost stories. I mean, for the past 10 years, no one has even gone in there," she said in a serious tone.

Haunted? Ghost? What a load of bull?

It was evident that she was pranking me now. I wanted to pretend like I was scared and lengthen the drama but then I wasn't in the mood for it. I was too tired. So, I excused myself and went to bed.

The next day when I woke up, the first thing I saw through the window in our room was that Sonali was talking to a guy outside. It looked like an argument. I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. I heard her repeating the terms 'SOFA' and  'ghost' and the guy used some big words. It was weird as to why she would speak to her friend about a prank she played on me.

Was I a joke to her just because I came from a village?

I stormed out of the room and shouted, "Why are you doing this?" Both of them exchanged strange looks and then Sonali spoke, "Hey, this is my friend—"

She paused and asked, "What the hell, Maya! What are these scars? Where did they come from?"

Only after she mentioned did I realize that there were truly some marks on my arms. Fresh scratch marks. Was this from the previous day's struggle with the bullies? Or did Sonali do something to me in the name of pranking? I wasn't sure.

"I-I don't know," I said and started crying. I was very much afraid of this new town and it's people by then.

"See, I told you," said the guy to Sonali. I didn't know what they were talking about but I feared them.

Was he saying that their prank worked? Was he saying that I was attacked by some ghost? I truly didn't know.

I wished that Krish was around to comfort me. If only I knew his phone number, I could have contacted him at that moment. But unfortunately, I didn't have it. So, though it was past noon, I decided to go to the university just so that I could meet him.

But Sonali and her friend did not allow me to. They told me a lot of confusing things and insisted that I stay away from the university for a few days. Then they also asked for my parents' contact number saying that there was something to be discussed. When I refused to do that, they grew even more suspicious.

They probably thought that my parents were ghosts too or maybe that I was a ghost.

Because the next thing they did was locking me up in the room. I didn't know where Sonali stayed that day but she came every now and then to check on me, left some food for me through the window and left.

I felt helpless and cried myself to sleep that night.

The next morning when I woke up, I heard my parents speak. At first I thought I was dreaming, but then I realized that they were really there. Perhaps Sonali got their contact details through the landlady and called them up.

The room was open and they were seated outside the door, talking to Sonali and her friend. Again, it sounded like the same topic. They were too engrossed in the discussion that none of them even noticed that I had woken up.

"She has had these problems ever since her grandmother's death," said dad.

"Yeah, for the past few years she has been acting a little strange. She is constantly sad. She speaks about a non-existing best friend and new characters as if she is possessed. Just like how my mother used to be when she was alive. We did take Maya to various places to drive away the ghost but nothing seemed to work. That's why we decided to keep her at home right next to us but then she slipped away one night," added my mother.

Great. Typical lines from my parents.

"Of course none of it would have worked because her problem is not ghosts," said Sonali's friend. I wondered where this conversation was going. I mean, if he didn't believe in the ghost story, what was it then?

"It's a clear case of schizophrenia," he added. Again, big term. Like me, probably my parents didn't understand it either.

He went onto explain, "Schizophrenia is a mental disorder where a person has extreme disordered thinking, hallucinates and lives in a delusion. Sometimes, people with this disorder tend to imagine scenarios based on information that they had heard in real life. For example, the whole of Sri Lanka knows that SOFA was closed down after two guys and a girl died because of ragging done by seniors, right? I have a slight memory of seeing the names and pictures of those three students all over the news back then. I don't exactly remember the details though. But maybe Maya does and perhaps that's how she imagined a whole scenario around it. She thinks those people are still alive and the university is open. I feel like even those marks on her body might be self-harm that she caused herself thinking that someone else did it. Trust me, based on everything that Sonali said, I strongly feel that your daughter is schizophrenic. She needs treatment. I say this only because I'm a psychologist and I have dealt with patients like this before."

There was an awkward silence. Maybe my parents had started believing in this story. I didn't know what to do.

There was only one way to prove myself — show the pictures I made at SOFA with Krish, Piyumi and Chen.

So, I took the camera and started going through the pictures. Surprisingly, there was none to be seen.

I assumed what must have happened. Probably Sonali and her friend deleted the photos. They were trying to chase me away from this town only because I was an outsider and they were jealous of me getting an opportunity at SOFA.

I hated the people of this town because they were malicious and I hated my parents because they were too gullible.

Their words started hurting my ears. Too much of unnecessary noise. This had to stop.

I went to the kitchen area, fetched a knife and walked up to them. All four of them started screaming. Now, they were afraid of me.

Did I want to be called 'possessed' or 'mentally ill'? Both were wrong in my opinion. Two different labels for a completely normal person.

I pointed the knife towards them. It was time to make a choice.

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This short story is written for a prompt by Ambassadors for Watt-a-Decade (The Visitor)

Hope you liked it 😁 Let me know your comments ♥️✨