Jiya opened her eyes when she heard a ghastly tapping sound reverberating in her room. She sat up but the sound had somehow died out. She sighed and her eyes traveled towards the dim light that was bathing the room in a light blue halo.
TOO-HOO-TOO-WHIT
An owl cried its final night call and Jiya curled up under her blanket. She found it useless to sit around and fished out her phone from under her pillow. She pressed a button on its side, and the screen lighted up. The digital clock showed that it was 3:15 a.m.
Jiya heaved a sigh loudly and placed a hand on her forehead. She was relieved to know that her fever had subsided. So, she decided it was better to sleep and regain her strength for daybreak. She fell back on her bed and closed her eyes. After some futile minutes, she realized that she just could not sleep. She sighed and sat up again.
BOOOOM!
The wall in front of her exploded, creating a large hole and Jiya yelled before ducking inside her blanket. Then, it was silent. Jiya could only hear her accelerated heartbeat. She took a deep breath before peeking from under her blanket. A strange white light filled her entire room, similar to the one she saw in her dream last morning. Jiya removed the blanket from her head to have a look. Her breathing became ragged and her palms were sweaty.
The next thing she witnessed was the strangest thing that ever happened to her in the past fifteen years of her life. To be precise, 15 years, 1 month, 2 weeks and 2 days. She knew because she kept a track of it in her diary. A tiny wooden box, just the size of her palm, swam towards her using the pool of light. Jiya's mouth dropped open. The box landed on her lap with a gentle thud and the pool of light recoiled itself until it was speck before it disappeared. To Jiya's surprise, the hole on the wall recovered on its own, making it look as if there was no hole at all, to begin with.
Jiya was taken aback. What in the world just happened? She couldn't help but think as she sat frozen to her place. She gently poked it as if afraid it would explode. When nothing happened, she placed her right palm on it. It felt warm against her cold palm. The box looked worn with age. It was bare of any paint, making it look like any other wooden box in the world. The only remarkable thing that made it extraordinary, or so Jiya thought, was the bolt of lightning carved on it. It glowed in the dark or so Jiya thought.
"What the hell!" Jiya muttered. Her palm slid down to the metal slip lock. With a gentle flick of her thumb, she heard a satisfying click. The box was unlocked and she flipped open the lid. There were two rolls of paper- a small one and a large one.
Jiya scratched her head, unsure of what to do. A wrong parcel at the right time, she thought and shut the lid. Whatever or whoever it was would come back to retrieve it. She would give it away willingly. With these disbelieving thoughts in her mind, she fell back on the bed. She closed her eyes and did her best to fall asleep. She tried to believe that it was just a dream and everything would be normal when she woke up.
But curiosity got the best of her, and her eyes flew open. She raised her head a little. There it was, the box sitting like the noblest of souls, waiting to be respected and admired. She sighed and sat up. The box moved with her movement. She held the box with both of her hands and leaped down from her bed. She had half expected to find herself flying in midair. She walked over and placed the box on her study table. She slipped on her maroon jumper because she was shivering. What she was unsure of was whether she was shivering from cold or from excitement. She pulled out the chair in front of her table and sat down. She looked at the box carefully.
Maybe it was a faux pas, she thought and leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes and Ava and Maddie's defenseless faces came into her vision. Jiya swiftly opened her eyes and let out a breath. Her instincts told her that the only way to help Ava and Maddie was to open the box. She slumped forward and took hold of the tiny box in her palms. She opened the slip lock and take a look inside. She took out the small roll of paper. Underneath it, was a tiny glass bottle with a wooden cork in it. Visible through the glass were neon lights which kept changing. Once it was blue, but it changed to green and then to red, and so on. Then, she placed it on her table and pulled out the large roll of paper. She was clueless about what to do. After a few moments of silent contemplation, she decided to check the small roll of paper. She smoothed out the paper roll which revealed a folded paper. She opened the single fold and what she saw was a letter written in funny looking calligraphy. But the first two words made her jaw drop.
It said:
ACCEPTANCE LETTER
INSTITUTE OF SMELLCRAFT & SNIFFING
Dear
Ms. J Dey,
With due respect, I am happy to inform you that you have been accepted in the first-year class of the prestigious Institute of Smellcraft & Sniffing. Please take extra caution while handling your Smell Bottle. The requirements are listed on the other roll of paper. We have been waiting for someone like you all these years.
Looking forward to your arrival!
Thanking you,
Principal
Professor Tipsy Whiskers.
***
Acceptance Letter? The f*ck?
Tipsy Whiskers? The hell?
Jiya's face was scrunched with confusion. It was addressed to her. There was no doubt about it. But she had never applied for any institutes! Her eyes went to the everchanging bottle of light which was termed as 'Smell Bottle'.
What the hell? Was that some kind of drug? Jiya couldn't help but think.