The library is the house of peace for Vidhi. Vidhi is tech blogger and she has only one constant love, which is books. Reading books and escaping the reality is her favorite hobby. Every Saturday, after building up her stress bar from work, she would visit Kitab Khana in evening. Books were her best friends because they neither demand nor complain anything.
Being binge on Sherlock series, Vidhi was drawn into mysteries. Always wandering in the fictional world, this time she went to the world of mysteries. Going through the shelf, she picked up the book “Cross” written by James Patterson. The heartwarming smell of the book made it more exciting and impatient. She ordered a coffee and hunted down a comfortable spot.
Just before she begins with the book, a note slipped out of it and fall beside her toes. The pale white note was dusty and had stains of ink. The note was folded and was titled as “The Quest”. Reading those word, she narrowed down her eyes as she was holding the note in wonder, “What is it?!”. She started unfolding the note with the mixed feeling of excitement and anxiousness. The note read as:
“I am what you are seeking in the outside world. My guards are the Army and the Black Horse. My house is where people get amazed and wonder watching things made by you itself. I will help you to unlock your magic, you just have to find me. I am nearby you, open your eyes and have a look around. Come to the blue ocean in my house and you will find me.”
Her brain suddenly falls empty and she was clueless what the note means. She read the note again and again, yet she had no answer. But, her attention falls for two words which were the Army and Black Horse.
She rushed to the librarian and asked the old man, “Do you have any book related to the Army and the Black Horse?” Lifting his walking stick in the right direction of Vidhi, he said,” You will find everything related to the history in that shelf. Check the three rows from the top, you will find your book.” Acknowledging the polite answer, Vidhi nodded in acceptance and gave a wide smile. She briskly walks towards the shelf and started looking for a book which might be ocean blue, talking about the army or the black horse. After going to through the whole shelf, she could not find anything close to the riddle.
She sat on the floor with losing hope and started reading the riddle again. Her mind had started processing the information available. She concluded that the Army and the Black horse was something related to that thing. While the name of that thing was hidden in the sentence “My house is where people get amazed and wonder watching things made by you itself”. But the level of frustration inside the head was growing, which made it difficult to focus on the riddle. Being a Sherlock fan, she knew the technique of mind palace. She closed her eyes and shut down all the thoughts and focused on words “amazed, wonder and things made by you”. She had to think smartly to bring the connection between those words. But the mind palace turned into an abandoned building and she could not find any connection with them. Without thinking, she went to the librarian and told him about the note. She handed him the note and asked for his help. After reading the note, he said, “Girl, this one easy. How could you not guess it! Am I smarter than young generation?” Without taking a pause, he continued, “The black horse is the Kala Ghoda and the Army is the Army and Navy building opposite the Kala Ghoda statue. Go and find your quest in that surrounding.” With the blooming eyes, she snatched the note with excitement and shouted, “Thank you, uncle. Bye.”
She sprinted to the statue of Kala Ghoda with a wide smile and started looking around to find that thing which might relate to the note. There was nothing amazing and wonderful around her as she standing on the crowded street where honking of cars muted all the others sounds. This time she removed her phone and typed, “Amazing places near the Kala Ghoda” and hit enter. As the internet was loading the result, she was getting impatient and could not even take her eyes away or blink from the screen.
The result came in the list format displaying Janghir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda Art Festival, Regal Cinema, Bombay Stock Exchange and that’s all could fit on the screen of the phone. Vidhi’s eyes were glued to the Kala Ghoda Art Festival, as it was the answer to the riddle. But at that point, Kala Ghoda Art Festival was not being held. She fell again in the state of confusion. It was difficult for her to divert the focus from the black horse and find an answer. So, she started looking around the statue of Kala Ghoda, what are the places which are in the range of visibility. The place that caught her eyes was Janghir Art Gallery. As she was staring at the gate, she could relate the line “My house is where people get amazed and wonder watching things made by you itself”.
The gallery had flooring designed with diamonds shaped tiles, arranged symmetrically to mesmerize the eyes. The ceiling had some ancient paintings drawn as if the gallery itself had treasured all the stories of the Mumbai. As she entered the gallery, she was surrounded by wall paintings. Due to which her mind was filled with paintings and she started searching for ocean blue painting amongst them. Unfortunately, she did not find any. Now, she was about to give up on her energy level with hopes was going down. She taught that it will never be found by her. The last ray of hope was pushing her to move around with a blank mind.
While she was not looking for it, she found it. In front of her was a statue of the Greek man holding a book which was made of blue marble. However, she did not realize that and was about take further steps in opposite direction. But her backpack got tangled with the information stand and she was held back from moving. As she turned around to remove the backpack, she read the title as, “The Ocean”. As soon as, those words reached to her brain, it turned her into a statue. And her eyes gleamed in the excitement as she had unlocked the mystery.
She begins to read the description and came to know that the statute was a well-known philosopher who changed the mindset of humankind all over the world. Her excitement was growing, which could be seen as her bag fell off from her shoulder and she could not stand straight. She was checking the statue to find some secret button to hit and find a treasure. Pressing the nose, pulling the fingers, pushing the eyes inside..she tried everything to make things move. Suddenly, her elbow hits the book held in the hands of the statue and felt more than a marble. Raising her hands, she held the book and tried to remove it from the statue. This time, the book came out with little effort and she knew this was the magic which the riddle was trying to say as the name of the book was “The magic in human beings”.
Wonder 