The Circle of the Snake
There was a low buzz of voices in the auditorium. The
audience seemed impatient. After five minutes of calling
her name, Elsie finally rushed onto the stage, and proceeded
with her act. She had a magnificent voice that carried
to the far ends of the theatre. Elsie was the child Diana
in the play. She wasn't the main character but as far
as I'd seen her during rehearsals, she outshone the main
character. However, there was a distracted look on her
face today.
Nevertheless, since Elsie was a true actress, she acted
as anyone who didn't know her would expect her to. The
play had almost been over when Elsie had missed the stage
entrance for the next scene. After two minutes of standing
there and repeating lines, the director had gotten up
on stage.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please excuse this delay.
Will Elsie McCarthy please come up," he had said.
His face was red. I new Elsie would be hearing from the
director later. Suddenly, she came onto the stage. Murmuring
a hurried apology, the scene proceeded.
Later, a cast party was held to celebrate the first show.
The director was busy talking to a local reporter and
hadn't gotten a chance to chastise Elsie yet. She was
looking pale this evening. But nobody noticed any change
since she was always very quiet. She was looking out of
the window when there was a "thump." Elsie McCarthy
lay on the ground, dead.
While they were investigating her dressing room, they
found a message lying on the dresser. It simply said "the
circle of the snake draws closer and then the python stings,
forgetting the future and meeting the end of the unjust
road." No one could figure it out.
But there was someone who had immediately gone to a small
abandoned building at the back of the theatre when they
knew Elsie was dead. On the door was a crude drawing of
a snake. When the door was opened, their eyes met a sight
that was to be remembered for many years. Silently, the
door was closed. Justice had been done.
The police never knew who killed Elsie McCarthy. They
had just found an arrow that had pierced her neck. There
was snake's poison on the tip. And there was one more
unsolved mystery that night. The building behind the theatre
had been burnt!
By Pooja Khanna
