A Candle's Flicker
Only the faint glow of a candle.
Darkness thick all around.
Outside, the howls of dogs echoed through the night.
Pushing aside the darkness, I moved toward the candlelight.
Again, the dogs howled.
"Don't these sons of dogs ever sleep?"
As I drew closer to the flickering flame, I began to hear a sound — like someone polishing boots.
"Ashrafikka, have you ever seen a jinn?"
asked Thanuppan (they called him that because he always spoke in a cold, detached tone).
"Of course! When I was young, I saw one — in the light of a candle just like this."
"Really?"
"Yes!"
---
Jinn.
Beings made of fire.
They were created on earth long before humans.
Their leader was Iblis — the very one who once taught even the angels.
When the first man was created, all were commanded to bow before him.
But Iblis, made of fire, refused to bow before one made of clay.
God cursed him and cast him out of paradise.
And Iblis swore that until the end of the world, he would lead mankind astray.
They say jinn can move through the very veins of a man — like blood.
They can influence his thoughts.
There are good jinn and evil jinn.
---
"How does one control a jinn?" I asked the local divyan (a self-proclaimed mystic).
"The lamb boy knows," he said.
"The lamb boy?"
"Yes — he drinks milk straight from the udder!"
"And you?"
"I'm the chicken boy."
"Chicken boy?"
"Yes, I drink eggs straight from the shell."
"Oh, so both of you are tricksters, eh?"
"Exactly!"
"That was back when Maravathoor's visions were strong," he muttered.
---
"You really want to summon a jinn?" asked the lamb boy, after thinking for a while.
"If you capture one, it will do whatever you ask — take you wherever you wish.
But catching a jinn isn't easy.
There's… a bit of risk involved."
"There's an entire chapter in the Qur'an called Al-Jinn.
You must recite it for forty nights — under the light of a single candle, without fail.
Each night, you'll be tested in a new way.
The jinn may appear before you — as a dog, a fox, or a serpent.
Sometimes a serpent with many heads, dancing before you.
But you must not fear.
Are you afraid?"
"No."
"If you fear, you'll lose your mind.
Completely mad."
So, if you manage to recite for forty nights,
you'll gain power over the jinn.
Then you can order it to take you anywhere —
bring you anything.
But… never ask for a woman."
"Why not?"
"If you do, the jinn will come in the form of a woman.
Touch her — and she will strike you dead."
---
Anyway, I decided to summon the jinn.
But no — I didn't want a woman.
What would I ask the jinn for?
A river of ice cream,
the big Milky Bar I saw in the stupid shop,
ten packs of fireworks,
lots of marbles…
I made a list of everything a poor fellow like me would need to live a little better —
and placed it inside the Qur'an.
---
It was the third watch of the night.
Silence broken only by the flutter of bats,
the cry of an owl,
the wind growing stronger by the minute.
A sound, like the jingle of anklets, stirred my heart —
perhaps the jinn dragging chains that bound some ancient treasure.
I'd heard tales of men who went searching for such treasures
and were found dead — bloated, floating in the pond.
I rose from my bed and walked to the table where the Qur'an lay.
Outside, the dogs howled again.
"Hey, dog!
Don't you have anything better to do?"
I lit the candle on the table.
Opened the Qur'an to the chapter Al-Jinn, and began reciting.
That's when the jinn appeared before me.
---
"What, immediately?"
"Yes — immediately!"
"Doesn't this jinn have anything better to do?"
Fffoo... The jinn blew out the candle.
Just like this — fffoo...
Ashraf blew out the candle too.
"And then?"
I put the Qur'an back on the table and ran.
Somehow climbed into bed and hid under the blanket.
"And then?"
Then… nothing.
"That's it? Story's over?"
"Eh? Go to sleep, man!"
said Thanuppan in his usual English-mixed tone.
---
(A pause, as if thinking deeply)
"Ashrafikka… is that jinn still with you?"
"That jinn?" said Ashraf with a grin.
"That jinn is me, brother."
Thanuppan jumped up, terrified, and looked at Ashraf's bed.
It was empty.
Like the bed, Thanuppan's heart felt empty too.
His pulse raced.
His body went cold — like his name.
Then, the candle that Ashraf had blown out
lit itself again.
And from that flame, a terrible face took shape —
Ashraf's face —
spreading across the room.
The Jinn.
"Oh, my God…"
A dreadful jinn indeed.