Hey guys, welcome to our updated newsletter and the very first Podcast section. This is very special to me because I am sharing my very first short story. Yes, you heard me right. “Who killed Ramya?” is my debut story. Usually, I do not prefer writing stories because I lose my patience very soon. Most of the projects were left incomplete. So technically, this is my first completed piece.

Since this is my first project, you can encounter a lot of mistakes. Feel free to correct me. Your thoughts and words will encourage me to produce good content.  Also, do share your opinion about this story in the comment section below or you can email me personally at info@diarytale.com

For those who love reading stories, scroll down to start reading the short story. And for those who love to listen to stories, play this audio file. I have narrated the story as well. Just start playing it in the background and continue your work or just relax. Ps. The audio file is in Tamil. For those who do not know the language, enjoy the story below.

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The audio clip!

Click the “play” button or click ” listen in browser” button.

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The story!

Who killed Ramya?

Once upon a time, in a small town, there lived a young girl called Ramya. She was beautiful and a kind-hearted girl. She lived with her family. Being a final year engineering student, she decided to bear all the expenses for her project by herself. So she joined a part-time job in a busy bookstore. So, every day, after college she went to work in that bookstore.

One day, Ramya’s parents were discussing her marriage. They asked her opinion but she never showed any interest to that. So they decided to start searching for the groom and matchmaking, thinking that they would convince her to marry eventually.

Days passed on and suddenly one day, Ramya’s parents get to know a boy. They even get to talk to his family. Both families liked each other. One day Ramya’s parents went to the boy’s place for lunch. They showed Ramya’s photos to the boy and his family. They all liked her. The boy showed interest in this alliance and got her phone number from her parents.

One Sunday, while Ramya was getting ready to her work, her parents told her that the boy is coming to meet her. She felt strange and asked for his photo to recognize him when she meets him. But unfortunately, her parents had neither his photo nor his number. Annoyed Ramya asked, “Did you know his name at least?”, They replied in unison, “Ashwin!”. “Ok then, I will manage. It’s getting late to work, bye ma!” said Ramya. They asked her to bring Ashwin for dinner at her home after they meet.

On reaching the bookstore, she got very busy completing all the pending works. New stocks came in. Old stocks were displayed for sale. Since it was a weekend, more customers came in. So more sales and more billing work. In that chaos, she forgets that “meeting”.

In the Lunch break, she gets a call. It was her mother enquiring about their meeting. Only then she remembered about the meeting. So, she prepared herself and patiently waited for his arrival. Time passed by, she completed all her work, only a few customers were there and they were about to close the shop. She waited so long and decided to go home after closing the shop.

After saying bye to her friends, she started her scooty. She came to work in her father’s two-wheeler on the weekends. On the other days, she comes by bus. She was about to start her scooty, a voice behind her came shouting. “Wait, madam.” She said, “Sorry sir, the shop is closed. Come back tomorrow!”. He replied, “I am not a customer. Hi Ramya, I am Ashwin.!”. She stood there, little stumbled. They talked for a while and went to Ramya’s home for dinner.  They liked each other. She noticed that he had a tattoo on his left arm wrist, while he waved goodbye to her.

Since both are busy on their own projects, she, on her final year project and he, on his business project, they could not catch up with each other except the weekend phone calls and dinners. Parents on both sides are excited as they even started talking about engagements and fixing dates for the big day.

One day, while working in the bookstore, Ramya received a bouquet of roses from a little boy. He just gave that and ran away. She was surprised to see those roses and searched for the person who sent that. But she found no one nearby. There was a card on that bouquet with the message, “I love you! — A”. She really went head over heels on seeing that initials “A”. She sent a text to Ashwin replying, “ Love you too. Thanks a lot!”.

On the same week, she received a box full of her favorite chocolates from the same boy. The box had a little note on top of it. That said, “You are looking so beautiful today. I am fortunate! –A.” She was shocked on seeing those chocolates because it was her favorite chocolate brand which she had never shared with anyone. So, she sent Ashwin a text, “Really surprised. Never expected this. Thanks a lot. Love you!”.

Days passed by. One day, while coming back from work, she was very tired. She boarded the bus. The bus was with its usual crowd. Suddenly a young man came running, boarded the bus and sat next to Ramya in a hurried manner. Usually, at that time of the day, the bus will not have any crowds. So there will be a lot of seats empty. She felt uncomfortable and wondered there were a lot of seats empty. Why would this man sit next to me? He would get down in his stop, a few stops before Ramya’s. This continued for a week, even when she changed her usual seat. Annoyed Ramya was about to ask him to sit somewhere else, he stood and got down from the bus, earlier from his stop.

The next week, when she was walking to the bus stop, a young man walked straight to her and said “Hi! I have been stalking you for the past 6 months and I am in love with you. Do you mind having a cup of coffee with me?” On seeing the man, she knows that he was the same man she encountered on the bus, the past week. She blindly replied no and walked away. She ignored him.

He continued to do the same the next day on the bus. She replied angrily, “No. Go away. I am engaged to someone!”.

The other day, he came to her while she was waiting for the bus. He gave her the rose bouquet forcibly and walked away by saying, “I know you will come to meet me one day!”.  She found a card in that bouquet when she was about to throw it. The card had a note saying, “Will you have a cup of coffee with me? — A”. She was shocked to see the card with the same handwriting and the same initial. She hurried to her home and called Ashwin to ask about the gifts. Surprisingly she found that they were not from him. They are from the man she saw on the bus. She was worried and confused.

On hearing the past incidents, Ashwin felt concerned and responsible. So, he decided to drop Ramya from work to home. This continued for a week. Then, he couldn’t drop her because of his busy schedule. Ramya’s father accompanied her for a few days. Later, she was back to her old routine. All alone.

The next day, the man followed her, asking her to have coffee with him. “Just one cup of coffee. That’s it. I won’t disturb you!”. After a few days, she accepted to have coffee with him. She even told about this to Ashwin. But he didn’t reply.

On a quiet evening, they met in a cafe. She asked him, “what’s your name?” “Arun”, he replied. She asked, “Why all this Arun? I said that I am engaged to someone, soon to get married. Why are you doing all this even after knowing everything?”.

He sat quietly, staring at her. He said, “I don’t want to see the girl whom I loved the most to end up in misery.” She got irritated. “What are you talking about?”. He remained calm and replied, “The man you are going to marry is a murderer. A psycho. He is not Ashwin Subramaniam. His Real name is Rahul. Recently he escaped from the jail. Don’t you watch the news? Just think about his behavior. Didn’t you sense something is wrong?” She cannot bear anymore She shouted at him angrily and walked away.

On reaching home. She started searching for the news about the murderer Rahul.

The news report said that a murderer, psycho, serial killer named “Rahul” had escaped from the jail. Police were searching with “shoot on sight” order. He had killed 4 women on a row till then, with no aim. They also mentioned that he had a tattoo on his left arm wrist.

She found all the information that Arun told are true. But she couldn’t find any photographs of him. Ramya started to observe Ashwin for the first time. She started doubting him and remained confused. So, she decided to go on to a place which was kind of a little forest area near to her workplace, to relax.

On walking to the forest area, she felt someone is following her. She was scared and texted her whereabouts to Ashwin and her friend. Ramya continued to walk. She saw a man walking behind her. Petrified Ramya felt relieved to see that man was Arun. They both walked a little further and sat on a rock. Arun left her to get some water.

Ramya sat there, took deep breaths, tried to calm her mind. Closing her eyes, she gave a deep thought about all the incidents that disturbed her the most.

Later that night Ramya’s parents were worried that she didn’t return home. The next morning, police came to her house saying that Ramya was dead. They also found that Ashwin was missing.

Now, who killed Ramya?

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Ps. Guess who killed Ramya and Share the climax in your perspective, in the comment section below. I will share mine in the next newsletter. Let’s see whose climax matches with mine.

Click here to read the climax – The story ending!

Acknowledgment: My heartfelt Thanks to Swathi Anandan, Rohith, and Pragadeesh to review my first draft and gave some hope to publish it.

Have a good day!