Winners of Prompt 1

1. Sheryl Verghese - An Enigma by Vikram Patwari - https://storymirror.com/read/english/story/sheryl-varghese-an-enigma/uj3k2xth

2. Sheryl Verghese by Deenadayalan N - https://storymirror.com/read/english/story/sheryl-varghese/xxpexmkm

3. The Journey Begins by Srinivas Cv - https://storymirror.com/read/english/story/the-journey-begins/1rcdcyks

4. Charu's Parody by Siva Aravindan - https://storymirror.com/read/english/story/charu-s-parody/j92tkouz

5. The Mystery by Ranjani Ramesh - https://storymirror.com/read/english/story/the-mystery/jekbp7vd

Prompt 1 -

Charu was informed her grandmother was seriously ill. It has been six months since Charu started her studies at NYU Law School, which she had joined amidst many refusals and objections.

She took the immediate next flight from New York to her native place Fort Kochi and landed at Cochin International Airport.

Charu never liked her life at Fort Kochi. The old home, the ancient traditions and the old lifestyle. She lost her mother when she was 12 and it was her grandmother who raised her. Her father, Mr. Mani Oomen, was a carpet exporter. He has two stores at Fort Kochi and one at Ernakulam. When Charu disclosed her interest to study law, he refused her decision outright. And now she is going back to the same place. Her mind was full of thoughts and she was in no mood to think about anything else except her return date from India.

From the airport, she took a self-driven taxi and drove to Fort Kochi, 20 k.m. away from the airport. It was 7 p.m. and the lights were all lit. She directly went to her grandmother's room and saw her, there were many machines attached to her. There was a nurse beside grandmother's bed. Charu went to her room and slept soon, as she was exhausted.

The next morning, she took a stroll to David Hall Road. The weather was breezy and the birds were chirping good. On David Hall Road, she saw the library open. There was a bookstore attached to the library.

'Old books for sale. Rs. 250 per KG,’ a board declared before the gate. She grinned. An avid reader that she was and since had nothing to do, she went inside the store. She picked seven books, paid for them at the counter and headed home.

The maid gave her a cup of coffee. Sipping her coffee, she started checking the books. The fifth book's cover intrigued her. It was a beautiful abstract painting of a woman with no eyes but had tears, nose and lips.

She skimmed through the pages. At page 67 there was a polaroid photograph of an old villa. She took out the photo and examined it. On its backside there was an alpha-numeric code written with a small map that showed directions to the villa. The code read: MV02FK09. The map had a starting point at 'Hotel AB*** and extended till the villa. The end point was a drawing of the villa that read ‘Home.’

The photograph created a bug in Charu's mind. She was thrilled.

Please pick up any question to write your story.

1. Who is Sheryl Varghese?
2. Does she know about this photograph?
3. Will she be able to crack the code?
4. Could she be still alive?