A tiled pattern covering the floor of the house. White papers resting on it forming a rectangle. A queue of knives from very small to very big lay in formation on the papers with a spear blade lying beside them. The shine of the spear blade was more than the shine from all the the other knives' blades combined and, therefore, their leader was chosen.
The smallest knife lying on one corner felt like reaching its brother, the biggest knife, at the other corner. It was a long journey to be taken by going past many other relatives. The first of the relatives was a slimmer knife than itself but with its weight transformed as its length to make it slightly taller. The second was properly shaped at the handle with a belly like the smallest in weight but it had a straighter blade contrasting well, in colour, with its handle. This one was equal in height to the first one.
The third one was a bit shorter than the previous two but it had its dominance by the unusual colour and felt similar to itself at the blade. The fourth had a large handle with a slanted rhythmic and encircling design on it. Its slant at the place of joint of the blade and the handle was like some over-protected body covering part of its own face. This one handled things roughly with its double height to the smallest.
The fifth was a maverick with a unique shape which attracted people. Its blade and handle were both of equal ratio and its height equal to the previous blade. The next one was scared of the seventh as it feared that it would try to use eighth to destroy nine. It was like a miniaturized sword and was so thin by the blade and handle that both were difficult to differentiate. This too was of same height as its previous two.
The seventh, which had a rivalry with eighth and ninth, was like a rifle with a metallic covering and a thin straight blade. Its length a bit larger than the previous three. The eighth one had a comfortable handle similar to a sword and its shiny blade said it all. It was of the same height as the fourth, fifth, and sixth. The brother of eight had a large gun-like handle which seemed to have lost its trigger. The blade was also of a different kind which looked like a pile-driver. It was elder to its brother in height and its shine had worn out of age.
The tenth came three to four times bigger than the knife journeying. It was a combination of the second and fourth at its handle. The next in formation was the second most elder in the line having pointed ends at both its blade tip and handle tip. Its handle felt like a tail as if it could be used to scurry past many objects quickly. It was long in length. The second last had a shiny handle with a rectangular blade having no pointy tip as the rest of the lot. This was smaller than the previous one.
The last of the set was its brother. The eldest of the lot and the most lethal in the family. It was the king of knives. The dark handle with a glittering shine and a long large blade curved like a scimitar sword's blade. It could slice through many things. It was a falchion blade. The joy when it saw its younger brother, after a long time, was immeasurable. The small knife had journeyed a long journey and gained experience about its relatives in height and weight and got to know about the age-old story of why six was scared of seven. Although seven had not yet destroyed nine.
This was the house of knives and it was guarded well by them. Their unique family always amazed the onlookers.
The smallest knife lying on one corner felt like reaching its brother, the biggest knife, at the other corner. It was a long journey to be taken by going past many other relatives. The first of the relatives was a slimmer knife than itself but with its weight transformed as its length to make it slightly taller. The second was properly shaped at the handle with a belly like the smallest in weight but it had a straighter blade contrasting well, in colour, with its handle. This one was equal in height to the first one.
The third one was a bit shorter than the previous two but it had its dominance by the unusual colour and felt similar to itself at the blade. The fourth had a large handle with a slanted rhythmic and encircling design on it. Its slant at the place of joint of the blade and the handle was like some over-protected body covering part of its own face. This one handled things roughly with its double height to the smallest.
The fifth was a maverick with a unique shape which attracted people. Its blade and handle were both of equal ratio and its height equal to the previous blade. The next one was scared of the seventh as it feared that it would try to use eighth to destroy nine. It was like a miniaturized sword and was so thin by the blade and handle that both were difficult to differentiate. This too was of same height as its previous two.
The seventh, which had a rivalry with eighth and ninth, was like a rifle with a metallic covering and a thin straight blade. Its length a bit larger than the previous three. The eighth one had a comfortable handle similar to a sword and its shiny blade said it all. It was of the same height as the fourth, fifth, and sixth. The brother of eight had a large gun-like handle which seemed to have lost its trigger. The blade was also of a different kind which looked like a pile-driver. It was elder to its brother in height and its shine had worn out of age.
The tenth came three to four times bigger than the knife journeying. It was a combination of the second and fourth at its handle. The next in formation was the second most elder in the line having pointed ends at both its blade tip and handle tip. Its handle felt like a tail as if it could be used to scurry past many objects quickly. It was long in length. The second last had a shiny handle with a rectangular blade having no pointy tip as the rest of the lot. This was smaller than the previous one.
The last of the set was its brother. The eldest of the lot and the most lethal in the family. It was the king of knives. The dark handle with a glittering shine and a long large blade curved like a scimitar sword's blade. It could slice through many things. It was a falchion blade. The joy when it saw its younger brother, after a long time, was immeasurable. The small knife had journeyed a long journey and gained experience about its relatives in height and weight and got to know about the age-old story of why six was scared of seven. Although seven had not yet destroyed nine.
This was the house of knives and it was guarded well by them. Their unique family always amazed the onlookers.
© Aditya Subramanian, 2020
