"I cannot believe we won this." The husband said, still staring at the open envelope in his hand.
"Yes Akash, this is dream come true." The wife said, with equal enthusiasm. They had recently got married. This was the perfect honeymoon, one which would last a lifetime.
"But how Nirali? What did we do to deserve this?" Akash asked. He was happy, very happy but he couldn’t believe what the contents of the envelope said.
Earlier that day, Akash was getting ready to leave for the office when he found the envelope inside his letter box. He had seen this envelope before but only in television. He saw the name on the envelope just to be sure it was meant to be delivered to him and he saw his name, his and his wife's. Both of them had been chosen. They had been chosen to live inside the city of Amusyl.
Ten years earlier, a very rich man – Akash didn’t know who – had started building an entire city on a remote island. The island in question was huge and as the man had actually started building the city, it was thought that nearly a lakh people can live there. Then a year earlier, it was out. The prospectus was out and aloud. Every man on earth talked about it. Everyone wanted to buy a flat there. But it didn’t work like that. The much celebrated prospectus gave the details of the city. It was heaven on earth. Huge bungalows, playgrounds, gardens, theatres, clubs, casinos, gyms, and everything a man could think of was there along with natural infrastructures like mountains, rivers and trees. It was an errorless blend of nature and technology. But the twist was; a place in the city had to be earned. You couldn’t buy your way in. How you earn it was not written on the prospectus. It simply gave indications that if one was interested in living there; they had to send in names of everyone in family via post. There were addresses of postbox given on the prospectus. Akash had chosen a nearby address to send his and his wife's name.
And now, he was holding it; the invitation to Amusyl. He could not have been happier but still there was something he didn't understand. How had they chosen them? Nearly entire world had sent their names. What were the chances of winning when the entire world was racing?
"Oh! Don't fuss. All that's important is that we are going? Is there a date mentioned?" Niral asked eagerly.
"We have two months. We have to get rid of this house, my job and your job in a month and then they will contact and prepare us for our stay there." Akash said, reading it from the card he was holding.
"I still don't understand why jobs." Nirali asked.
"It says they have jobs for us in the city, jobs that suit our profiles. We will have everything we need in there." Akash said.
"And what if it doesn’t suit us, the city?" Nirali asked.
"They have that arranged. Everyone who is leaving behind their old lives for this city has a chance to return to their old lives. They will assess us for a month after we start there."
"Great." Nirali said.
And within a month, Akash and Nirali resigned from their jobs. They sold their house and when people came to know why they were doing so, they couldn’t believe either. When Akash showed them the invitation, they were envious.
Another envelope arrived; it had tickets of a private jet and instructions for health check-ups. There was a list of doctors in their areas. They chose one nearer to them and got themselves checked. The reports, as the doctor said, were sent directly to the owner of the facility.
"Oh! It's just a formality. You are going for sure." The jovial doctor had said.
After a few days of the check-up, they were briefed about the type of jobs they were offered via another letter. Akash had to choose from being a bank manager or an ice-cream vendor. The choice was strange. Who on earth would choose to be an ice-cream vendor when they could be the manager of a bank? This puzzled him.
"What will you choose?" Nirali asked. She had two choices as well. A pianist in a theatre or a job in a hair parlour.
"What will you choose?" Akash asked.
"Well, I think this is insane. We both have two choices, one is what we already are and one is something completely strange."
"I am happy as a manager." Akash said, not changing his current occupation.
"I'll try the other life. I'll be a pianist." Nirali said. She used to work in a women's parlour.
"Do you know which key is which?" Akash taunted.
"I learnt piano when I was a kid. Whoever he is, he knows about me. What about you? Have you ever learned how to make ice-creams?" Nirali taunted in return.
"Hell no. I love eating ice-creams though." Akash said.
They returned the mailer, writing down their choices on the address that was mentioned. They waited for a few days and finally the details of their departure arrived. The tickets they had received earlier were one-way premium tickets. They had to just show the tickets. Nothing else was required at the airport, not even identity proofs.
The day arrived and they boarded the small but magnificent private jet. The flight was eight hours long but they were not exhausted. It was the most comfortable thing they had ever ridden.
After touchdown, they did as they were instructed in the manual they found in the flight. They waited in the lounge. Within a few hours they were not alone. They were accompanied by nine other couples. Some of them had kids, not more than a year old. Nearly every couple was their age. People in the lounge mingled with one another. They talked and discussed how they had ended up here and the bizarre job choices they had received. Everyone had the same story. They were all intrigued.
Suddenly a manly announcement echoed.
"Welcome, residents of the Amusyl. We are glad to have you here. If you will open the locker to the far left of the lounge you will find packages that belong to you. You will find the keys to your houses and cars and a map of this city in the package. Get home and relax. We will contact you again in a week. Enjoy till then."
"Wait. What about our jobs and food and everything?" Someone in the crowd shouted.
There was no response.
They did as they were told. Akash found the package that bore his name just as the rest others. Sure enough, he found two sets of keys and a map indicating where his house was. He took out his cell phone to enter the coordinates in the navigator but there was no connectivity. He put it back without a second thought. They had to do it the old way.
Everyone exited the lounge at the exact same time. There were ten cars waiting for them. Each one of them was different. To Akash's surprise, his was a brand new, blue coloured, Lamborginhi. This was his favourite car. How did they know it? He looked at others and saw similar bewildered looks on every man's face. They mounted their car and started for the place that was indicated on the map. The roads here were simply awesome. He could have driven forever but to his displeasure they reached with fifteen minutes.
One after other, there were ten bungalows, with enough space between them to land the jet which had brought them there, magnificent enough to qualify as palaces. Nirali checked the documents. Bungalow number seven belonged to them. Inside the bungalow, there was everything that they needed. Food, clothes that miraculously fit them, television, disc-players and a huge stack of discs, a huge piano was set-up in the corner of the living room. This was literal heaven. They even had a small pool inside the bungalow with hot water.
"There aren’t any servants." Nirali said.
Akash noticed it for the first time. There was nobody except for the people who had won the stay. Now, he came to think of it, he hadn’t even seen the pilot of the jet.
"Strange." Akash could say nothing else.
As strange it was, they were enjoying themselves, all the ten couples. The island had everything that it had promised in the prospectus. Everyone on the island was now known to each other as there were only 24 of them, ten husbands, their wives and four kids. Nirali, by now, knew everyone's name. Not one of them was worried why they were the only ones on the island, not even Akash. Akash had found things that were his life's dream on this place. How could he doubt it?
But they started doubting. One week had passed and nobody had made contact. All of them were worried but nobody showed it. They enjoyed or pretended enjoying. But after a month, they had started talking to each other about it. They tried everything. All their phones had lost connectivity. The phones which were inside the houses connected only to the phones within the island. They did everything they could, even shout at the sky. Nobody answered their plea. They were growing restless. They had started blaming each other. Disputes broke out between families and then between couples.
Another month passed. The men had gathered to find a solution and they concluded that they would wait. They concluded they would stop fighting. Everything they needed was available in their houses. There was food and water and clothes and shelter. Besides it was not as if they were on another planet. One of the man, Akash guessed his name to be Rohan, had said that he had seen a ferry while roaming near the beach. The vessel, as he described, was big enough to carry everyone. They decided to leave the island by the ferry after a wait of another ten days. They could not give up on this place just as yet. They had sold everything from their previous lives.
But they didn’t have to wait. There was a voice after three days of the meet.
"Welcome to the Amusyl . As you now know, this isn't a fun trip. You are jailed here. Jailed for the rest of your lives. You cannot leave this island. You have no jobs but you have food, water and shelter and everything you need. This is not going to end so don't try to leave this island."
"Who the hell are you and why are we jailed?" One of them shouted. They had gathered in the theatre, yet the announcement had found them. None of them waited for the reply but this time the voice replied.
"Ask yourselves. You are people who have tormented a person or more during your lives. I am doing the world good by confining you here."
"But who are you? Show yourself" This time it was Nirali who had shouted.
"You don’t know me?" The voice reverberated again.
"Are we supposed to? I have never personally disturbed anyone and I don’t recognize your voice." Nirali shouted again.
A face flickered into view on the theatre screen. A man of their age with maniacal expressions came into focus. He had long hair that looked like the mane of a lion. His lips were spread in a psychotic laugh.
"You don’t know me?" The man said and the screen died again.
Everyone in the theatre looked at each other. Their faces revealed nothing. It was apparent that nobody knew who this mad man was.
They discussed it. Nobody knew who he was. They had to prioritize leaving this place. The man with the boat idea stepped up and started explaining where he had seen the ferry. After half an hour of drive and another half hour of reckless searching, they found the ferry. All of them boarded it and one of them turned on the engine. They started the ferry in a random direction. This was an island, any direction opposite to land would take them away from the wretched place. But after half an hour into the sea, they were stopped. The ferry came to an abrupt halt. The men searched for anchor but found none. Two of the brave men dived into the waters. They searched for it but didn’t find the problem. There was fuel enough in the ferry. The man with the controls tried again and then he saw it. The nose of the ferry was touching something. It was like an invisible wall. The two men who were in the waters felt it too. It was a wall that reflected the outside.
The voice echoed again.
"I told you to not attempt this. This island has a dome that shows you what is outside. In reality you will never see the sun again. Now, go back to the island and enjoy your confinements."
They shouted back again but the maniac didn’t reply. Tired of their attempts, they returned to the houses. All of them were furious but that emotion didn't last long. Soon they were all disappointed. They tried many times but didn’t succeed in escaping the prison.
For Akash, he was not trying. There was nothing they could do. Besides, what was wrong with staying here? They had everything for a few years of life.