Three Chambers

Three Chambers

Short Story

Albert was sick, and his friend—whose name he couldn’t quite recall—had taken him to the hospital. It was 12:30 a.m., and the duty doctor, groggy and half-asleep, seemed disengaged. Albert's condition was serious; it was the aftermath of a specific accident, and the impact had fractured his zygomatic bone. After being admitted to a special ward, Albert drifted in and out of consciousness.

In his half-sleep, he thought he heard the voice of his late sister—a sweet, loving presence he had lost to gallbladder cancer. Memories from his childhood began to surface. He recalled summer vacations spent traveling to his mother’s ancestral village, where some of the women in the family would embrace and kiss him with such affection. Though he was repelled by their bad breath as a boy, the warmth of their love had been more precious than anything else.

But not all memories were kind. Some families in the village had been cold toward his mother, for she had married outside her caste—a love that defied tradition.

In this dream-like state, Albert's mind wandered further. He thought he could hear the sound of raccoons chattering and platypuses splashing in water. Fragments of Fermat’s theorem swirled in his thoughts as he attempted, almost instinctively, to relearn it. Then, strange and vivid visions filled his mind: crowds of Galápagos turtles, penguins, roadrunners, catbirds, and doves seemed to surround him.

Amid this flood of memories and images, his soul seemed to rest somewhere between the comforting words of the Lord’s Prayer—taught to him by his mother—and a chaotic cascade of thoughts climbing up and down the ladder of his subconscious.

They were three friends. The trio shared a grand mansion called Three Chambers, a name steeped in history. Its first owner, a grieving widow, christened the home after the exquisite trio of chambers her late husband had crafted for their three sons.

The eldest son met a noble but untimely end on the battlefield. The second, a chaos magnet, perished in a tavern brawl, his fate echoing the demise of Christopher Marlowe. Only the youngest endured, weathering a tempestuous youth to emerge as the sole survivor of the family.

Albert was fifty-three when he reunited with his friends. Over the years, he had held various jobs: a delivery boy at one point, a clerk at another, and even an assistant to a physician. His friend Herbert, on the other hand, had a stable career with a financial institution before opting for voluntary retirement at nearly the same age. Thanks to his prudent spending and risk-averse habits, Herbert had accumulated a modest fortune. However, life had risks far greater than financial losses, something Herbert would come to understand after a series of personal setbacks—a story we’ll delve into later.

For many years, Herbert traveled between Paris and Luxembourg for work-related errands. After retiring, he continued the journeys, but now purely for the joy and adventure of it.

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The third companion, named Gustafsson Hugo, was a man who had been through a divorce and tended to be a relatively silent presence amidst the lively group. Curiously, his former spouse and the gentleman would drop by the house once or twice annually, where they would share coffee, sandwiches, and paprika from a local Swedish eatery.

From the mansion's location, one could gaze upon dense woodlands and vast farmlands, with a serene lake appearing after every stretch of agricultural land. Occasionally, hydroelectric plants would come into view. To the south, towering highlands could be seen, followed by expansive wetlands that serve as homes for various wildlife and bird species.

There is a renowned wildlife reserve, and from time to time, a brown bear may be spotted leaving its natural habitat in search of voles to hunt.

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The tale of how the three friends came together is more a subject of guesswork than certainty. In their youth, Hugo and Albert attended the same college, while Herbert and Hugo were once close neighbors, as both their fathers worked for the railway department and were stationed in adjacent quarters. Yet, it was an unforeseen twist of fate in their later years that ultimately brought them back together.

Hugo Gustafsson's childhood was marked by a thoughtfully nurtured upbringing that became the cornerstone of his character. His mother, a woman of extraordinary determination, played an instrumental role in his development, especially during his father's frequent absences due to business commitments. Hugo’s education was entrusted to Saraswathi, a refined and cultured tutor of Indian heritage, who introduced him to the mesmerizing world of fairy tales while sharpening his abilities in grammar and spelling.

Nonetheless, it was his mother’s steadfast devotion and meticulous care that profoundly influenced Hugo’s growth into a gentleman. She instilled in him a deep-seated respect for women and a compassionate, empathetic outlook on life—principles she wove into every facet of his upbringing. Her diligent efforts shaped Hugo into an exceptional individual—intelligent, sensitive, and thoughtful.

However, Hugo was not entirely free from subtle prejudices and fixed ideas about life, which he found difficult to overcome even as time passed. Yet, the values his mother imbued in him ensured that his noble qualities always prevailed, making him a partner of rare caliber whom any woman would admire and cherish.

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