Jessie ran until she couldn’t run any more. Her lungs ached and her breaths 
were short and ragged. Sweat was pouring out of every pore and her legs 
ached from the run. She still hadn’t fully recovered from the effects of the 
sleeping drug.
	She had ate very little gravy for dinner. The gravy tasted a little bitter. 
She had been the first to be affected because she was tired. A game of beach 
volleyball with Jonny wasn’t easy. It had been a one on one match as they 
weren’t evenly paired.
	She woken up groggy and dizzy. A slight headache was present. Her father, 
Benton and Hadji were sprawled on the couch and on the floor. Only Jonny was 
missing. She searched all the rooms for him but found no Jonny.
	She went down to the beach and found a pair of footprints leading 
somewhere. She knew they were Jonny’s because there was a special JQ mark on 
the heel. They were fairly easy to trace as the markings were distinct.
	She had cursed Jonny for walking so far. She noticed that there was another 
pair of footprints beside Jonny’s. A woman’s prints from the size and shape 
of the prints.
	Slowly, Jonny’s plan was becoming clear to her. He had drugged all of them 
so that they wouldn’t interfere. Then, he had dressed up as his father as a 
decoy and now, he was running away from Stheno. Until when? Jessie couldn’t 
answer that question.
	She picked herself up from the ground and jogged back towards the rocky 
cove. Jonny may need help.

**********************************************************************************
	Jonny checked his watch as he ran. He had long slowed to a jog. 
Perspiration dripped into his eyes, stinging them. Eleven forty five! Come 
on, is time just stopping or something? He asked himself. He was tiring 
rapidly. He was already exhausted and it took all his reserves to continue 
running.
	Stheno seemed to have endless stamina. She pursued without having to take a 
break. She seemed to know that Jonny was tiring rapidly.
	"You know Benton, I never thought of you to be this fit," she hissed.
	Jonny could almost see a grin curled on her deformed face. I need a break, 
he decided. Running as quickly as he could, he suddenly swerved to the 
right, and disappeared behind a skinny bush and a huge boulder.
	Stheno chuckled. "Dumb move, Benton. You are what I call trapped!" She 
pounced behind the bush, expecting to trap Benton. She found nothing but a 
lizard behind the bush. Suddenly, she felt a hard kick behind and she 
stumbled forward, falling over the narrow ledge.
	"Ever heard of tricking a stupid beast?" jeered Jonny. He breathed heavily, 
trying to conserve all his energy for the remaining ten minutes.
	"And what do you think I have claws for?" a voice screeched. A horrible 
clawed arm was now visible.
	"To scratch your eyes out!" yelled Jonny, stamping hard on Stheno’s claws.
	Stheno screamed in pain and swept her arm upwards, sending Jonny sprawling 
back on his back. Jonny got up and began a leisurely jog. Stheno was more 
that half way up. Five minutes left.
	He ran away as fast as he could, not noticing Jessie’s hidden figure. 
Stheno followed a minute later. Jessie stared in horror at Stheno’s back. 
The once beautiful maiden was a horrifying monster. She didn’t dare follow, 
not just yet.
	Jonny was beginning to feel scared. He couldn’t run anymore and Stheno was 
less than a few metres away from him. Suddenly, a clawed arm reached out and 
grabbed him, ripping his shirt. Jonny lashed out with a kick and tried to 
escape. Stheno reached out with an arm again and grabbed his foot, tripping 
him.
	"You can’t escape anymore. Jonny warned you didn’t he? Damn that brat!" She 
was surprised when her statement was replied with a laugh.
	Jonny laughed heartily, still lying face down. Alkaline dust choked him but 
he didn’t care.
	"What’s so funny?" Stheno demanded.
	"You didn’t see through this disguise. I’m not my father. I’m Jonny. You 
wasted your last hour chasing me all over the place. For a woman with your 
experience, you are pretty dumb."
	"Liar!" shrieked Stheno. She yanked Jonny up to his feet.
	Jonny tugged off the fake beard and wiped away at the remaining make-up 
with his sleeve. He threw the beard at Stheno’s feet. "It’s too late, 
Stheno. You can’t turn my father into stone in time!" Jonny said 
triumphantly.
	"But I can turn you into stone! I’ll suffer the same fate anyway. You 
interfering brat!" Stheno spun Jonny around to face her.
	Jonny made no objection, knowing that he would still be killed sooner or 
later. He stared boldly into her eyes, infuriating her even more that he 
didn’t seem to be afraid. He felt a numbness wash over him. Slowly, from his 
feet, his body hardened, forming a perfect statue of the purest marble. At 
last, his face hardened and turned to stone.
	Stheno gave a mighty cry of frustration and hurried back to her cave, to 
where she would remain for the next century. She never heard Jessie climbing 
the hill as quickly as she could.
	Jessie moved as quickly as she could. She gave a low moan when she saw a 
gleaming figure of white standing in the moonlight. She ran over to the 
statue and threw her arms around it, weeping into the cold shoulder. Her 
fingers traced Jonny’s handsome features.
	Stepping back, she realised that everything Jonny had on had been turned 
into stone. But, something reflected the moonlight back at her. She moved 
forward to check what it was. A heart shape pendant hung from a thin chain 
around his neck. It never changed, still made of pure gold. In contrast to 
the coldness of the statue, it was warm, very warm.
	Jessie cried as she fingered the pendant gently. She recognised it as the 
pendant she had bought him on their last Valentine date. What touched her 
was that he still wore it all this time, even after catching her kissing 
Hadji.
	Finally, she had made her choice, but it was too late. She realised that 
she loved Jonny with all her heart. The pendant never lost its warmth and 
Jessie knew why. The reason it never turned into stone was because it 
contained all Jonny’s love.
	When Jessie finally left Jonny, the sun was rising. She found the rest just 
stirring from their slumber, still groggy. No one believed her at first, but 
after a few cups of strong coffee, the truth finally sank in. She lead them 
to Jonny’s statue, sobbing all the way.
	When Benton saw Jonny’s marble prison, he collapsed to his knees and cried 
shamelessly. Even Hadji banished his composure and cried.
	"I’ll hunt down Stheno and kill her myself!" vowed Benton, in between sobs.
	"You can’t. She probably hid herself. She can last as long as it takes. She 
is immortal." Hadji spoke in a controlled voice.
	"Why did Jonny do this?" asked Race.
	"I don’t know. He never told any of us a thing. I just figured out some of 
his plans." Jessie stood next to Jonny, hugging herself. "And he can’t now. 
He’s gone. Gone, dad!" She buried her wet face into Race’s chest.
	Race felt helpless. He just stroked her head gently, the way he always did 
when he was younger.

**********************************************************************************
	It was three weeks later. Jessie sat on her bed, staring out into the warm 
garden. Birds were chirping and the flowers were in full bloom. The events 
of the last three weeks replayed in front of her eyes.
	Benton had organised a hunt for Stheno. A few willing locals helped but 
they found nothing. After a desperate one week search, Benton finally gave 
up and filed a missing person report on Jonny. He knew he couldn’t possibly 
get a death certificate, claiming that his son had been turned into stone by 
some mythological creature.
	Jessie searched Jonny’s laptop’s memory banks for any clue. All she found 
were thirty-one articles about gorgons. She read all of them thoroughly 
until she reached the same article that had caught Jonny’s attention. She 
showed it to Benton, Race and Hadji.
	"So that’s why he did what he did. To protect me," said Benton. He sat down 
on a chair and sobbed.
	"We did all we could to find Stheno, Ben. It’s time to move on and go 
home," said Race, sitting down beside Benton.
	Benton just nodded numbly. He didn’t move from his current position for 
over three hours. Hadji packed all his father’s and Jonny’s belongings into 
suitcases and set them against the wall, ready to be shipped to the airport, 
along with the other suitcases.
	Three weeks later, things were beginning to return to normal. She had lied 
and told Hadji that she had chosen him. Jessie had secretly arranged for 
Jonny to be sent to the Quest Compound. The statue had arrived one 
afternoon, when the rest were taking a nap. She hid the statue in a secluded 
spot in the Compound.

**********************************************************************************
SIXTY YEARS LATER

	Hadji made his way into Jessie’s private garden slowly, with the aid of his 
cane. It was the day after Jessie’s funeral and he had finally plucked the 
courage to enter Jessie’s private garden. His eightieth birthday had passed 
barely a month ago and Jessie’s seventy-ninth birthday was just two weeks 
away.
	A tear rolled down his cheek as he recalled his happiest moments with 
Jessie. He had married her soon after she graduated from university and they 
had moved to Bangalore. Over the years, Jessie had built this garden by 
herself. She grew every plant and took care of it herself.
	As he walked deeper into the green paradise, he noticed a remarkable statue 
standing in the middle of the garden. Walking closer, Hadji recognised it. 
He recognised his brother’s face, frozen for eternity in marble. Tears 
rolled off his brilliant white beard. He noticed a gold pendant hanging from 
Jonny’s neck.
	Putting on his glasses, Hadji studied the pendant. He recognised it as the 
same one Jessie had given Jonny over sixty years ago. He reached out and 
touched it. It was warm, like it had been in the hands of a living person 
just a second ago.
	Then, he realised the truth. They never did let go of each other. Jessie 
always loved him as he did love her. His heart ached from knowing the truth. 
Ignorance is bliss, he realised. The truth can hurt, hurt very deeply.
	Hadji left the garden, with mixed feelings. On his way back to his royal 
chamber, he called for his vizier.
	"Kumar, I want you to move that statue from your queen’s private garden and 
move it to her grave," Hadji ordered. He knew he had to let her go sometime. 
She had been separated from her true love long enough. Jessie had asked for 
a Christian burial in a plot of land that she owned.
	Hadji retired to his room. He felt lonely for the first time in many years. 
He had been living in a lie for all this time. "You win, Jonny. She chose 
you. She always loved you," Hadji said. He smiled as he said those words. 
Bitterness never entered his words as it never entered his heart. "Live 
well, my friends. May I join you soon." Hadji lay down and went to sleep, 
dreaming of all his happy moments in life, his teenage years with Jonny and 
Jessie, his marriage, his children, his grandchildren and the latest entry, 
Jonny and Jessie’s reunion.

THE END