The House of Endless Hallways
The House of Endless Hallways
A real estate agent, Karen, shows a mansion to a wealthy client. As she explores, she realizes that the hallways twist and extend impossibly, and rooms appear and disappear.
Each hallway seems to test her emotionally, showing visions of past regrets, fears, and desires. She learns that the house is alive, feeding on those who enter, and that escaping requires confronting her deepest truths.
The climax: Karen navigates the labyrinth to confront the house’s spirit, understanding that her freedom depends on accepting her past mistakes and forgiving herself.
About the Creator
Keep reading
More stories from GoldenSpeech and writers in Chapters and other communities.
Bangladesh Student Revolution 2024: Rahat Hossain Story and the Future of Bangladesh Politics
Rahat Hossain was close to being killed himself while trying to save his friend, as the rebellion of many young people like him turned into one of the bloodiest episodes in Bangladesh’s history. In a video that went viral during the recent revolution in the country, he is seen trying to carry Imam Hasan Taim Bhuiyan to safety after he had been shot by police. On 20 July 2024, during the crackdown on protests, 24-year-old Rahat Hossain and 19-year-old Imam Hasan Bhuiyan took refuge at a tea stall in Dhaka. Police dragged them out, beat them and ordered them to run. Bhuiyan was shot. Seeing him fall to the ground, Rahat Hossain began dragging him away, but the police continued firing. Rahat realized that a bullet had struck his own leg. “I had to leave him behind,” Rahat says. Later, Imam Hasan Bhuiyan was declared dead at the hospital. Such violence transformed the student-led demonstrations into large-scale nationwide protests centered on the capital, Dhaka. Within two weeks, the government was removed from power and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. According to the United Nations, nearly 1,400 people were killed during the protests, most of them in the security crackdown ordered by Sheikh Hasina. Hasina’s fall appeared to promise a new era. The uprising was regarded around the world as the first and most successful Gen-Z protest movement. Some Bangladeshi student leaders assumed important positions in the interim government and tried to shape the country for which they had taken to the streets. After decades of rule by Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and the rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), they were expected to play a role in the country’s future administration. But as Thursday’s general elections approach, the newly formed student political party appears deeply divided. The Awami League is banned, and decades-old parties seem to be filling the vacuum. Rahat Hossain had taken part in the student-led protests of 2024. Those demonstrations brought together the younger generation—men and women, secular and religious people alike. Initially the protests were against new quotas in civil service jobs, but gradually they developed a “single common goal”: the end of authoritarian rule. “The interim government has failed to build the beautiful Bangladesh based on peace, equality and justice that was expected from it.” He is not alone in feeling that the student-led National Citizens Party (NCP) is inexperienced. Instead, many believe it is influenced by another older party, Jamaat-e-Islami. This Islamist party has historically played the role of a small ally in Bangladeshi politics, but its popularity has grown ahead of the 12 February elections, in which the Awami League is barred. Founded in 1941, the party has always been questioned over its stance during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan, in which millions were killed and more than ten million displaced. Some of its politicians were accused of siding with West Pakistan at the time. But this history does not trouble Rahat Hossain. He believes the party has changed. He explains, “Jamaat supported the July uprising and the students in many ways.” Party leader Shafiqur Rahman said Jamaat promises to eradicate corruption and restore the independence of the judiciary. Although such claims are difficult in a country with historically high levels of corruption, they are resonating with many people. Professor Towfique Haque of North South University in Dhaka says most young voters born after 1971 can separate Jamaat from its past and do not see it as a “red line.” He says, “It is a generational issue,” arguing that the new generation does not want to be entangled in that debate. Haque adds that young voters see Jamaat as a party like themselves—one that suffered under Sheikh Hasina’s repression, was banned from politics, and whose leaders were jailed. Rahat Hossain is not alone in leaning toward Jamaat-e-Islami. Last September, candidates backed by Jamaat’s student wing won major victories in elections at Bangladesh’s top universities, seen as a sign of a national trend. Notably, for the first time since independence, an Islamist group gained control of the student union at Dhaka University. This was a major signal for student leaders, especially in a country where nearly four out of ten voters are under 37. A controversial compromise The lack of confidence in the NCP has been a major setback for student leaders. Twenty-seven-year-old Asif Mahmud, former adviser in the interim government and now chairman of the NCP election committee, admits, “We hoped to do far better.” But he argues the challenges were enormous. “For the last 50 years only two parties have ruled Bangladesh… we are trying to prove ourselves.” So the NCP made a decision. In December it announced a multi-party alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. Like Jamaat, the NCP also promises to eliminate corruption. Its manifesto includes other pledges for young voters: justice for families of those killed in the uprising, lowering the voting age to 16, and creating jobs through tax and economic reforms. Asif Mahmud says, “We may disagree on some issues, but Jamaat has grassroots reach and the NCP needs that.” “We have always said we are not an Islamist party. This is not an ideological alliance.” However, Jamaat allowed the NCP to field only 30 candidates—just two of them women—while Jamaat itself has more than 200 candidates, all men. This compromise has been called an “ethical red line” by senior NCP women like Tasnim Zara, who along with others resigned from the party. Twenty-five-year-old student Shima Akhter, who played a key role in the protests, says, “They wanted to push us out.” Although women were central to the uprising, Shima says the interim government under Muhammad Yunus remains largely male-dominated. After the revolution, Shima and other female activists were targeted in social-media posts. “Some meme videos were very violent and depressing. We were defamed and mocked,” she recalls. Videos circulated calling them unintelligent, claiming their marriage prospects were ruined, and even mocking Shima’s complexion. Both parties deny ignoring women and claim the number of female candidates reflects Bangladesh’s “social structure.” Jamaat leader Shafiqur Rahman said he hopes the situation will change. Shima dismisses this as “just a patriarchal excuse.” She leans toward the BNP, which has fielded 10 women among more than 250 candidates. “At least it’s better than the worst,” she says. Will dynastic politics continue? The lack of support for the NCP and the ban on the Awami League are also benefiting the BNP, which now presents itself as a liberal democratic force. After seeing thousands of supporters and senior members jailed under Awami rule, the BNP is now the largest party contesting the elections, further pressuring the student party. Just as the Awami League was led by Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the country’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the BNP is also tied to a political dynasty. Its new leader Tarique Rahman is the son of Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s first female prime minister. Khaleda herself came to power after her husband, a former president, was assassinated in a military coup. Former BNP commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, “Whether you belong to a family or not is irrelevant.” Ironically, this family legacy revived because of the student-led uprising, which allowed Rahman to return after 17 years of self-exile. After Hasina’s departure, both he and his mother were cleared of corruption charges they called politically motivated. He has criticized Jamaat for exploiting religious sentiment for votes and promises economic and democratic reforms and a “rainbow nation,” with a new national reconciliation commission to heal divisions. Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh for 15 years, overseeing economic growth but continually silencing opposition through politically motivated arrests, disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Last year the Bangladesh war crimes tribunal sentenced her to death for the 2024 crackdown. A hidden district leader of the Awami League said, “Free and fair elections are impossible without including the Awami League. If Sheikh Hasina orders it, the party and its supporters will resist the elections.” He warned, “If she says people should not go to polling stations, we will not go. If she says disrupt the elections, we will do so.” He called allegations by independent human-rights groups of political arrests and extrajudicial killings “false and fabricated.” After the 12 February elections, students will know whether their revolution and bloodshed achieved anything. Rahat Hossain sits near the Jatrabari flyover in Dhaka—the place where he lost his friend. He is still waiting for the trial of the police officers accused in his friend’s death to be completed. Imam Hasan Bhuiyan’s father is himself a police officer. When he identified his son’s body, he called a senior officer and asked, “Sir, how many bullets does it take to kill a boy?” Rahat says he still feels fear from the day his friend was shot. He watched the video eight days later when the internet was restored. “My screams can be heard… I kept crying.” A year later, on 5 August, he marked the first anniversary of Hasina’s ouster with his “fellow rebels. But Rahat admits that his “new Bangladesh” has not yet been realized. He believes this will not be possible until an elected government carries out reforms. “You cannot expect mangoes from a tamarind tree,” he says.
By Real contentabout 2 hours ago in Chapters
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.