5. East-West

He was known as G.Gecko…

He had always thought he will see stories from the other side. Then, looking at the brown yellow mass, it transpired that he had to go through the proper way too…

                                                       ****

At station in the morning:

“Beauty, is in the nature of it, just like wet clay; always available for your ministrations. You don’t seek beauty, it comes to you on its own, gift wrapped and sealed with a kiss of love.”

Standing under the mildewed heat of the not so cool December morning, amongst a horde of unruly and despicable crowd, underneath shadows of unprotected and untrustworthy brittle metal ceiling, was not a place for romantic musings about beauty of life. Yet that is how Gulliver was. He had a tendency to see life in allusions. The picture in front of the eyes was far too inconsequential in front of the one going on behind.

Gulliver was as enigmatic you can be. His casual appearance and chilled out attitude never gave away the fact that he was a world renowned author. He often retreated to his recluse, seldom coming forth and giving interviews to the press who eagerly anticipated his interactions. In spite of being one of the most influential contemporary authors of his age, his face was still relatively unknown. A thing which he enjoyed and encouraged.

“Anonymity gives you a perspective fame seldom provides!”

This was his rationale. Yet over the years, people not recognising him lessened.  So he started moving to places where they didn’t know him. After travelling through the various countries which charted publication of several bestsellers set in different time zones, Gulliver stationed himself in India. And got enchanted by its paradox.

In India, he found that everybody literally got their fifteen minutes of fame. All that was required was to be at the right place on the right time. Yet you never got to see the phenomenon called everlasting recognition. Every next guy had a face similar to the other one. You could easily blend into the crowd and get lost like a needle in haystack. And that’s what he was in search of. Day by day, he got more and more inclined to settle down in the land of many faces and short memories.

Another reason which attracted him was the high spiritual leanings. He got fascinated by the kind of stuff these people could do with sheer hypnosis and mind power. Their philosophical currents and radical approach to life enthralled him. One of the reasons he prolonged his stay was to deeply invigorate the spiritual realms. In short he was in search of right master. And that is what brought him to the station that day.

Looking at his windswept blond, (Yellow! He would exclaim) hair, his     unusual clothes, his white skin and luxurious possessions; taxi drivers started to hound him. One guy who knew little bit of English started pestering with an illusive hope of impressing him.

‘I show you everything. India beautiful. India great. You want to see? I take you anywhere. Very cheap. Very fast. See my Vroom Vroom over there.’ He pointed towards his battered taxi. Gulliver just grunted in amusement. He headed for an honest looking guy standing disinterested in a corner.

“What’s your tariff?” he asked in a cheerful accent.

The guy did not understand. Gulliver searched for a meter in his car. He could not find one.

“What do you charge?” he asked again.

The guy spoke in his native dialect. Gulliver didn’t understand a word of it.

“Money? How much will you take to give me a tour of the country side?” he mimed at his wallet. The guy understood. Five fingers up.

“You mean five hundred, do you?”

He nodded, understanding for the first time.

“Done” he said sliding in the back seat of his car.

                                                      ****

In the taxi, on the highway:

He noticed so many people walking in sweaters and having mufflers around their necks. He wondered how these people felt cold in that barely lukewarm atmosphere. He himself was feeling stifled in his open collared shirt and cotton pants. Or was that because he came from colder regions? He still found it funny that people fretted so much about body warmth at a place which was relatively warmer…

He noticed that the driver did not wear anything. He was curios fellow, that driver. Time and again he looked in the rear-view mirror and started furtively smiling about nothing. He didn’t even seem to be a driver. He looked around at the car and was surprised to find it quite luxurious. The other taxi’s appeared in a very bad condition.

“Ah, this country! I guess I will never understand it…” He sighed to himself.

“Don’t waste your time interpreting this country sir. As someone puts it; India is chaos making sense.”

Gulliver was shocked for a second. Their eyes met in the rear view mirror. He saw his eye brows raised at his confusion. As if he expected him to realise on his own much, much earlier.

“So you speak English and have read Kipling too.” He answered coolly. It was not a question. Just plain statement.

“Oh when you mention it, do you know you both come from the same place for a similar purpose?” he answered gaily, his voice showing no trace of sarcasm.

He was just left in amazement for few minutes. He looked outside the window and saw a heavy freight truck bounce off a big pothole. Then suddenly, it all started to make sense to him.

“Who are you?” he asked, his expression remaining unchanged.

“You can consider me as one of your avid readers and consistent follower. Luckily for me, I saw your most recent TV interview a few days ago. If I do not happen to be wrong, you had given it three years back. That was before coming to this indecipherable country? You mentioned you are coming just for ground work of your next novel. But your novel also released a year ago and still you are in this same place? Till my knowledge about you goes, I don’t suppose you like to be in limelight? Then why stay at one place for so long? Speculations are going rife at your mother country.”

“What kind of speculation?” he asked brusquely.

“Oh nothing that would please you. All I can say is that if you are not going to change your base soon, people will start thronging this country beyond your understanding, to catch a glimpse of elusive you.”

“Who are you?” he again repeated, his tone relaxing

“Told you. I am an Indian who likes to read your books. Just because from there he realises what not to do. You might not know, but in some cases you tend to counter influence your audience. I guess I am a unique case. Mundanely referring, I am a software engineer at Infosys. One of the upcoming global-Indian firms, which is charting its way up on the world scenario. If I am not mistaken, it goes completely against your philosophy?”

“And what do you conclude of it?”

“Well you have never mentioned it explicitly, but beneath the under-currents you have always implied that. Western denomination. Right to overwrite the weaker section, by which you mean the east. Survival of the excellence, the parameters of which are decided by the fittest, or the ones having a current upper-hand. Your plots, characters, themes all come to one conclusion. The world is for winners. But who sets the competition and who decides upon result is quite apparent. You may not like to hear it, but howsoever good author you might be, howsoever well you might narrate the stories, still your novels Suck! They stink of reeking arrogance which is going to end this so called supremacy of west. And it is WE, the generation of people who read YOU guys who are going to bring this change.”

“Stop!” he suddenly commanded. The Honda City screeched to a halt, squealing piteously while it crunched the gravel beneath its tyres. And then echoed the clicking of door gates being opened suddenly.

                                                 ****

At the bridge overlooking the lake:

He had first seen it as one looks at the passing panorama, with an obvious indifference to the multitude of it. But then, he again twisted his head in its direction, as if attracted by some sudden recognition. As if finding a long lost friend amongst the horde of a crowd. And suddenly forgetting the conversation he was having with that unknown critic of his, he ordered him to stop.

He opened the door and stepped outside. Fresh air hit him and cool breeze whispered inside his ears. Out ahead in front of him lay the scene like an overtly sumptuous meal presented humbly on a simple platter.

The lakes water was not rippling, in spite of a small waterfall flowing into it at one end. Still, it seemed to have been held immobile by the sheer beauty of the environment. Green foliage surrounded, yet did not cover the place. Relief and ecstasy washed over his mind. He felt he was closer to his destiny than any other time.

Then, just like something small wriggling out of something bigger’s grasp, the hillside began to rumble. Then grumble. Then slither. And then not unlike the cascading waterfall few meters away, a part of mountain just came sliding down and blocked the latter part of road like a troublesome sentry. They were trapped.

He had always thought he will see stories from the other side. Then, looking at the brown yellow mass, it transpired that he had to go through the proper way too…

                                           ****

Stuck in the middle:

He looked at him, and got an inquisitive glance back. That reminded him of something else.

“If you knew me from the beginning, if you were aware of my purpose and destination, why all that pretence? Why did you not tell me right away at the station that you were not a taxi driver but a good for nothing loafer on my blood’s trail?” Sudden anger seethed inside him.

He uncrossed his legs and moved away from the car that he was leaning on to come nearer. Standing beside, and looking at the lake, he answered,

“I beg to differ on various counts. Firstly, I am not a good for nothing loafer. I am here on a personal vacation with my fiancée, and just wanted to get some kick, out of this monotonously boring place she has brought me to. That made me land at the station.”

“Secondly, I am not on, what did you put it as? Ah, your bloods trail… It was sheer happen-stance that you came to the same place at the same time. As you mentioned it in your work; in this country you just need to be at the right place at the right time. And I got lucky.”

“And thirdly, and this I would like you to answer. Tell me honestly, would you have taken my word if I had said anything different than what I did? You surely would not have hired me if I would have been behind your back. And judging by your arrogance, you certainly would not have accepted my denial to being a taxi man. As it is I was getting my life’s opportunity to convey to you what I feel, had reached epidemic urgency to be conveyed. Do you think I should have missed that opportunity?”

He looked in his direction. There was a malicious grin playing on his lips, though it didn’t seemed to reach his eyes. His eyes only had contempt. Contempt we usually show towards an incorrigible spot on a gleaming white surface. Suddenly he felt amused. Finally he got somebody who was ready to call a spade a fucking spade. There were a lot of things which could be learnt from this fellow.

“What place is this?” he asked dryly.

“It is a little nowhere called Bhandardara.”

“How far is it from Mombay?”

 He snorted in disgust.

“Guess you’ll never give up on your western arrogance. For the record, it is called Mumbai. And it is quite faraway. More so with that.” He jerked his thumb towards the landslide. Gulliver paused and looked at the brown yellow mass. The road ahead was completed blocked. With the kind of infrastructure and municipal services in this part of the world, he could only expect things to be worse.

“I think you’ll have to spend time at least for another week in this place.”

“Is there any accommodation near by?” Gulliver asked.

He didn’t say anything. Just walked to his Honda city, and started the engine.

                                              ****

Back at the hotel:

He was about to push the black tinted swivel door when he got a jerk as if somebody had nudged him behind his navel. Balancing himself against the revolving door, he saw that it was already being pushed by a broad shouldered muscular man in blue uniform. He glanced at him, and for a second their eyes met. However, that second seemed to hold his attention like suddenly a flare was ignited in darkness. But the second passed. Then he walked ahead with the other guy behind him.

It was curious feeling he got, as he deposited his bag on the reception counter. A feeling you generally get when you feel you know something which cannot be expressed within knowledgeable terms of feeling.

He noticed a crib being constructed in the far end of the alley. Suddenly he realised it was Christmas next eve. He chuckled dryly. Holy time! Looking around he felt was a decent place. The archaic interiors and tasteful decorations went well with the petite size of the place.

Just for confirmation, he asked the guy on the counter.

“Are you the person in charge of reception?”

He looked in the guy’s direction. He was scornfully smiling.

“Yes I am. How may I assist you?”

Just then somebody screamed from the end of the alley that purportedly lead to the rooms.

“Arpit!”

The guy jerked in that direction. Suddenly the colour drained from his face, and from scorn, his expression changed to that which would have seemed appropriate on pups face.

“Where the hell were you since all this time! Do you know mister that I have been searching you like crazy since past half an hour?”

“I am sorry. I am sorry. Just was out was feeling bored and you were asleep, so took a short trip…” he said while pulling her away back to the rooms. Their voices started disappearing as they went ahead.

“I don’t care. Do you know how worried…”

Gulliver just smiled to himself. Paid the amount and took the keys which the guy was giving.

“Don’t you have any bell boys or escorts?” he asked cheerily.

“Of course we have sire. Wait a minute.”

He pressed the bell and again the broad shouldered body builder came in. He directed him to escort. Nodding, he took the luggage off Gulliver’s hand and started taking him to his room.

He followed him wondering whether the guy ever cared to know which room did he want to go.

It turned out that he already knew, without anyone telling him, without even once looking at the keys…

4. The Other Half

Ashi and the other one.

Ashi stared at the sleeping form of Ansh, her twin brother, and felt a sudden rush of affection. He had steadily ignored her since yesterday and even avoided making eye contact. He was definitely hiding something. And knowing Ansh’s attitude of sharing every joy and secretly suffering every pain, it was more than likely that he was having problems with Divya.

Ashi had noticed Ansh’s muddy footprints in the morning and correctly guessed that he had probably gone out during the night. But she would not press him.

Presently, Ansh was stirring. He opened his eyes and pushing himself up to his elbows, groggily stared at Ashi. Suddenly he threw his blanket aside and started flinging pillows and bed sheets everywhere.

He turned to her and growled ,”Where is it?”

Ashi raised an eyebrow. “Good morning dear brother.”

Ansh’s eyes widened. “Where is my cell phone…?”

Realization hit. The pitch of his voice escalated a couple of octaves. “Oh ff….” their mother entered the room “…ffffish!” he ended lamely. Their mother glared at him reprovingly. Ashi giggled.

He stared at Ashi wide eyed. “I threw my cell phone into the pond last night.”

Ashi stared back. “Congratulations bro, your stupidity seems to have reached new heights.”

“No seriously, I did.”

“Okay, so you did it. Why? Momentary insanity or a display of your pseudo-defensive tendency to constantly re-assert yourself in the greater scheme of the universal mish-mash?”

“My pseudo-what?”

“Oh never mind…why did you throw your cell phone into the pond?”

“To kind of get back at Divya…by the way she dumped me for another guy. Some dude called Vinay…”

“So your girlfriend leaves you for another handsome guy…”

“He’s not handsome, he has a face like a Hippo’s backside…”

“Okay your girlfriend dumps you for another guy who resembles a Hippo’s arse and you get back at her by throwing your cell into a pond. Man, I can really visualize her losing sleep over that.”

“Look, can we leave the sarcasm for until after tea? I’m really not in the mood for long explanations.”

“Sure bro, now go brush your teeth before I faint. One last question…why are you desperate for your cell now.”

“My cell contains all the passwords for my college project files…”

“And no doubt, they are all complicated passwords with no back up anywhere, right?”

“Right. But the cell didn’t fall into the lake. I can’t be sure but I think the cell hit somebody near the bank of the pond.”

“Great, let’s have tea then we’ll go hunting for people with cell phone sized bruises on their selves. And let me massage your foot now.”

For the first time since he had reached the hotel, Ansh smiled.

 

Ashi, looking at Ansh hobbling around the bank of the pond with his head bent, suddenly felt very happy. This was immediately followed by pangs of guilt.

For more than a year, Ansh had been involved with Divya. Ashi was happy for him but somehow he had moved away from his own twin sister. How she had missed those pillow fights, those conspiracies against stupid relatives, those long nights when they slept on the terrace and bitched about every person on the planet…the list was endless. And then after Divya came into his life, Ashi watched with growing apprehension as her once playful and lovable brother slowly lost his good humor, became a spoilsport, a party-pooper, the black sheep in the family who was branded as an incurable good-for-nothing. During the past one year, whenever she had looked into Ansh’s eyes, beyond the defiant expression she could see a plea for help, for release from his self inflicted punishment…a desperate cry to his twin sister who was barely two minutes older to him and yet much more matured…

And now she had him back to herself. She knew she was being very selfish but he definitely looked much happier now and that gave her a greater satisfaction than anything else.

Presently Ansh walked to where she was sitting and shook his head.

“Can’t find it anywhere…”

“Are you sure it didn’t fall in the water?”

Ansh turned towards the pond and shook his head again. “It was quite silent and lonely last night, I would have heard a splash. Instead I heard a scream…”

His voice trailed off. He stared at the water for a moment. “That’s strange, the water is rippling.”

Ashi got up and stood near him. “There’s nothing strange in that, a kind of small waterfall empties into this lake from near that cliff over there. Do you expect the water to remain still?”

Ansh turned towards her. “But it was perfectly still last night. I remember that apart from occasional ripples due to air currents, the water was completely still.” He turned back to the pond. “But that can’t be right, can it?”

Silence prevailed for a few minutes as the twins stood and watched the rippling surface of the pond. Then Ansh, with his unnerving ability of popping up with the most random question, asked “So, do you fancy that guy or what?”

Ashi became alert. “Which guy?”

Ansh grinned his trademark grin which sometimes made Ashi want to choke him. “That guy you were staring at during breakfast. Nice looking bloke. I think he’s married.”

*****

 

The little girl sat on a small rock near the bank and began to weep. It was neither day nor night. Time was immaterial. A wind blew but it did not rustle the leaves nor disturbed the dust. The world was unchanging except for the pond. The pond had now stopped rippling and that is why the girl was weeping.

For years she had sat on the same rock and waited for her papa. Had she waited for years? Decades? Centuries? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. She only wanted to see her papa again. She knew that she had to wait near the pond, her world did not exist beyond it. Even her papa was trapped near the pond. And yet they were so far away.

The water had stopped rippling. This meant that she would once again start seeing the ghosts. Sometimes she saw her papa but that was rare and even then he never spoke to her. The hope of seeing her papa again was the only reason she didn’t shut her eyes now.

The surface of the pond was now completely still. Out of nowhere, an object came flying through the air and landed at the little girl’s feet. She clutched at her ears and let out a piercing scream that rent the non-existent atmosphere. Her scream subsided into sobs as she cried for her papa. The object was alien to her. It was small, black and rectangular in shape. It had some numbers on it. Her papa had taught her how to read. She read the letters N-O-K-I-A on the object but could not make any sense out of it.

The surface of the pond started rippling again.

2. Shit Happens

…and then there was Ansh.

Just when you think that things cannot get any worse, life, like a twisted Santa Claus, pops out of the chimney and flings some new horror at you. It’s almost like a challenge. You think that’s bad? Take this, loser!

Loser. A wonderfully pessimistic song by the post-grunge rock band -3 Doors Down. And also a song that fully reflected Anshuman’s state of being that pleasant evening.

You’re getting closer…to pushing me off of life’s little edge…

Anshuman, or Ansh as he was called by friends and family, turned up the volume of his MP3 player. He wanted to fill his head with the loud strummings of the lead guitarist…

...cause I’m a loser…sooner or later you know I’ll be dead…

And yet he could not block the voices in his head.

“Mom: You flunked the exam? How? You had bunked the exam? (faints)”

“Dad: You hit a pedestrian while driving the car? Was he hurt? What’s this, a hospital bill? May I see your driver’s license (sound of a driver’s license being torn to pieces)”

“Divya: Oh, actually, Vinay proposed to me last night...and I cant wait forever…(retreating footsteps)”

“Vinay: Loser!!! (maniacal laughter)”

You’re getting closer…you’re holding the rope and I’m taking the fall…cause I’m a loser…

The song ended like all rock songs do – abruptly. Ansh shifted in his seat and looked around in the large A/C Volvo bus. Over forty-five seats and nearly half occupied by the massive family members of his massive family. Most were fast asleep though the kids appeared to be knocked out from excessive screaming and wailing. Finally, there was some peace in the bus. He turned back to the window and decided that all in all it had been a pretty bad week. He had flunked an exam, lost his driver’s license, got dumped by his girlfriend and had somehow managed to sprain his right foot that morning before leaving for this family vacation. Family vacation. That usually meant his family rushing off to some place or the other, with oldies falling ill, children vomiting in the bus, cousins gossiping, uncles boozing, aunties shopping and Ansh sitting forlornly in some convenient corner and wondering if normal people exist only in fiction.

Presently, the lights were switched on inside the bus. They were entering the ghats. Ansh groaned. It was time for his family to lose their heavy afternoon lunch. He gingerly touched his swollen right foot and grimaced. But currently that was the least of his worries.

He would not admit it to anyone but he missed Divya like hell. After their disastrous phone conversation the previous night, he had desperately tried to get in touch with her. He consoled himself by dreaming up plausible excuses for her inability to return his calls but now his patience was running thin. How had things ever reached to such a state that she couldn’t find the time to even reply to a message? And Vinay? After everything that had happened between them, she chose Vinay? 

Ansh stared at his battered cell phone and willed it to beep. His only consolation was that for the past half hour he had almost no network connectivity. Maybe her message had arrived and was just waiting to leap into his phone, maybe she would call him up and say April fool or whatever-month-it-was fool, maybe Vinay was a cousin brother who loved to play practical jokes on his sister’s boyfriends or maybe he, Ansh, was a complete and absolute asshole. The general consensus was for the last option.

A humorless smile appeared on his lips. He noticed that most of his family was up and decided to close his eyes and at least pretend to be asleep.

 

He woke up with a jerk and realized that they had stopped moving.

“Come young man,” said a particularly enthusiastic Uncle ,”the fun is about to begin.”

Fun? Ansh laughed loudly…sure, fun. The uncle mistook his laughter to be an effect of his own infectious joy and moved ahead to further spread his charm. Ansh looked out the window into the gloomy darkness beyond and wondered if his family was actually stupid enough to want to vacation in the middle of nowhere. He could faintly make out the shapes of knobbly trees and foliage when a fine spray of rain began pouring down the window obscuring his vision even further. Rain. What difference did it make? He painfully hobbled out of the bus and was promptly saddled with two heavy suitcases by an industrious aunt and was instructed to take it to their rooms. Rooms? He then noticed some of his cousins walking along a path hidden in the overgrown foliage. There was no point in explaining his swollen foot to anyone. Dragging the two suitcases behind him, he moved down the path that would hopefully lead to a hotel of some kind and not a settlement of cannibals.

 

It was nearly midnight. Ansh stared at his phone. Limited Network, Emergency Calls Only. This was a bloody emergency! Divya, the queen of his nocturnal fantasies had now become the bane of his existence. And yet he longed to hear those cute baby lips spell out his name, that husky voice cooing in his ears, those expressive eyes looking at him-within him…his romantic musings were interrupted by a particularly pungent belch from an Uncle sleeping somewhere in the dark room. This was more than Ansh could bear. Sprained ankle or no sprained ankle, he put on a sweater and left the room in search of some mental peace, solitude and better network coverage.

 

One of the aunties had mentioned a pond nearby. Hopefully, it would be something more than a marshy pool with dead fishes floating on the surface. The thin sweater provided Ansh inadequate protection from the bitingly cold night air. He walked on towards the outer perimeter of the hotel hoping he would see the pond before actually falling into it. The night air was suffused with certain strong emotional currents, some veiled motives, some unchained desires. All of this was lost on Ansh who was still busy fiddling with his phone. He looked up and realized that he had reached onto a cliff of some sort. And beyond the cliff…was a pond. The sight of the still waters, rippling now and then as a wayward current of air passed over the surface, completed a hidden patter deep in Ansh’s emotional consciousness. His cell phone beeped. Divya. Two words. Good bye.

Ansh looked at the cell phone. It was a gift from Divya. He opened the back of the cell and took out the ‘sim’ card which he carefully placed in his pocket. And then in one fluid motion with a joy that was of both emotional and physical release, he swung his hand and flung the cell into the lake.

He failed to hear a splash. Instead he heard a sharp scream…

Oops?

1. Indecent Revelations…

His name was Arpit…

“Was this how Narcissus felt, as he whiled away his beauty, admiring it, getting sucked into it?” he wondered, as he kept on looking at his unsteady reflection in the lake. What brought him there, he did not know. Why, in any situation, was he not with his fiancee, he could not understand. And most of all he could not understand, why he chose to lie down on his belly, looking up at his own reflection, on a lake he was seeing for the first time.

“This is not done!” Her voice echoed. He jerked up suddenly, to find Sheffy behind him, trying to balance herself on the unsteady rocks around the lake. He felt irritated by her presence.

“How did you find me?” he asked.
“I have been searching for you since last fifteen minutes!! Gosh! Fancy disappearing like that, leaving your fiancee alone with a bell boy!”
“Oh well, I was feeling a little dizzy. Thought if I might have a look around”
“That's convenient, isn't it?” She removed her sandals and sat down beside him, dipping her feet in the water. He also sat up, but did not touch the water.

“I have got it all worked out for the marriage." She said after a few minutes. "We can have the rites on the cliff I saw on the way. It was big enough to erect a safe shamiana for about hundred people. Orchid blue, lavender and whites. Only for family and close friends. And then we will throw a reception for all the relations and long lost friends back in the city. What do you think?”

He just grunted a non-committal yes in reply. His thoughts were strangely far away from marriage and romance.

He kept on staring at the rippling water. Suddenly her incessant chat seemed unimportant. And he used to love to listen to her talk! He wanted to somehow just get away from her. 

“Sheffy lets go back to the hotel, shall we?” he asked her.
“Why? It’s so good out here… and lonely too…” she winked.

He looked at her. Her lips curved in a knowing smile. He remembered a time when he would die to see that smile on a girl's face when they looked at him. Today though was different. Today, that smile was ugly, grotesque. A distraction.
“Lets go Sheffy.” And he went away

She just sat at her place, too shocked to say anything. After a while, she dusted herself and followed him.

*

The child moved slowly, with luxurious and agile stride only children can afford. The nettles kept pricking his bare skin, the part exposed below his knees by his half-pant. But he was too busy chasing butterflies to notice.

The colours of the surroundings were straight out of an old, yellowed photograph of long lost times; the kind of colors that make you feel happy and sad at the same time. Moving through such a dreamlike maze, he reached the lake.

Sunlight reflected off its silent ripples, ripples which were there even when the breeze was not. He looked up at the sky and felt the glare of burning sun blind him. He looked in the opposing direction, towards the valleys, where he saw a beautiful rainbow on the cliff ridge. Like a bouncing elf tail. Like a naughty genie. He smiled a little. Then laughed. Then laughed more. Then the world seemed to have joined in his laughter. Everything started to roar in hilarity. Hilarity, which wiped even the burning heat of sun out. And then brought huge shadows… he looked up again, and saw that the rainbow was transforming… like a wild beast, it was changing its nature. Like a werewolf. Like a predator. The colours shrank back. Grey hued jaws erupted. Wild long fangs of lightning flashed from it. Seeing all this, his heart started to beat fast. He had only one thought in his mind.
“Mummy!”
He saw his mother hiding amongst the trees. He ran to her.
“Mummy…” he cried. Tears were streaming down his cheeks.
When he reached the tree his mother was nowhere. He heard a laugh in opposite direction… he ran towards it… then he stopped. Removed the thorn from his palm. Again he ran. But after reaching he again stopped. Confused. There was nobody to be seen. Only heard. What was it? A moan? A cry? A whimper? A tinkle? A wail? A laughter? Who was making it? Why did he not come in front?

He moved a little ahead and reached a clear patch of grass. And beyond that, hidden among the huge boulders, a glimpse of an waterfall. He moved towards it, suddenly excited. Forgetting everything. Even mummy.

Water cascaded down in heavy measures, bringing along everything, soil stones fishes. He moved aside the huge palm-frond leaf which swung on his face. Thats when a spider stuck to his hand. When it had stuck to him and how, he did not know. But when it bit him, there was nothing in the world but pain. And…
“Mummy!”

Suddenly a fissure appeared on the wall of the cliff. Slowly it widened like a monster’s stretching jaws… then when it was big enough for ten of him to be swallowed inside, there echoed the same cry again… or a laugh? Or a wail?
Finding energy enough for it, he shouted,
“Mummy!”
He woke up suddenly from the nightmare. Sheffy did not move beside him. She just lay there asleep, her long, slender body arced and supple. He kissed her lightly on the forehead. She seemed to have smiled. Or was it the moon-light falling on her face?

He got up and paced around the room. The cold floor burned his feet. Flashes of the nightmare were still reeling on his mind though. Somehow, in some way, he felt deja vu about it, as if it was he himself in that dream. Was it even possible? And the lake. Was it not the same lake? He was very curious now.

He quickly reached the lake and followed the footsteps of the child in his dream. He saw, to his amazement, the same place, and the same palm frond waiting at the entrance of the great waterfall.In one brisk movement, he moved it away from his face, and just like before again a fissure appeared which slowly widened, to open a gaping mouth of the giant, in which ten like him could have fit in. And then issued the low wail….