I woke up with a jerk, beads of perspiration on my face. Taking a few deep breaths I sat up.
Just a dream, I thought nervously, looking out of the window. It was dark outside; night had fallen. Just a stupid dream...
I got off my bed and started getting dressed. I had to do something...
I was fifteen years old, I remember very clearly, and had gone out of the house after an argument with my elder brother, Jason. Who does he think he is, I thought angrily. Always telling me what to do... always criticizing me about everything... just because he is older than me doesn't mean---
I kicked a pebble lying on the road and sent it soaring into a neighbour's garden.
He's unfair to Maggie as well, I went on. Of course she wouldn't protest, because she is so scared of him. But he doesn't give a damn to what anyone feels. If he could have heard what I was thinking right now... "Pat! You shouldn't talk in that way! It's bad. If Mother comes to know... "
But Mother always comes to know. And I'm sure that Jason tells her everything... every single little mistake I and Maggie make. Usually she would scold us a bit, but as soon as Jason is out of earshot, Maggie would ask her tearfully, "Why does he have to be so hard on us?"
And Mother would smile and say, "He is your elder brother, Maggie... He wants you to be good."
"He is mean... very mean!" I once told her bitterly, unable to stop myself.
As soon as she heard this, she became very quiet. Then she said, "Tell me something, Patrick. Do you see your Father everyday?"
"No," I replied. "He is always away, working at the oil mill in some other village. He comes home only once or twice a month! How am I supposed to see him everyday?"
"You should understand this, Patrick," Mother said seriously. "There are a lot of responsibilities on Jason's shoulders... things which should have been taken care of by your Father. But he is out there earning money for the family, so that he can make life easier for us. So Jason takes care of family matters, he doesn't let your Father worry about it. All this might have made him a little harsh and impatient... but he loves you and Maggie. He wants you to tread the right path. That's why he doesn't want you to make mistakes! And he fears that if you go astray, he will have Father to answer to. He doesn't want to fail in his job."
It brought a trace of smile to my lips, as I thought about whatever Mother had told me that day. I looked around and saw a cow grazing on the green field a little way off. She was pushing her calf away with her horns, pretty harshly. All the poor calf wanted to do was drink her milk.
"... he loves you and Maggie..."
Mother is right, I thought. But I can't help feeling resentful.
"... all this might have made him harsh and impatient..."
He sure has a lot of things on his mind. What if I had to deal with all the work he takes care of?
I looked up at the sky, imagining it turning black and falling on my head... BANG!
I would freak out, definitely! I started laughing suddenly, my anger ebbed away. But I am not going back right now, I thought. I need some time away from all these busy people, to some place which is quiet... and I knew where to go.
I walked along the bank of the river which flows through our village, from north to south. I walked opposite to the flow of the river. There is a forest at the north end of our village. Our area is very prone to floods and the trees help in controlling the flow of the water. People usually go there to chop firewood. But there is one place which people avoid... a little beyond the outer edge of trees, along the flowing water...people keep away from that part of the river surrounded densely by trees. When I was a kid, everyone used to tell me repeatedly, "That place is dangerous, don't you ever go there..."
"What is so dangerous over there?" I had once asked Jason.
"Don't you know?" he snapped at me. "The water-monster comes there--- that very place--- and hunts for food, deeper into the forest."
I thought he was just trying to scare me. But I was wrong.
Later that night, I asked Mother after supper about it.
"He is kidding, right?"
Mother looked startled, her eyes were wide with fear.
"Don't you ever go there," she said in a fearful whisper. "Jason is right, he's not joking. The water-monster comes over there. You will keep away from that place... won't you?" She added, looking keenly into my eyes. She wanted me to say, "No, of course not, Mother."
I told her that.
But all this monster talk wasn't going to stop me. I was never afraid of the dark, and I didn't believe in ghosts and monsters--- it was all gibberish! So one day I decided to explore the mysterious place myself. Without telling anyone where I was going, I slipped out of the house one afternoon and started walking towards the forest, along the edge of the river. It was summer, and after about half an hour, I was drenched in sweat. My shirt was sticking to me and I felt very thirsty. I washed my face in the cool water of the river and quenched my thirst... and then I set off again. It was not far now. I could already see the trees bordering the forest.
I stood beneath one of the outermost trees, right at the edge of the river, and waited there, trying to listen. I could hear nothing. May be the so-called monster is not at home, I thought, grinning to myself.
But, suddenly there came this weird feeling... What if there is a monster?
I stood there, thinking, whether to go on or not. I made up my mind, monster or no monster, I am going in!
And without any further hesitation, I stepped inside...
The trees were strange. They seemed to be growing in a way as if guarding something, like a fort. One wouldn't be able to see his way ahead at all. Wherever there was a gap between two of them, there was a third one ahead to block the view. And their trunks were unusually thick. I made my way through the shrubbery on the forest floor and the stubborn trees with difficulty and emerged into a clearing...
My jaw dropped open in surprise.
The place was wide and spacious, devoid of any trees or shrubs. They were all growing around the place, at the periphery, as if guarding it on the three sides--- north, south and west. On the east side the river was flowing, slowly and silently. The floor was rocky but even. Except for the twittering of the forest birds and the gentle sound of the flowing water, the place was completely silent. I looked at the guarding wall of trees, the clear river water, and the patch of bright, blue sky above through the canopy of trees... My God, I thought, is this for real? Looks like somebody designed a nice little hideout for himself. There's no way this place is natural. Then I thought of whatever others had told me about the place... There's a monster lurking in that part of the forest... don't you ever go there... the water-monster... you will keep away from there... won't you... The village people would never come here, I thought. Thanks to the stupid story about this place. But if nobody comes here, that means...
I have it all to myself!
After that I started going there regularly. I started thinking of it as my 'hideout'. Nobody used to come there. I had that part of the forest all to myself, and I never told anyone else about it. Occasionally I could hear the faint sound of someone's axe against one of the forest trees, chopping firewood, but other than that it was it was just me in my kingdom.
Thinking about all the things I would say to Jason after I return home, I reached my hideout. I looked around and took a deep breath... it was like a second home to me. I loved that place, it was mine and nobody else knew about it. I walked over to the tree growing at the very edge of the water. It was my favourite spot to sit and relax, because the sunlight was always guarded and never fell on my face directly. I took off my shoes and put my feet in the running water. It was cool and soothing... and I closed my eyes...
I woke up abruptly. Something had disturbed my sleep, but what? I looked around... no one was there. Silly me, I thought smiling to myself. My feet were still in the water and I could see small tadpoles and fishes wandering near them. I dragged my feet out, wet to the knees. Then I heard it again.
It was a low moan, somewhere behind me, beyond the wall of trees, further into the forest.
I got to my feet, listening intently. Someone's here, I thought. But there's no way anyone else knows about this place. I have to check it out.
Putting on my shoes, I crossed the guarding wall of trees, as silently as I could. The space between trees increased as I proceeded further, though the surroundings became much darker. Then I heard it again, a low moan. It seemed to come from the tree just in front of me. I walked up to it, went round its thick trunk, cautiously peeped behind it and gaped.
A girl lay unconscious there, beneath it. Well, she looked like a girl, with her long, dark green hair and slender frame, but she seemed a bit eerily different. Her skin was very pale, almost white, her hair looked like seaweed, long and messy, and whatever she was wearing, it seemed to be made out of some lichen-like material...
I crept closer to her and knelt down, looking carefully at her face. She seems young, I thought. I glanced at her hands and feet, frowned a bit and looked back at her face again. It sent a chill through me.
Her skin was covered with silvery white scales, every inch of it, like a fish, though hers were very difficult to notice. Her eyes, which I had thought to be open, were actually closed and her eyelids were pale and translucent. There were no whites to her eyes and they were very dark, I could see clearly. Her eyebrows were almost non-existent. Her hands and feet, though like a normal human being, had slightly longer fingers and toes and had sharp-looking, claw-like, curved nails. Who is she, I wondered, wishing she would wake up and the very next moment, she moved.
I froze to the spot, hardly daring to breathe, as she slowly pushed herself up from the ground to a sitting position. She seemed very tired and dazed and didn't notice me at first. But soon enough, her eyes found my knees on the ground, traveled up my torso, finally settling on my pale and startled face, inches away from her own.
The first expression on her face was of surprise, and then it was replaced by anger. She stood up--- swaying slightly, I suspected out of weakness--- then turned to go.
"Hey!" I called out to her, without thinking. "Where do you think you---?"
But I never finished my sentence. A second later, the only thing I was aware of was that I was standing with my back pressed against the tree-trunk behind me, my nails digging into its bark... and the girl was at my throat, her sharp teeth bared threateningly, inches from my skin, her hands on my chest, her claw-like nails digging painfully into me... my heart was beating like crazy. A drop of sweat ran down the side of my face.
I don't know why, but she stepped back from me... slowly... looking at my face for a long time. May be she understood that I was scared, really scared, of her. I didn't notice it at that time, but later when I thought about it, she also had an expression of intense fear on her face. She stood watching me, still swaying a bit, probably thinking what to do. Then, without warning, she uttered a high-pitched scream... I flung my hands over my head and shut my eyes.
I don't know how long I was standing with my eyes closed, shielding my head. May be one minute... or maybe five. I just stood there, my heart hammering madly, listening hard... She is going to kill me, I thought insanely, I'm dead!
But nothing happened. I stood still, thinking, what's going on? May be I'm already dead... Yeah, that must be it. But people can't hear birds chirping after dying, can they? Wait! Ghosts can hear and talk and see. But I don't want to be a ghost...
All sorts of stupid thoughts came to my mind as I stood there. Then, when I couldn't hear anything at all except the twittering of birds, I opened my eyes slightly.
Through the narrow opening between my eyelids, I saw the trees in front of me, their leaves swaying in the cool breeze... she had left.
