The Adventurous Trip

It was not long ago. The incident, I had promised myself, not to disclose to anyone. I was frightened to tell anyone about it; but not anymore. After a long time I was credited with the joy of a 4-day vacation. I was finally keeping the monotonous work schedule aside for a few days of fun, frolic and excitement. We set out in a Maruti Esteem. It was kind of a re-union and 5 of us went; 3 girls and 2 boys. I was supposed to go home, but thought this vacation would be better. I wouldn't get a second chance.

We left at 5 in the morning and it was around 8 in the night when we realized that we were lost. A little later, we realized that we were completely lost. I looked at my watch. It was 10:00PM. Our car broke down at the most unexpected moment. We looked at our cell phones and there was no network coverage. There were no signs of visibility of any sort of human dwelling either. It looked to us like houses were miles and miles away. It seemed like we were in the middle of a deserted area with only wild plants and trees.

Just then, we heard the cry of an infant. We got a feeling that someone may be living in close vicinity of the place and felt a little happy. We walked a little when we discovered the source of the cry. The baby was in the arms of a young woman. The pretty lady was wearing a pink cotton saree with white prints and a white border. She had draped the saree so neatly that it didn’t look like she had worked the whole day. We, on the other hand were so shabbily dressed and the car problem further added to the stains on our clothes. We had tried everything we could to get the car started. The lady’s face was so clear there was not a single blemish.

Her house looked very small. However, her heart was bigger. She spoke Kannada. We explained our plight and she was sad that she couldn't do anything about the car. Her husband was not at home and would return only the next morning. She invited us in and insisted that we stay there so that her husband could help us out with the car the next morning. It seemed scary. But, as that was the best option at our disposal, we agreed.

She served us roti and vegetable, but, wouldn't eat it herself. We managed to lie down after that. But sleep looked far away. Sleep had disappeared. We were in a stranger's house and thoughts of the next day's adventure troubled us. The lady put her baby to sleep. She sat there, by the kerosene lamp. She was writing something. She wouldn't sleep. I do not know what she was writing. Thinking of all this, my eyes closed.

I was asleep and suddenly woke up at around 1:00 in the night. The others were sleeping; all but one. One of the boys wasn't there. He must have gone out to answer nature’s call, I thought. I got a little worried when he did not return for the next 5 minutes. Fear was greater than the worry and I did not dare to get up. I could have asked the lady, but, she too wasn't there. My fear grew. I know I shouldn't have slept off after that. But my eyes just closed. I fell asleep. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Over here, my eyes were weak.

I woke up only at 5 in the morning. All of us woke up at the same time when my friend's cell phone rang. He was there, sitting by the lamp. Yes, the same friend who was missing in the night was there. The cell phone with no network coverage rang. As soon as we opened our eyes, he said, "Come let's go". He wouldn't let us say anything. He wanted to just get out of the place and offered to explain everything later. The baby was still asleep and the lady lay on the ground just outside the door. She looked dead. It was strange; very strange. We were curious. We wanted to know what happened, but, no soul to explain.

We ran towards the car. The car which hadn’t started the previous night moved immediately. We moved just a little when someone stopped the car. It must be the lady's husband, I thought. He was limping. He looked quite decent and carried a walking stick. He instructed us not to tell anyone about the previous night to avoid any more haunted nights. We did not know what happened and he knew everything. How? I do not know. But, we were scared and nodded our heads. Then, we zoomed. No more vacation we thought.

The escapade wasn’t over yet. We drove for an hour. The roads went up and down, round and round. It felt like a roller-coaster ride. With my hands joined and eyes closed most of the while, I prayed. Please God, if it is your will, please take this cup away from us. The moment my eyes opened, I was shocked. Another lady, with an infant! This time we did not need help, the lady needed some. She was asking for a lift. Our friend who was driving stopped, but I did not have the nerves for another dare. I asked him to hurry. Sorry God! I asked for help, but when someone else needed it, I did not want to lend a hand. However, I noticed a strange smile on my friend’s face, again the one who was driving. Was he not scared? What had happened to this boy? He had been acting strange. What had happened the previous night? I began to wonder.

It wasn’t long when we noticed hurdles on the path. Little boulders blocked the road. We had to move them if we wanted to go ahead. We had experienced enough and more fear and excitement the previous night and I wasn’t ready for more. My friend said, “Come, let’s move them. We need to get back home at least before night. Let’s hurry”. All of got off the Maruti Esteem and started pushing the boulders. As we bent, the same naughty smile flashed yet another time on my friend’s face. My other friend returned the smile. My fear grew. I felt like everything had changed. My friends were not the ones I knew till the other day. I wanted to cry. At the same time, I did not want display the fear on my face. I trusted my friends no more. Had they become zombies?

What more could have happened? It suddenly started raining cats and dogs. There was lightning, there was thunder and there were the heavy rains. My mom was screaming, yelling, and sprinkling water on my face. Whoa! What a nightmare! I was now breathing harder. The adrenaline rush finally started slowing down. But what a frightening dream that was! I had grown and was working in a multinational company. The work was so hectic that I wasn’t getting leaves. I was out on an adventurous trip. Whoa! This is the result of watching zombie movies late in the night. I have my exams next week. Back to studies.