Weeks passed by and Ramanand’s family got back to their regular life. Saroj would spend most of the time doing her household chores. She would wake up early in the morning. After bathing she would do her prayers in front of the holy basil plant (Tulsi). She would put fire in the chulha and prepare food for her family. Her entire day was spent taking care of her family members.
Amba on the other hand spent most of her time near the temple. She found peace, listening to the chanting and prayers. The head priest would tell her stories of Gods and Goddesses. She would sit there looking at the children playing near the temple, women coming and leaving the holy place, and the birds chirping near the Peepal tree (Sacred fig).
Raghu and Ajay would go to the Vidyagriha (school) in the morning and would spend their evening roaming around the village and playing with their friends. Ajay would sometimes go to the farm to help his father. Raghu being the youngest member of the family would be spared any hardship.
Raghu had many friends in the village. Vishnu, the son of the head priest, studied with him. The blacksmith’s son Sundar was also in his class. Samay was the son of the boatman. He did not go to school. He spent his days helping his father on the boat. They would carry passengers back and forth between their village and the villages on the opposite shore of the river. In the evening he would join Raghu and Rameshwar.
Rameshwar was the son of Somanath. Somanath was a merchant and would sell handmade goods from the village to the big towns. He was the only merchant in the village who would go to the Palace. Raghopur was part of the kingdom of Ashwasena. The king of Ashwasena, Purushartha was keen on maintaining peace in the kingdom. Hence, the king kept a cordial relationship with his neighbors instead of expanding his boundaries. Merchants would be sent to the neighboring states with the best goods of Ashwasena. Somanath was among those merchants. His son Rameshwar was closest to Raghu. Somanath wanted Rameshwar to help him with his trade work and hence he won’t send his kid to Vidyagriha. Rameshwar would accompany his father to the nearby towns and the kingdom of Ashwasena. He had even visited the royal palace with him.
On one fine day when Raghu was roaming around the village with Samay and Rameshwar, Rameshwar asked Raghu a question. Rameshwar enquired, “Raghu! Are you going to be a farmer like your father?” Raghu thought for a while and then spoke, “ Truly speaking, I haven’t really given a thought to it.” He took a pause and then spoke again in a cheerful voice, “ Farming is a good option. That way I will stay here with my Amma.” Rameshwar listened carefully and then stopped near a tree. He sat down in the shade of the tree and then spoke in a serious voice, “ Look Raghu, My father is a merchant. He was telling us that our village was gaining a bad name because of the threats caused by that dark forest. Merchants don’t want to come here. Many people have already left the village. God knows what will happen here. You should not think of spending your life in this village.”
Raghu and Samay who were still standing looked confused after what they heard. “ Are you serious? The forest has always been there. It is haunted from the beginning of time. Why would we leave now?” Raghu enquired in an angry tone.
Samay looked at Raghu and asked surprisingly, “Who said the village was haunted from the beginning of time?”
Raghu spoke, “ Isn’t it obvious?”
Samay and Rameshwar spoke at once, “No!”
Raghu was annoyed at once. But he kept his silence as Rameshwar spoke, “ The forest became haunted around three hundred years back. My father says it all started when the youngest son of our late king Pradyumna died during a hunting expedition.”
Raghu won’t believe in such rumors. He thought his friends were fools to believe the messed-up story of a lost prince. But he was still quiet.
Samay interrupted Rameshwar with an impatient voice, “ No Rama. The prince did not die in the forest. He just got lost.”
Rameshwar started losing his cool. He said, “ How do you know that? Where did the prince go? Did he just disappear in thin air?”
Samay replied, “ My father told me. He knows the truth.”
Rameshwar spoke back in a high pitch, “ As if your father actually knows someone from the palace.”
Samay got angry and shouted back,” The entire village knows, you fool!”
Raghu wanted to stop their argument but he was completely distracted. While the two of his friends were fighting he saw the woodcutter peeking through the bushes. The woodcutter was a strange character. He was an expressionless person devoid of any happiness or pleasure. Still in his youth, he did have a strong build. His curly strangled hair would hide most of his face and he was least affected by that. He was standing there behind the bush looking towards the ground but one could tell that he was listening to the heated argument between the friends. Ignoring his friends, he went close to the bush. “ What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be hiding in your creepy hut on the outskirts of the village?” Raghu asked the woodcutter in an irritated voice. The woodcutter ignored Raghu and moved ahead. Samay and Rameshwar had also calmed down.
They asked Raghu, “ What was the matter?”
Raghu replied carelessly, “ Nothing! It was that creepy woodcutter. I don’t understand how does that forest not kill him.”
“Maybe he is the ghost of the forest!” Rameshwar said sarcastically, and all three laughed aloud.
It was getting dark. All three friends went back to their homes.
On the outskirts of the village, the woodcutter returned back to his hut. His dog came running towards him. He patted the dog with love and care. “ Come Andhak! Come! I brought you food.” He patted the dog with one hand while in his other hand lay a dead cuckoo bird. Andhak snatched the dead bird using his mouth and preyed on it. The woodcutter sat down and watched him eat. The dog was his only companion. The woodcutter was the only one who would still visit the haunted forest and hence people of the village kept their distance from him. Some thought that the forest had made him crazy, while others believed that he was helping the monsters in the forest by luring innocent people into the dark hell. No one really knew what was happening to him. He remained silent most of the time. He relied on the forest for good quality wood that he would sell in the town.
His father was also a woodcutter in a neighboring village. After the villagers accused him of theft and burnt down his house, they fled to Raghopur. Initially, they took shelter in the priest’s house but when the news of the theft reached the village, people got suspicious. His father tried his best to prove his innocence but in vain. They were just allowed to live on the premises out of pity. One day his father went to get wood in the forest and he never returned back. The woodcutter was on his own afterward. He was just sixteen years old back then. He had the skills of his father. He used it to cut trees from the forest and sell it in the town. He was not scared of the forest but would still try to target the woods on the outside of the forest area. He could have left but the hope of finding his father again kept him stuck in the unfortunate village. But as he grew there, he saw a lot. He learned a lot about the forest and was trying to find out more. Now he had the company of Andhak. Andhak had a great sense of predicting danger. He would not let the woodcutter enter any unsafe territory. He would sense any possible movement and alert his master about the same.
The woodcutter kept thinking about the conversation between those kids. He had heard those rumors before but no one would talk to him. He wanted to know more about that lost/dead prince. If there was any way to see his father back, he would try it for sure.
Read the next chapter. Read Chapter 1 and other Chapters! Find more from my short stories collection. Happy reading!!
