Sheetal and Rajam were anxiously waiting for the school bell to ring. They ran out of class when they heard the bell ring.
Sheetal shouted without slowing down her pace, “Today I am going to beat you.”
Rajam mocked her,” We are taking the forest route. That is not child’s play.”
Both speeded up towards their home. It was a daily routine but today they decided to take the lesser travelled forest route. Rajam was faster than his sister. He ran without even looking back. When they entered the forest area, Rajam shouted without looking backward,” Stick to the track, don’t enter the woods.” Sheetal still lagging behind spoke back in full confidence,”I know the route.”
A few minutes later Sheetal started losing her breath. She was tired and hence she slowed a bit. Rajam kept running. Suddenly a snake crawled in the road from behind the bushes. Sheetal got scared and started running away from the snake. Rajam who was running at full speed didn’t notice that his sister was left behind. Sheetal, in an attempt to escape the snake entered the dense forest area. The snake was not following her anymore. She stopped and looked around. She realized that she was lost.
Sheetal screamed, “Rajam!….Help me…Rajam!!!”
No one was around. Fear crawled through her heart and she started breathing faster. She screamed for help but it was of no use. She walked and walked. The sun was setting. It was getting dark. Then all of a sudden she saw a hut.
She thought, “Am I dreaming? A hut!…In the middle of nowhere. How is that possible?”
She was full of suspicion and yet she went close. The area near the hut was clear. There was a small pot of water outside. A tree just behind the hut was loaded with fruits. She was hungry.
She called in a low voice, “Is anyone there?”
A minute later, a very old lady came out. She was barely able to walk. She had a bird in her hand. A sparrow. The bird lied motionless in her hand. The old lady, looked at her for a moment and then asked her, “Who are you? You don’t look much old. What is your age?”
Sheetal gained all her courage and spoke, “ I am from the nearby village. I have lost my way. Can you lead me to the road?”
The old lady asked again, this time with slight irritation, “I asked something. What is your age?”
Sheetal was a bit suspicious, but she replied, “I am thirteen. Why do you ask?”
The old lady dragged herself closer to Sheetal and looked at her carefully. Then she glanced at the bird in her hand and looked back at the girl. She spoke, “This little bird is dying. Would you hold it for me.”
Sheetal nodded against it.
The old woman insisted, “Do it! I will help you. Hold it.”
Sheetal hesitated a bit but didn’t argue. She slowly took the bird in her hand. The old lady smiled as she saw the bird move in the little girl’s palm. As the bird started getting conscious, the lady fell to the ground.
Sheetal panicked and dropped the bird which flew and sat near the pot. She tried to hold the old lady and asked,” Are you ok? What is happening to you? Please tell me the way out of the forest.” Sheetal started weeping and tears rolled down her cheek.
Image courtesy: Google images
The old lady spoke to her the last words,” I am sorry little one. You can’t leave. You can’t die. You can’t escape, unless the bird has a new master. She needs to be fed. Don’t let her die or you will be cursed to roam in this forest forever and your soul will be condemned to hell. I will take a leave now.”
The old lady died leaving Sheetal stuck in the lonely forest. Sheetal screamed for help. She ran away from the hut. After hours of running she reached back to the hut, where the bird was sitting on the ground. The words of the old lady came back to her. She rushed to hold the bird. What should I feed her? She was thinking about it when she noticed something. Her hands looked bigger. Her hair was longer than before. As the bird regained its health, it took something from her body.
She was aging faster. She kept the bird away. It was full of life unlike her. She looked around herself hopelessly as she saw her life going down the pit.
Fifteen years later
Fifteen years had passed since the incident, but Sheetal had no sense of time. She was quite old by now. It was difficult for her to guess her own age, but she was definitely not twenty-eight as she should have been. Her hair was grey, her skin wrinkled, and her eyesight got blurred. The bird was still healthy though. It needed to be fed every year when it would absorb two years of her youth.
One day Sheetal was sitting near the hut when she heard a voice. A little boy came running towards the hut. She had not seen a human in fifteen years. And now there was a young boy approaching her hut. That was it. Her escape. She moved towards the boy. The boy stopped and looked at her. He turned back and again towards Sheetal.
“There was a snake. Can you lead me to the road?” The boy panicked.
Sheetal knew the feeling. She had been at his place. But now the situation was reversed. What if the boy was key to her freedom? The old lady did not have any life in her. But she still could go back to her village and meet her family. Anyways she was not willing to rot in hell.
Sheetal asked the boy, “Who are you? How old are you?”
The boy replied with impatience,” My name is Sarthak. My father is a woodcutter. He has been cutting woods in this forest for a long time. He once lost his sister in here. He still hopes to find her. I was just accompanying him. He had asked me not to …”
“What is the name of your father?” Sheetal interrupted the boy.
The boy gasped a breath and replied, “Rajam. His name is Rajam.”
Sheetal stood still for a moment. She had gone numb. Tears rolled down her cheek. She hugged the boy and whispered in his ear, “ Run away kid. Don’t touch a thing in this forest and run till you see the end. Tell your father that his sister died in peace.”
The kid looked at the old lady with surprise. But he didn’t speak a word. He turned back and ran from where he had come. Sheetal looked at the boy till he disappeared in the woods. She sat down at the door of the hut and the bird flew over her and sat in her lap.
By
Khushboo Singh
Leave a Reply