Nature's Misanthrophy

Arun was woken up almost instantaneously when the thunderous sound engulfed his ears. Almost a second later a bright white beam of lightning appeared, seeming as if it momentarily tore the sky open. He saw a boy standing beside him, looking at the distant horizon.

“The tree’s collapsed. The rock’s slippery. No chance of descent.” Told the boy, his gaze still fixed.

Arun sighed.

Memories of the night before infiltrated his mind like that of a faded dream. He and his friend, Wasim, had gone hiking into the deep forest that lay behind Arun’s newly bought farmhouse. As rumors went, that forest was an epitome of nature’s wrath. It seemed a great plan to Arun, though Wasim remained skeptical. Both had been adequately warned that the forest was only for experienced trekkers to deal with, but the vim of their youth blinded them. They had left the house full of zest and everything went just perfect. But when dusk fell, sudden heavy rain and lightning came and it seemed as if nature planned to unleash her full wrath. Their torches gave up, their directional senses were muddled and they lost their way. Such was their survival instinct that they climbed around 30 feet up the steep slope of a rocky mountain with the support of a tree and took shelter in a narrow space under a huge boulder which lay rested against the mountain.

“It’s momentarily calm. But storm’s coming.” Continued Wasim, as he pointed towards the menacing dark clouds above.

Arun carefully stood up as his joints creaked in protest, and observed the rocks below. A wet green layer covered them. One slip could directly land them down on the hard rocky ground.

“There are various footings...” replied Arun in a low voice as he pondered.

“Wait. I am not going...”

But Arun cut him off mid speech- “they sure seem dangerous but, we have no choice. Our torches are dead. A storm’s coming and……”

 He paused and took a breath- “We have no food. “

As if in response, the sky growled.

Wasim dry swallowed and looked at Arun. There was an exchange of unspoken words.

 Arun smiled. “I’ll volunteer. Be sure to follow me. ”

Turning his back towards the open air, he gradually bent and lowered his left leg until he found a firm grip. With his right hand he cusped the edge of a depression on the rock and gently lowered himself.

“Watching Bear Grylls is finally gonna pay off!” exclaimed Wasim.

Arun chuckled and rotated his hip towards his left as he brought down his second leg. A wind blew and his body shivered. His knee hit a hard rock, pain shot through him. He shut his eyes and bit his lower lip in order to suppress the pain. A small drop of blood formed on his lips.

After a few seconds, he resumed.

Gradually he descended and eventually Wasim followed.

Slowly yet steadily they made their way. They slipped and lost balance, but ensured that they didn’t go sliding down. The edges ripped open their flesh but they continued, purely on the strength of will.

Every few seconds the sky rumbled, threatening them. Never had nature seemed such a misanthropic.

The clouds now started bleeding rain at a slow pace.

Nature’s not always kind.

The words of his geography teacher echoed in Wasim’s mind. Nevertheless, after what seemed an eternity, he finally reached the ground, only to find Arun sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, waiting for him.

“See I told you, we could do it.”

Wasim smiled – “Aye, let’s leave now, before Mother Nature decides to get all nasty.” Arun rose up and they both walked quickly, ignoring the pain caused due to the movement.

After a short debate regarding the correct route, they both mutually decided to go west of the rocky mountain.

Few minutes later they reached a large tree, Arun recognized it almost instantly. “This the spot where our torches gave up!”

There was a moment of silence. Then Wasim climbed up an isolated rock. After pushing aside a few overgrown looping branches, he stretched out his right hand and pointed. “There’s the house! Arun! There it is!” The hazy outline of a house could be seen in the distant. Arun jumped and put his hands in the air, rejoicing with every last bit of energy left inside him.

But suddenly the sky let out a fierce shout; lights flashed, the clouds wept and the trees danced. The sudden change startled Wasim to such an extent, that he lost his footing and slipped.

“Wasim! -“Arun screamed, but the sounds from heaven overcame his own. 

It started raining so heavily that it seemed that nature had swallowed up the great seas and was willing to pour it on them till they decided to give up. Arun collapsed and he could not see anything. The hard cold drops hurt him. All his senses seemed to be obstructed. All he could hear was the sounds of raindrops trying to pierce the hard ground. All he could see was a blur of black and white.

Meanwhile, Wasim had landed on hard flat ground. His head ached heavily and he let out cries of immense agony. Agony. He had now realized the true sense of the term. “Arun!” He yelled with all his might. A few feet away, Arun heard this cry. But it was so faint that he wondered if he was hallucinating. Yet, trusting his instincts, he crawled and reached his friend. The hopes which were left, now faded away. The rains momentarily slowed down, as if it were giving a chance to converse.

“I wanted to become a famous trekker one day…….”

“Shut up Wasim! We’re gonna live!”

“I wanted to have my own show...”

Arun rubbed his eyes and looked at Wasim. He shrieked in horror. It seemed as if Wasim had landed on his head. His face was covered in blood. He could vividly see fresh spurts of blood oozing out. His body lay twisted in a weird manner. The sight was disturbing. Arun stood up and helped Wasim to his feet. “We are going to get through this! Don’t you worry!”

The next few hours went like a faded dream. Arun carried Wasim and walked on. The rains came down heavily but they went on. Their situation on the mountain seemed like a heavenly dream now. The soles of their shoes tore apart and sharp stones stabbed their feet.

But they moved on. All through the way Arun kept on motivating Wasim. Soon the house was in clear view. A few more steps and they would be there. Arun’s legs were as heavy as bars of thick lead. All of Wasim’s weight was on him.

Pain. Hunger. Tiredness.

Everything seemed to consume him all at once. When he finally reached the door, he groped for the keys in his pocket and removed them. He managed to open the door somehow and rushed in. The sudden warmth and dryness gave him such pleasure that his legs gave way and he collapsed happily, just happy to have survived. Simultaneously even Wasim did.

For a few minutes they both lay there. But then a sudden sense of duty woke Arun up. Wasim. He shook his body. No response. Running down the hall, he reached the phone and contacted the hospital. Line dead. “Damn!” he opened the drawer and got some bandages. He hastily reached Wasim and started covering his wounds.

But his skin was cold. Ice cold. Arun shivered and fell back. “Wa-Wasim?” No response. Arun screamed. His head was spinning. His vision was blackening. Then everything faded.

When Arun woke up, he felt comfortable. All his pains had vanished. Heaven? He thought. He heard a murmur of voices. Gradually his vision adapted and he saw his relatives and neighbors standing along with many other people whom he did not recognize. Wow, so we all died? He pondered. Then when his brain started functioning, he realized that he was in a hospital.

“So you are finally awake.”

There was a blast of questions around him. “Can I please request the family members to leave for a moment?” That had to be the doctor, concluded Arun.

Quite reluctantly, the over enthusiastic crowd left.

“Your neighbor brought you here. And even your friend. Probably the sight of the door open and the two rain soaked blood stained youths lying on the floor conveyed enough. Alright so the good news is that you are alive. The bad news is that …” The doctor paused and Arun feared the worst.

“Well the bad news is that your parents won’t probably allow you to trek anymore. You need rest. Sleep now.” Saying that, he was about to leave but arun interrupted him-“And what –what about Wasim?”

He laughed- “Ah, that friend of yours, no worries, he is a tough lad. He was unconscious when he was brought and had lost a lot of blood, we almost thought that he would pass away. But a blood transfusion and a few stitches have saved him from the dark abyss. He is snoring in the bed right next to yours.’” He paused. “And yes, you would like to read that newspaper.” Saying that he pointed to his bed and left.

Arun looked to his side and indeed Wasim lay on a bed a little away from his. He was snoring so loudly that Arun wondered how come he had missed this earlier.

He laughed and noticed the newspaper on his bed. He picked it up and read the headline:

Teenager who rescued friend to be awarded bravery awards by state and national government.

Arun smiled and looked at Wasim. Then he shut his eyes and lay. Any moment now, they are going to come in. I’ll surely need some energy to reply to their questions. Thinking that, he drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

- Rtr Pratik Shah [TheShah]

Rotaract Club of NM College

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