The White light Calling - 7
part -1
“Life is so beautiful, for those who close their eyes and live in dream” Mr. X
“Life is so beautiful; you just have to open your eyes to see it”Mr. Y
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“How did you do it?” Madhan was more than curious. Vangs looked rather suspicious.
“I..I donno..I just felt it” chemba shrugged.
“Ok. Will that thing come up here?”smitha had lost all the color in her face.
“Oh! No Smitha. Don’t you worry! We have a special siddhar with us here. She will help us get through. Won’t she?” Vangs consoled smitha and looked at chemba pointedly. Chemba knew that he was mocking at her. She didn’t care much for him right now. She was still disturbed on thinking how she got that dream while she was awake.
“You good?” Madhan came near her. She took a long breath and exhaled slowly.
"I guess I am.”Funnily it felt safe and somehow comfortable to stand next to him just then.
“It is quite scary” he said.
“What is?” she eyed him defiantly.
“How you foresaw that danger.”
“I didn’t see anything. I woke up suddenly and I had that weird smell hit me on my face. You could call it an instinct” she groomed her hair unconsciously.
“A very strong one” he said still not taking his eyes off her. But now it was not suspicion but more of admiration.
Her lips twitched in a half smile. “What now?”
“I don’t know. I could have been eaten alive moments ago or even now. But I am more inclined to think about those huge eyes of yours than those huge man eaters.” He said casually. She choked back a shaky laughter.
“God. You certainly do speak your mind.”
“Yeah so they say.”he shrugged sheepishly still sending cupid daggers on her. She felt warmer standing even in the middle of mist and fog.
“So..when we go down, Shall we go out ?” he asked suddenly.
“On a date?” she questioned him.
“Well, kind of. You need to know a lot about me at least as much as i know about you.”
“Why?”
“Why?”he repeated her question and chuckled. “You will soon know why” he said and she fell silent. “Besides there is some stuff I need to tell you about.” he continued.
“Like what?”
“Hey guys. You don’t want breakfast or what? Quit your sweet nothings and Go brush your teeth.” Vikki called out from his spot.
“See you soon then.”he smiled and walked away.
Chemba looked at his fading back. ‘Hmm- a nice tall guy, good stature,handsome, very good smile and a dangerous pair of eyes.’ She thought to herself.
“where are you going?” Oviya gripped her shoulder suddenly from behind.
“Me? I am going nowhere. Why?"
“So did you ask where she is going?”Smitha too joined them.
“What ?Where?”Chemba was confused.
“He is from south Dakota right? So they will probably go to those snow peaky mountains and streams – a perfectly new location as far as Indian cinema is concerned” Oviya informed in a serious tone.
“Will you both just tell me what is going on? Why am I to go to South Dakota.?”
“For your dream sequence, of course” Oviya said without smile and winked at her mischievously.
“You..” Chemba chased her with a stick.
“Aah…” The two girls screeched and laughed and ran away from her.
A startled looking Vangs ran to them with toothpaste froth in his mouth and said “Girls .Girls..please make it low. ok..The feline family down there might hear us.”
“yeah, We can invite them some other day. Today we made breakfast just enough for us.” Vikki stated.
The girls laughed again and went off in another direction. “we did forget about those animals down there. Do you think there may be more like them, may be around here too.?”smitha asked in a flurry.
“I don’t think so di, but we better hurry, You know. We don’t want to stand half naked in front of a hungry tiger.” Chemba said.
“Yeah, tiger is ok.. but if it was M…”Chemba closed her friend’s mouth in mid sentence and kicked her ass with her knee from behind playfully.
“Just stop it Ok.”
“Ouch..That hurts..Oh poor Mr. M” Oviya said again and ran away, missed a foot and fell right into the small pond.
“Hey! Girls! Aren’t you ever going out for loo and stuff like that? If we are to leave fast, you need to make it fast.” Shekar echoed from behind the tree.
“Ok. Smitha come on. We will go behind that yellow leaved whatever tree that is. It should be good enough for us, the stream is passing through that place.” chemba suggested hurriedly and dragged Oviya by her wrist.
“Yeah we can bathe there” Smitha scratched her hands. Sleeping in that cave somehow made her itch all over.
“Mm.. not scared of tigers anymore?” chemba smiled at her friend dubiously.
“What? We need to take bath right? Why not here? We will just hurry up ok..please di.” she looked tired and worn out.
Chemba just thought of this girl and how she used to be in college. Smitha was always known for her Victorian behaviors, that no one ever has seen her improper – without proper makeup and dress. She was always impeccable dressed, even as she got out of her room first thing in the morning. Now look at her.
She looked murky in a dirty creased shirt and tousled and unkempt hair. Chemba pitied her. For the first time, she felt guilty on bringing them along.
It had been more than a quarter hour since they came to that clearing and slowly Chemba started to feel the chill. Something told her to move fast and forward.
“Guys shall we move?” She wiped her face and asked her friends who were still playing in the water. Oviya looked too playful to her. She always is like that. Being bizarre is being normal for her lovely friend Oviya. She smiled to herself.
“Hai..honey pops” she said dreamily and waltzed around happily inside the water. In fact she acted too weird, which under present conditions looked abnormal to chemba. She got Oviya by her wrist and shook her slightly.
“Di.. Are you alright?”
“Ohoo.. I am quite aallright. Hey look Mr.Agathiyar.” she pointed at a distance. She looked awed for a second and clapped her hands like a school kid.
“What in god’s name are you talking about? Oviya ..Oviya..look at me.
What do you see?”chemba pulled her to a corner and asked.
“What’s with her? I don’t know how she can be so happy with three hungry tigers below us. I am not myself.”She shrugged.
“She is not herself either” Chemba said in a whisper.
“What?” Smitha squeezed the hem of dress and took her dress to change.
Chemba too had prepared herself for changing and went out of the stream still holding Oviya by hand. But Oviya pulled her hand out and started to splash around like a kid.
