Andy
saw Ael suddenly collapse onto the ground like a limp piece of cloth. He
started running forward to her and found himself unable to move his left leg
forward to keep up with his right. Looking down, he found that a small tendril
of a plant had wrapped itself around his ankle and was drawing itself tight
around it. The tendril was a transparent green color almost as if it were a
green shadow of something that had no form. Only the tip of it was clearly
visible, pulsing darker green and raising its head inquisitively and
tentatively now moving up his foot. On any other day, his curiosity would have
got the better of him and he would have watched it climb up to see what
happened next. But then, he had Ael to attend to. He reached down and tried to pull
the tendril from his ankle. It had caught on tight and as he pulled, it seemed
to draw even tighter.
He
decided to change direction and then tugged at the tendril from where it came
out of a clump of branches all bearing orange yellow flowers. As he grew
closer, the flowers seemed to smell him and somehow grew larger and more
dangerous looking. He did not let himself get distracted by the flowers and focused
on the task of pulling the tendril out. He did not see the pollen stalks of the
flowers suddenly coming out, much like a cat’s claws come out when it is on the
prowl. The stalks now protruded out from the flower, changing in color to a dirty
red. Suddenly Andy felt a sting on his cheek and then another on his arm. He thought
he had been stung by a mosquito and brushed his cheek. When he bent down to
look at his arm, he saw a small red thorn jutting out of his skin. As he
looked, a couple more of the stalks shot out from the flower and stuck to his
skin. He looked up to see nearly a dozen flowers around sticking their stalks
at him like quivers with arrows ready to fly.
He
moved fast and put his entire weight behind pulling at the tendril. Suddenly he
felt something give way and it came away from the plant in a tearing rush. He
fell back onto the grass, as luck would have it. As he fell, he saw a bunch of
the stalks shoot out of the flowers to the spot where he had been standing just
a second ago. He quickly unwound the tendril from his ankle, noticing that the
end which had been torn from the plant was weeping a clear liquid which looked
suspiciously like blood. He brushed away what seemed to be a stupid thought,
gathered himself and ran towards Ael.
Reaching
her, he found that she was lying with her eyes open, looking at the sky. He
called out her name to no response. He put his palm below her nostril and felt
her breathe, uneven and slow, but she was breathing. It seemed like she knew he
was there and that she could hear him call her name but somehow she could not
respond. He tried to lift her. But her body was limp and would not rise off the
ground, almost as if she were asleep.
Andy
looked around helplessly, searching for something, anything that would help him
get Ael up. He saw suddenly that most of the plants surrounding them seemed to
have taken an unusual interest in them and appeared to be leaning towards them,
their flowers widening as if in anticipation, the pollen stalks quivering as if
in eagerness. Somehow, Andy felt that they were dangerous and were threatening
him. He took a step back in alarm and then quickly made up his mind. He stooped
down and grabbed hold of Ael under her armpits and started dragging her backwards.
He stumbled and tripped on plants lying under his feet and fell back, Ael
landing on top of him, knocking out his breath. He sat her up and started
dragging her once again when he felt something warm, almost hot, in his pocket.
He
put his hand in and encountered the shiny smooth surface of the stone that he
had been carrying around. Only, where it had so far been cool to touch, it was
now heating up. He took it out of his pocket and it seemed to be glowing with a
fire deep inside it. The flames were orange yellow with a deep red centre. The
surface seemed to be slowly becoming red in color with the rising heat. As he
held the stone, it grew so hot in that instant that he had to drop it. It
landed amidst the plants and lay there, glowing with its inner light. For a few
seconds, the light seemed to grow brighter and then it became a steady glow. Now,
the stone seemed to have a strange effect on the plants and especially the
flowers around them. The plants moved away, almost as if they were shrinking in
fear and the flowers withdrew quickly, nearly closing up against the bright
light.
In
an instant, everything seemed to go back to normal. The plants were normal
plants again and the flowers seemed like colorful wonders of creation. Andy’s stood
open mouthed in surprise at what had happened and then looked down at the
stone. The glow seemed to be subsiding inside it and for an instant, just a
split second; he saw a swishing black movement in the stone. And then it was
gone just as quickly as it had appeared. The stone was back to its black cool
rounded look and he felt he must have imagined all that had happened till then.
He bent down to pick up the stone and the only thing that told him the truth
was the warmth that was still coming from it. He put his eye close to it and
tried to peer into its depths. But there was nothing, just the reflection of
his eye staring back at him.
He
returned the stone to his pocket and bent down to pick up Ael and to drag her
back out of the field. It was slow work, especially since she was no help at
all. Luckily, the plants stayed away from them after that episode and so though
it was tough going, there were no further attacks. Finally, after what seemed
to be hours of dragging her, they reached the edge of the field, at the bottom
of the slope down which they had fallen. He made a small space there for Ael
and laid her down, her eyes still wide open and staring unseeingly at the sky. He
sat beside her and waited for something to happen, for her to wake up. The orange
yellow sun travelled across the horizon and was poised to dive into the depths
of the horizon leaving the inky black trail of night behind it.
Andy
felt hungry. He must have been sitting there for hours and decided to search
for some food. He did not want to leave Ael there but had no choice since she
had not shown any signs of life at all except for the warmth of her breath
whenever he had checked. Finally, for some strange reason, he decided to leave
the black stone to stand guard over her. He placed the stone by the side of her
head on a mound of grass and then went in search of food. He walked back up the
slope to the pool and the plants around it. He was still very watchful of any
plants, especially after the last attack. Fortunately, these seemed to be very
different plants, with no bright flowers. He searched through them, found some
with colorful berries but decided not to pick them, thinking that anything with
a lot of color was dangerous. Suddenly, he saw a large dark blue fruit that
appeared to be half eaten, like some careless boy had just bitten off a part of
it and thrown it away. Andy knelt down to look at it and saw a couple of what
appeared to be claw marks on it and a large bite mark. The bite was unlike any
he had ever seen, with no teeth marks and a pointy look to it, almost like
someone had carefully bitten a conical piece out.
He
walked a little distance ahead and saw a largish shrub that had the same blue
fruit hanging on it. Andy thought that since something else had eaten this
fruit, it would not be dangerous. So, he plucked a few and stuffed them into
his pocket. As he turned to go, he heard a sudden shrill cry from somewhere up
above. He looked up but could not see anything in the spreading darkness. But
he could sense something there, something very large. He turned back and
started to run towards the pool. Suddenly, the cry came again, only this time
much lower, almost as if it was on top of him. He looked up in fright but could
not see anything. The next moment, he went flying as his foot caught in a root
protruding from the ground. As he fell,
he heard a “Whoosh” like something had swooped down close above him. His face
ached where it had hit something hard on the ground. He saw that it was some
kind of a hollow shell and picked it up. He started running back once again and
reached the pool in no time. He stopped for just a minute to clean up the shell
/ bowl and scoop up some water in it.
He
then ran down the slope to where Ael lay. He stopped short when he saw her eyes
were closed. He put down the bowl and checked her breathing. It was still
there, still warm and more regular, like she was sleeping. The black stone was quiet
and unmoving next to her, somehow peaceful. He sat down beside her and took out
a couple of berries. He found that they tasted like peculiarly like raw berries
from back home. In that instant, he wanted to desperately go back. Go back to his
mother, her warm comforting hug, her smell of cookies and smoke, her loving
voice constantly reminding him of things he had to do and her smile that lit
her face up like the sun. Go back to his dad who came home too tired to even
say anything but always stooping to kiss Andy on the forehead. Back to his
corner of the house where he kept all this things, odds and ends that he had
picked up over time.
Breathing
a sigh, he brought himself back from his dream, to the reality that he was
living through. He wondered what his dad and mom were thinking about him now
that he had been gone for so long. They must have gone crazy in their worry for
him. But he had no way to get even a message back to them. He wished that
somehow they were not scared or worried for him.
He
drank a little bit of the water from the shell and then lay down a little away
from Ael. By now, the sun had disappeared completely and the dark sky was like
a blanket that hid them from everything around. He put his hand out and touched
the stone where it lay on the mound of grass. It was cool to touch and strangely
reassuring. He breathed deeply and looked up at the sky, searching for stars or
any other familiar objects. But the blackness was complete, with not even the
slightest light. In fact it was so dark that he could not see his hand when he
put it in front of his face. Soon, the tiredness of the day’s adventure caught
up with him and his eyes felt heavy. As he dropped off to sleep, his last thought
was that the night seemed strangely quiet, with none of the noises that he was
used to hearing back home.
He
woke up with a start, not sure why he had woken up. It was still very dark. The
first thing he noticed was that where before it had seemed quiet, all around
them, strange noises had started. The noises seemed hurried and scared. Suddenly,
he heard the whoosh of wings, like he had heard before and a gust of air nearly
knocked him off his feet. He stepped back in alarm and waited. A few minutes passed
and nothing happened. Whatever it was had gone back up into the air again. The
noises died down around him and soon it was all quiet again. He sat down and
listened, waiting for any noise or any activity. But nothing more happened. He
felt around for the stone and it was there, exactly where he had left it. It
was not visible in the dark but seemed to be giving off some strange warmth
from within. The warmth comforted and soothed his nerves and he slowly relaxed.
He couldn’t go back to sleep after all the excitement and just sat there
looking out at the darkness, holding onto the stone.
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