The Trip - Ch 2 - Woods, Rains & Tanya

Disclaimer - All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Contd...
(Back in Delhi)
The sun was out. It was a bright morning. Tanya’s parents were trying to call her since morning. Her grandmother had passed away late in night. She was just 62. She died under mysterious circumstances. She had perfect health conditions till last evening, with no past history of any illness. But there was a huge reddish blue mark on her forehead, just above her left eye. It looked as if she fell on a huge rock, or someone had hit her with a large stone. But any such possibilities were remote. Tanya’s parents wanted her to come back home from college hostel immediately. The body could be cremated only after Tanya had come back. Her mom was restless. She had called her friends in hostel, but all of them made excuses. She was already quite perturbed by the untimely demise of her mother in law. And the tension mounted because of Tanya’s unanswered calls. Never before had Tanya left her phone unanswered for this long.

Tanya’s roommate, Richa had no idea about her whereabouts. She knew that she was out for celebrating Gaurav’s birthday, but nothing else. She was unable to reach either Tanya or Gaurav. Richa was worried for her, and even more for the excuses that she made to Tanya’s mom. The cat had to come out of the bag someday. But she did not want to take the responsibility for doing it. She left messages for Tanya about the death of her grandmother. Tanya’s parents were already disturbed with the events at their home. Tanya’s disappearance took a backseat for them. Police were already investigating the root cause for the death. Nothing sufficed.

(Middle of nowhere)
Everyone was panic stricken. More than 2 hours had passed and there were no signs of Tanya. Aditi had calmed down. Mayank still couldn’t find a way to get the GPS working. Sachin and Gaurav left for a search down the slope. Rohit tried to recollect the events along with Riya. All four were inside the vehicle as it poured outside. Mayank served some snacks to everyone. The engine was not working. Mayank tried hard to start the vehicle, but to no avail. Aditi had to answer the nature’s call. She had been holding on for too long now. Rohit offered his sweatshirt to deny rain any chance of drenching her. Riya accompanied her to the bushes. It was raining heavily. Aditi went behind the nearby bushes and Riya stood just beside her, around ten meters away from the Scorpio. Inadvertently, Riya’s gaze fell upon a snake. It was near to the bushes and coming towards them. It was a huge snake, with pale brown skin glistening with drops of water. Riya screamed out to Aditi and she stumbled her way back to other side of bushes. The cold blooded brown reptile coiled itself beneath the bushes. Aditi realized that there were more snakes around. Another one writhed through the bushes and climbed up a tree. This one was a smaller version of the same species. Riya looked on the other side of the tree which was completely immersed in water. She could locate at least a dozen of reptiles, mostly snakes, trying to wriggle out and come towards the higher elevation. Both of them ran towards their vehicle and got inside. They breathed a sigh of relief.

Mayank took out his Nikon SLR and rolled down the windows from his side. He zoomed upon the location as mentioned by girls about the snakes. True to their words, he spotted around ten snakes coiled and squirming, various sizes and colors. It was truly fascinating to an avid photographer like Mayank. He clicked various snaps. It was a feast to his camera. Aditi enquired whereabouts of Tanya, and what may have happened to her. “What if some snake bit her?” she whispered. Rohit ignored her and was wondering why Sachin and Gaurav were not back yet? He asked Mayank to take care of the girls and went downhill to look for clues. Riya insisted she would go along with him. He obliged. Aditi forced Mayank to roll up the windows. Mayank resisted as he was clicking snaps. At last Aditi managed to convince him. She asked Mayank what he thought of the place they were stuck in. She assumed Mayank being a regular traveler must know something about the place. Mayank expressed his sorrow for inadequate knowledge of the place, but assured her that everything would be alright. Aditi again broke down. Mayank hugged her to make her feel comfortable and safe. She felt better. But she was still weeping. Tanya was missing, and doubts were mounting about her well-being. It made her feel insecure about the place. The place had an eerie look about it. It was quite creepy. And all the snakes around because of incessant rains made the matter worse. How she wished everything could get back normal.

Downhill by the stream, Gaurav had found Tanya, albeit unconscious. She was lying beside the stream. All drenched in mud and water. Her clothes were filthy and bit torn. Sachin noticed some scratches on her arm. They tried waking her up. Gaurav shook her vigorously but in vain. He feared for the worst. Sachin calmed him and checked her pulse. Tanya was just unconscious, he affirmed. He decided to carry her back to the vehicle. “No, rather we would get everyone down, to the riverside” Gaurav intervened. Sachin seconded, since this place was far calmer. There were no slopes, or slippery muddy tracks. Monstrous trees with their wild residents were distant. And it seemed to be a good picnic spot. Gaurav stayed back with Tanya, and Sachin hiked back to the rest of the group. Gaurav took out his handkerchief and started wiping Tanya’s face. He removed her hair from her forehead. He was taken aback by the huge reddish blue mark on her forehead, just above her left eye. It looked as if she fell on a huge rock. He took out the bottle and poured water in her mouth. Tanya coughed, and it brought a huge relief on Gaurav’s face. Tanya regained her consciousness. Gaurav was delighted. Tanya mumbled with great pain, “Grandma, Grandma…Come back!!”

(to be continued)