Disclaimer - All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
contd...
Sachin wandered through the woods taking rapid and long strides. Being an athlete helped him reach the spot, where the vehicle crashed, quickly. Mayank welcomed him and asked about Gaurav. Sachin told him about everything and asked them to come till downstream. Aditi snapped that they needed to wait for Riya and Rohit. Sachin was disgusted that how can they let them go out in such a forest. There was a small altercation between Sachin and Aditi. Mayank intervened, and pacified the situation. Also, he added “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go downstream. The stream could overflow anytime as the water levels were high. Moreover they could be stuck in a flood like situation. It’s better to be at an elevation.” Aditi seconded the idea. Being a peace loving calm girl, she was always opposed to adventurous escapades. Sachin made fun of both, jeering them for their gutless thoughts. Mayank did not like his callous attitude towards Aditi’s sentiments. An argument broke out between them, and it stopped only when they saw a huge rock rolling down towards them from uphill. It scared the wits out of everyone. It came down at a great speed through the smarmy slope. Mayank hoped that the tree trunk which had fallen across the way would help in divert the direction of the rock. Mayank was right. It just evaded their car and them. It was just the timeliest intervention of that incident which tilted the argument in favor of Mayank and Aditi. Sachin realized it was not worth going down to stream and have picnic there. Mayank said that he was able to get the engine working and they could drive their way up to the nearest roads or pathway. Sachin told them he will return and ask Gaurav and Tanya to come back, to which Mayank asked him to help in pushing the vehicle in right direction first. Aditi was more worried about Riya and Rohit, and why she let them go at first place.
Down near the stream, Tanya had regained her full consciousness. Her body was bruised but she felt nothing. Gaurav asked what happened with her and how she got hurt on her forehead. But she did not reply. Her hands wandered to her forehead and she felt her wound. She seemed to be perturbed and distressed. Gaurav offered her water to drink which she refused. She started sobbing profusely. Gaurav was not able to understand. Finally she spoke “Please take me back home. I don’t want to stay a single moment more here. Oh wait! But I have to find something before we leave.” Gaurav was confused by Tanya’s words. Tanya continued “I have to find it, I have to find it. Gaurav, we need to go into woods. Please help me search for it.”. “Search What?” Gaurav exclaimed, “Will you tell me what happened with you, how you came here?” Tanya looked very disturbed, and in panic. She replied “Search my grandma’s platinum ring; I know where it must be!” She galloped towards the woods. Gaurav sprinted behind her, and surprisingly was finding it hard to keep up. He feared for her, and hoped she didn’t hurt herself again in the hurry. Gaurav shouted at her asking for clarifications. Tanya answered that she would explain everything later, now she needed to find the ring.
Meanwhile Riya and Rohit had lost their way in the woods. Riya was bombing Rohit with her insatiable set of questions of their whereabouts. Had it been for some other girl Rohit may have abandoned her straightway in mid of that nature trail they were walking through. Rohit’s presumptuous answers to her queries got her irritated and she refused to go any further with him. She told him she was going back to the car. Rohit couldn’t have let her go back alone. He tried to persuade her to come with him, successfully. Inside her heart even Riya knew that she would not go back alone anyways. They carried on in their search for Tanya, or maybe even Sachin and Gaurav. The rains had stopped. The whiff of wet mud intoxicated Riya. She loved that smell. Being a jovial person she chose to enjoy the moment. She played with the muddy water, and sometimes splashed it across Rohit. Even he started to enjoy the wilderness around him. Though the place was murky and covered with thick forest woods; being in middle of an unknown rainforest along with the ever charming Riya would have been his greatest fantasy. Their path was messy, full of little insects, running water down the slope and very slippery. There were rocks and woods along the way. Some small trees had fallen. They had to cross them. Rohit maneuvered through them and helped Riya climb across. He loved all this, being alone with her. Her vulnerability, susceptibility and fear for the wilderness made him feel in control.
Suddenly it started pouring again, and this time with more vigor. They rushed under a huge tree and took shed. Riya yelled out with extreme fright. Rohit thought she might have spotted a snake or some wild animal. She looked petrified and pointed towards another fallen tree. Rohit’s gaze followed the direction. He froze for a moment, gathering wits he spoke “Who is that?” There was someone spread across. Riya retorted “Who is she? Is she dead?” A wave of chill ran across both of them. Rohit gathered all the courage and made his way up to the body. Riya asked him to be careful. Rohit ignored, and struggled his way through. The body was lying on other side of a huge log of wood. He managed to reach quite close to the body, but was not able to get hold of it. He couldn’t have possibly climbed the log. It was too slippery and dangerous. He might have slipped into the valley too along with the body. He tried reaching for the twig and grasped it. He put the twig under her shirt and tried to pull the body towards him. Rohit was finally able to catch hold of the body and pull it towards them. Riya came running across to him, and then stood frozen there, with fear and plight. She exclaimed “This is TANYA!” Rohit confirmed, and checked her pulse. They shook her forcefully but in vain. Rohit said “She is not responding”. Riya started sobbing for fear of worst. Rohit examined more and noticed Tanya had her fists clinched. He tried opening them but in vain. Finally he managed to unclench, and saw a beautiful ring, a platinum ring.
(to be continued)
