Mo Yaling

The Devil's Messenger

The message dated just two days ago!!

Two days ago! How’s that possible!? Where did he get a signal from? Not only him – how did this basic phone get a signal to receive the message? And what does it mean that he is trapped? More over – how could he be FINE being TRAPPED!? So many questions aroused in my mind.

‘Did anybody of you understand the meaning of this message?’ I asked.

Everybody nodded to say no. Only Shankar seemed a little thoughtful. I feared that he was going to say something terribly nonsensical!

‘I think-’

‘Shankar!’ I tried to stop him.

‘No no bhaiya! Let me finish! I think – there is another world! Haven’t you seen those Harry Potter movies!’

A feeling of angriness burned me from head to toe. ‘This is NOT magic Shankar! Be serious! We are in a grave situation! A man is lost in this forest and you are talking just s**t!’ I scolded him.

‘Hey! Cool down Neel. Please.’ Quentin tried to settle me.

I left the camp, went a little farther and started striding. The puzzle was eating away my brain. How can a man be trapped and still be fine? Is that a riddle? Is he in some kind of situation – that he couldn’t state clearly? Has he been kidnapped by any kind of terrorist group? But how’s that possible! And even if there are any – why would they leave his phone with him!

‘Sir! Dinner is ready.’ Prema called from the camp.

I took my phone out of my pocket unmindfully and watched the time. It said nine thirty am. So the topsy-turvydom has started. ‘What’s the time Prema? Any idea?’ I asked as I approached the camp.

‘The phones have gone mad Sir.’ Prema said. ‘But,’ Prema looked at the sky for some time, ‘I think it would be near eight thirty Sir.’

I was feeling so full that I couldn’t eat much. Rest of the people went inside their sleeping bags after having their dinner. Though we have our tents with us, it is impossible to pitch a tent on this rockey groove. Prema and his team has hanged a sheet of tarpaulin like a curtain. In the day time they remove the curtain aside and at night they drag it and lit a small fire in the middle. We all lie surrounding the fire. They keep a gap in the curtain so that the smoke can pass out. I couldn’t sleep. I put on some sticks on the fire and sat beside it. I could see a tiny piece of sky from there. A few stars twinkling. There were no sounds except the chattering of burning sticks. After some time a new sound added to that – an irritating sound. Shankar’s snoring! I got up and kicked him. The snoring stopped for a while. Then started again. I walked out of the camp in annoyance.

My mind was completely demoralized due to various reasons. On one hand I was missing Nayna too much. I just got married a few days ago. We were supposed to be somewhere celebrating our honeymoon. On the other I was too worried for the professor. Two opposite and contradictory thoughts were making me miserable. I was pacing unmindfully when I heard a faint ‘ting’ sound. Who the hell is sending me a message at this time! I took out the phone to see some unknown number is offering me cash loans without paperwork! I wanted to throw the phone and break it into pieces. And by GOD! That striked into my mind the very next moment – HOW did I get this message! I have a full signal! I had a trembling sensation. That's how the professor's phone got the message!

‘Hey! Wake up! Wake up everybody! Check your phones!’ I ran into the camp and shouted like an insane person. Everybody woke up with a thud. ‘Check your times! Mine is saying twenty two minutes past ten pm. What about your’s?’

‘Yeah! Mine too.’ Quentin said.

Shankar looked at me like a fool. Prema and the other man checked their phones too. Everything was okay. I took the professor's number out of the contact list and tried to call him. But he couldn’t be reached by phone.

‘Why don’t you send him a message?’ Shakar yawned loud as he said.

Though it was a good suggestion, it irritated me, not only because of the way he said it, but also HE said it and it didn’t appear in MY mind! I started to type a message. But before I completed it the signal died out suddenly. I felt so miserable that I couldn’t say! Anyway – I finished the message and saved it in the outbox for future opportunity.

Everybody fell asleep soon again. But I couldn’t. I sat outside the camp and kept thinking about professor and Nayna simultaneously. Though I had wrapped myself with warm dresses it was too cold outside. I got up to enter the camp. Just right then I heard a very faint sound from far far away. It seemed like a growling of a tiger. I recalled that Quentin too heard it. I put on some sticks and kindled the fire. Then I got my gun ready and slipped inside my sleeping bag.

Quentin showed us the spot where he found the professor's spectacles the day before. We decided to climb down the same way a little more.

‘Well … I have a problem with climbing … you know,’ Quentin hesitated ‘I mean … I feel it very nauseating … so-’

‘It’s all right Quentin.’ I stopped him as I say. ‘It’s not an issue. I hope you don’t have any problem?’ I asked Shankar.

‘No way! I feel it is very thrilling!’ Shankar replied.

We started climbing down towards the way the speck was found. After sometime I slipped my leg suddenly and had a fall. Shankar was belaying the rope. He couldn’t hold the jerk. He too slipped his leg.

‘CAREFUL!’ Quentin shouted.

I immediately grabbed some shrubs and arrested my fall. There were few birds in that bush. They made a fluttering noise and flew away. ‘I AM OKAY!’ I shouted. Shankar too stopped himself from falling.

‘Sorry Shankar! Are you okay?’

‘I am fine bhaiya! No issue.’ He replied.

‘Hey! You have deviated from your course!’ Quentin shouted from the top.

‘I have noticed it.’ I shouted back.

As we tried to change our course I noticed the professor's cap a little below from our position. ‘Hey! I found professor's cap here. It’s this way!’ I shouted in excitement.

We got a little down and collected the cap. I noticed some bushes are trampled a little more down.

‘Shankar – see those bushes. I think professor has fallen this way. We have to bring more rope.’

‘And we have to start more early. You don’t know how much down we have to go.’ He said.

We came back to the camp to see Nayna there. I was so happy to see her!

‘Sorry Neel – when I heard about professor’s message I couldn't be restrained from coming here.’ She said as she greeted me.

‘How happy I am to see you Nayna I can’t say! I was missing you very much!’ I expressed my joy. ‘We have discovered the way the professor has fallen. Tomorrow we will run the search that way.’

‘I have good news for everybody here.’ Nayna smiled.

‘And what is that?’ Quentin asked eagerly.

‘How many days it takes us to find the professor – Tamo Jamsenpa will fund us!’

‘That’s a very good news.’ I clapped.

‘Well,’ Shankar said in a very variegated way, ‘probably we won’t need that time. We will just find him tomorrow I think.’

‘I’ll give you a treat with whatever dishes you want to have if it comes true.’ Nayna said before I could say anything. ‘That’s a promise!’

‘Prema bhaiya -’ Nayna turned to our guide, ‘I’ll cook dinner.’

I was feeling very light. It seemed to me that everything is going to get right. I felt that Nayna is lucky for me. We slept early as we had to wake up early. In spite of Shankar’s snoring I fell asleep very easily.

‘Have come to see me? Or to take me back with you?’ Professor asked.

I just smiled in reply. He was sitting on a rock. I was swaying from a lower branch of a tree. I felt that I was very young. Suddenly different animals and birds screeched and shouted from far and near. Professor threw something on me and I felt a very cold wave.

The next moment it seemed that a plane had crashed over my head. My nose wrinkled with a foul smell. I woke up in a jolt to see two glimmering eyes in pitch black darkness.

It’s nothing but the TIGER!!