The Turn Of The Night

Chapter 10

Scream, run, cry, yell, cough, laugh... anything but fall…

It is inevitable, an action outside of your control. Maybe you have brought it upon yourself but once you are into it, there's no going backwards. There's the fall and what you do after it that defines you.

Aarush sensed his neck muscles clamouring, his torso tensing and his sense of consciousness drifting apart as he fell down an endless column but it was too late when it dawned upon him, he was powerless against gravity…

Aarush's mind jolted back into motion and his fingers twitched. A strange foreboding intuitive feeling swam across him. Then came the smell of wet earth upon his nose. Fearing he was injured, Aarush cautiously strained his back and sat up straight. His eyes felt groggy and everything seemed unfocused and swallowed by a clamouring darkness. However as his eyes focused, he found himself sitting in the middle of a forest, tracks covered by yellowed leaves and surrounded by tall slim trees.

Aarush felt his head and found it a sticky mess and after moments he realised it was blood. But he felt no pain. His hands too were scratched but again there was no pain. His dark full sleeved pullover was still intact and his denims though caked with a bit of mud, still comfortable.

Struggling, Aarush stood and was filled with a moment of overwhelm. The night, the graveyard, the food, the mist, the fog , the numbness , Canisa… all came back to him. And most importantly, Darsh. If he was there, Darsh had to be somewhere...but where?

Aarush checked his bag, it was still slung on his shoulder. He took out his torch and trudged through the dark bushes. Of everything that could ever happen to him would be to be alone in this place. He had to find Darsh.

Stomping silently through the papery floor, Aarush thought intently about the misgivings of the land. The trees were clamped together to look like a massive claw and Aarush had cut his way through the prickly bushes. Sweet aromas of lavender and other pleasant mysterious scents drifted from the place, enough to intoxicate. But Aarush trudged on. After a long walk among the woods he could feel them growing outwards and a faint sound of water reached his ears. Aarush followed the sound… and after not so long, came upon a thin stream bending through the lands and stones. The stream was a beauty. Aarush could see to the depths of the shallow stream...the water was crystal clear. The sides of the stream are full of velvety mosses, the ones which shrunk and cushioned the feet as someone walked upon it. Aarush was enchanted...but he had to find Darsh.

He coursed his way along the water's path...with the forest on his side and moss underneath...

Aarush's clock wasn't working but it felt as if hours had passed by since he woke up. The sky was still dark and once Aarush had taken some rest and had tried to wash his head with the water from the stream. Still there was no sign of Darsh.

As Aarush walked, the crunch of the undergrowth echoed through the forest. Far away he could see the forest becoming less dense. Something cooed as he passed another tree. His breath felt icy….

Just when Aarush was on the verge of giving up… he saw a light… though scant but glowing brighter each passing moment. It seemed to attract him as a bulb attracts a nightfly. The orb however took him away from the water side and into the forest. However Aarush was unable to resist although a voice at the back of his head warned him against it. Aarush followed. He walked through a mass of trees but the closer he got to the light, the farther away it went. The orb became brighter too. It was as if directing Aarush to his destination. While following the strange light, Aarush came upon the bottle he had thrown earlier and realized that for hours he had been going in circles.

The orb disappeared among the undergrowth as he reached among the trees. But then went up as high as it could go until the trees engulfed it. It shined brightly as if paving a path for Aarush. Aarush, though, didn't feel any pain, but could barely stand anymore and the bushes slowed him down evermore. He leaned upon the trees to walk his way...the trees were colder… static current and numbness jolted through his arms as he touched the bark and he withdrew his hand instantaneously.

Still he continued the light. After what seemed like ages , the mysterious light came to a certain place and stopped. Aarush at that moment was behind the bushes. However from there it was visible that the place was an opening and a lifeless body lay in the middle. Just that moment Aarush felt someone watching him.

Slowly Aarush made his way to the fallen body as coldness numbed him. The body was of a young boy, someone he knew, it was Darsh.

A sense of relief flooded through Aarush as he turned Darsh's unconscious face towards him.

*********************

He felt someone nudging him. He thought it was his mom. But as he opened his eyes, he realized that it was Aarush. His head lay on his lap. Though he was not visibly injured, he fell down as he tried to stand up. He felt weak.

As Darsh looked around him and Aarush, he took in his surroundings. The coldness grasped him… the trees, he felt would choke him… , ' This is where the dead go?' he whispered weakly with his eyelids drooping over his eyes.

'Seems like it .' Aarush replied in a raspy tone as he helped Darsh to stand up.