Greetings, and happy Wednesday!
This week's Scenes of the World is inspired by The Bear and the Two Travelers.
Chetan and Prem are close friends. Accompanying Prem on a visit to his grandmother, Chetan discovers an abandoned hut next to a forgotten cemetery. Prem's grandmother always warned him of the dangers in the wild, but those were just silly stories that villagers use to scare children, right? One thing is for sure, the sincerity of one's friendship is put to the test when fear is involved.
Chetan and Prem
“Come on! It’s over here!” Chetan stood pointing into the woods.
Prem stomped through the high grass, cautious not to hit his open toes on any rocks or sticks. Prem was uncomfortable in his maroon, silk kurta and sandles.
“I’m going as fast as I can. What’s the rush? It’s a house. It’s not like it’s going to get up and leave before we get there. My shirt keeps getting wrapped up on me if I move too fast.”
Chetan humphed, putting a hand on his hip. “Why does your dadi make you wear that anyway?”
“She says that it helps us connect to our ancestors, and identify us to the spirits. My dad says that is how it is in the small villages.” Prem hiked the kurta up over his hips so that he could take wider strides until he stood next to Chetan.
“Well, I’m just glad she wasn’t trying to get me to wear those things. You look like you’re getting ready for a lunch with the mayor.” Chetan bowed deeply. “Sir, your table is this way.”
“Shut up.” Prem shoved Chetan’s shoulder. ”And she would if you were my brother and not my friend.”
Chetan laughed, “I’m sure she would try, but if that were the case, I wouldn’t be coming out here with you anymore, and you would be so bored, you would fall into a coma.”
Prem smiled, “There is no doubt about that. O.K., why have you brought me all the way out here?”
“Oh, right! I nearly forgot.” Chetan took off ahead. “Over here. It’s crazy, creepy, cool!”
Prem rolled his eyes, and took off after Chetan. Beams of sunlight punched through the canopy, providing enough light to see the rows of stone shrines. Each shrine looked to be made of varying colored granite. Vines and moss grew thick over each of them. Towards the back corner of the cemetery stood a rundown hut. It was overgrown with vines and moss. Rows of white and pink flowers laced themselves around the beams and through the windows. The moss-covered roof looked as though it would collapse with the slightest of pressure.
Chetan moved quickly past the graves, straight towards the hut. “Isn’t it cool? It looks like one of those murder houses you see in all the movies, right!?”
Prem approached slowly, looking cautiously at the house. “I guess. Wait, you’re not thinking of going in there are you?”
Chetan turned towards Prem with a shocked look, “Thinking about? No, we are definitely going in there. There might be all types of cool stuff. It might be one of those times where you find a box of old coins or jewelry.”
Prem gave a skeptical look. “Or, more likely, we stumble into a leopard den and get our guts spilled.”
Chetan shrugged his shoulders, “Either way, we will no longer be bored.”
Chetan walked up to the side of the hut and looked in the window. “I don’t see a leopard in there, guess we are good to go in then.” Grabbing the handle, Chetan pushed his shoulder into the door. After a few hits with his shoulder, the door slowly started to grind open.
“You just going to stand there, or are you going to help?”
Prem shrugged and placed his hands on the door, helping him push the door open enough for them to squeeze in. The inside was dingy and dark. The smell of mold was overwhelming. There was, what appeared to be, old furniture that had rotted and collapsed to the floor. The iron wood stove was heavily rusted, but had managed to avoid the attention of the mold. Each step released a plume of spores into the air around them.
Prem pulled his shirt up over his face. “I don’t think we are going to get anything in here, but a lung infection.”
Chetan furrowed his brow, “Where is your sense of adventure? At least help me look through the cabinets, before you decide to flake out on me.”
Dropping his head, Prem sighed and nodded. “Fine, but then I’m out of here. My eyes are already beginning to swell.”
Chetan gave a big smile, “That’s my boy!” and slapped Prem on the shoulder.
From outside, a crashing sound could be heard. The boys looked out through one of the windows to see an ancient looking woman, wearing a bright red and gold saris. Her gray plaited hair fell over her shoulder and swung as she quickly hobbled towards the hut. Her long black taloned fingers tensed open and closed with each step.
Chetan’s face went pale, and his eyes grew large. “It’s a Dayan.” he whispered.
Prem stood frozen where he was. He knew that witches were just stories used by the uneducated to explain simple things. This was impossible, but with each step closer, Prem was quickly becoming a believer.
“We need to get out of here.” Prem said softly, grabbing Chetan by the arm and pulling him away from the window. “We need to get out of here right now!”
Chetan still looked slack jawed at the creature cutting through the grave stones. “It’s actually a Dayan. A real Dayan.” A fearful look entered his eyes as he looked at Prem. “She’s going to eat us. She’s going to kill us and eat us! We need to get out of here! We need to get out of here!” Chetan whispered in a near panic.
“Calm down. Check the back windows. Maybe we can squeeze out through one of them.” Prem moved to the closest window and began to break away the vines and growth.
A crunching sound could be heard from in front of the hut. The boys could hear the Dayan’s heavy breathing, and what sounded like, light humming. Chetan grabbed Prem by the shoulders and threw him backwards. Stumbling a few steps, Prem tripped over a root and hit his head against the stove. His head rang and his vision blurred, but he was able to just make out Chetan slam himself into the hole he made in the window and work his way outside. Prem sat in stunned silence as he realized that Chetan had just sacrificed him to save himself.
The door was thrown wide open by the Dayan, her eyes glancing between the window and Prem. She made a low guttural growl, revealing her blackened teeth. Her eyes were sunken deep into her skull, while her nose and chin protruded from her face.
“I was not expecting my dinner to be delivered today.” The witch had a slick, oily sound to it. Her head moved side to side the way a cobra would as it prepared itself to strike. “It would appear to be my lucky day. Perhaps your friend will think twice before entering someone’s home uninvited.” The witch gave a wide sickening smile.
Prem was frozen in fear. He dared not move, though he doubted he would be able to if he wanted. The Dayan leaned in close, crawling on her hands and feet towards him. Her face passed close to him from his legs, up to his neck, taking in his scent. Then the Dayan’s eyes grew just slightly softer. She ran thick black nail gently down his cheek.
“I did not recognize the scent or the symbols on your clothes at first. It had been so long now.” The Dayan’s features seemed to become less severe. She looked as though she had become centuries younger. She still appeared to be a woman in her late fifties, but the monster seemed to fade away. Her nails turned into fingers.
“Your mother was dear to me, little one. We miss her greatly.” Her voice lost it’s oily tone, and became more endearing. She helped Prem up from the floor, smoothing out his hair. As she did, the pain on the back of his head vanished. “You must be more careful. You will come into your own soon enough, but not if you act so recklessly.”
“Who are you?” was all Prem could force out, his head spinning with a thousand thoughts and questions.
“I am a friend, and for now, that will have to do. Now go. Return home, but tell no one of our encounter. Not that it will be taken seriously if you do.” She leaned in and kissed him on the head.
When Prem realized he was no longer in the hut and had cleared the cemetery, he took off running back to the village. Along the way he saw Chetan sitting on a rock. Chetan’s eyes grew wide with surprise, as he scrambled to his feet to meet Prem.
“What happened!? How did you escape? I saw the thing in the hut with you? Did it say anything?”
Prem raised a hand to calm and silence Chetan. “Yes, she did say something to me.” Prem voice was soft and irritated. “She said that I should reconsider who I chose to spend my time with.”
Before Chetan could respond, Prem tightened his lips and marched past him towards his grandmother’s house.
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