The Wanderings of Rahul - 2. The Rejoice
Upon the golden gleam of the setting sun, Rahul saw with his acute vision his village far beyond the barren lands. The Village of Azroul. The only village, the only abode still lively and uncorrupted. He still being on the foggy hills , realizes the fine line between the dense forest he fell asleep and the barren lands in front of him. The setting sun made him remember his past, how he and his brother ended as rats in a science experiment and how the nuclear war plagued his entire world. A moment of pity he had for himself.
The sun was almost down. Rahul decided that it’s time to leave. He wandered around the edge trying to find a way down the hill, but only at the last sight of the crimson sun he realized that it was a cliff he was standing upon. “Ah,…” as he grinned a smile.
In the dark, he took his staff and held it high, unknown tongue he whispered. The staff with an amethyst crystal at the top with utmost purity, emitted violet radiant orbs. Like lost souls, the orbs floated away in a chaotic uneven manner. With enough orbs radiated, the wizard tapped the ground once with the staff. A flushing, shrieking sound was heard, when all the orbs started swirling in circle breaking the very aspect of the planar nature of the materialistic plane. Tearing away the dimensional space, opening a portal to the village of Azroul with the slight cost of his life force. But what he gave, HE WILL TAKE.
The Village of Azroul
A beautiful, lush green forest clothed over the ruins of Azroul. With fresh breeze from the seashore and an endless supply of radioactive sea food, Azroul was quite phenomenal. A village abandoned centuries before. Well, the Nuclear winter was a big threat then. Nuclear winter, nuclear war, nuclear plague, they called it many names. Like one catastrophe after another, humans could do nothing but suffer. They lived as tribes to survive, foraging for anything and everything to help them live another day. There weren’t any modern delicacy. Earth was devoid of the human creations, the plague set upon the earth was destroyed. Countries were crushed to villages here and there as the land allowed. Earth was getting into balance again, just when the nuclear power was re-emphasized. There was nothing much left to do. Humans and animals had to starve to death or adapt to survive. Living, surviving was the only option people had. It was all that mattered then, to live.
The Night of Rejoice
Rahul made his way to Azroul from the cliff. But, by mistake he made the portal a bit smaller than him. “Great, now I have to push myself through somehow” as Rahul squeezed himself in, to get out to the other side. “Phew”. It has been years since Rahul was back here, and no one knows what vicious things may have happened on these lands. As his patched boots kissed the damped ground, two predators moved swiftly on to his front. An hydra, Ular and a white barn owl, Veirun. The pets face hugged him with euphoria, “Good to be back”. “Ular”. “Veirun” “Hmm (with joy in his face), can u two fetch me some firewood please”. It was true, that Rahul’s telepathy was awed upon, to command even the predators. Rahul went on to gather some forest berries, just some radiation affected forest berries alongside the edge of the barren lands. The myth goes as on the center of these barren lands actually had a Headquarters of the CPC, which supposedly contained a mini re-emphasized nuclear plant. Due to its destruction only, that the grassy plains got devastated into the barren lands now. Maybe that is why, Rahul preferred to eat the affected berries, leaving the good ones on the seashore side for the unaffected humans. It is that he could actually feel the radiation, as he too had his fair share with the nuclear energy. Rahul was so immersed in his thoughts, as he was foraging for wild berries. It was a nasty thing. Not only are the wild animals that got mutated, but even the surviving forests too had to suffer the same fate. By the time Rahul got back, it got completely dark. When the pets arrived with firewood they gathered, the campfire was set. Fire wasn’t a problem with our wizard.
The night went on as these three almost sleepy heads gazed upon the infinite stars. There were too many stars. Maybe, mother earth claimed her first child, the wind back. The air was unpolluted with any solid particles. It was like the sky was too bright, but the lands still dark. The three kept talking all night, got the rest they needed. Love. As Rahul spoke, the other two growled and hooted in return, the gauntly night with the howling winds went on.
“Return soon, brother. There’s a lot to be done”, he whispered.
Sunil Kumar, 26, Male, Writes Cosmic Horror, Magical Realism, Sci-fi, fiction and Non-fiction. Lives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Happy Gloom
Pacing through, the morning dew
Like clouds my eyes, it rained
Empty skies, in violet blue
My memories, slowly drained
Like a kid, in cries
I Blink
Souls, demise
I sink
Like a cry, to the sky
Like a dime, to the crime
Like a Cliche, you cant deny
Like a Cure, to claim
In Sorrow
Broken heart in rime, raging thoughts revive
In Morrow
Like a rhyme, I will survive
All that I could do...
‘Hello, I’m Stacie, a journalist from the Premier weekly, can you tell me what happened?’
‘......... No ...’
Nurse: ′ You should not be here, journalist, the guy needs to rest’
‘I’m sorry to disturb you at this condition, but you were the sole survivor, and if you could tell me’
Nurse: ′ Can you please leave...′
‘Oh, okay, sorry, i’d better leave...’
′ It was a lovely day, stacie, a very bright sunny day with spring clouds showering here and there.’
Take your seat.
Stacie sat down silently.
‘I went with my family to the carnival, my wife, my kid Dorien and our dog Valerie’, Gasp , ′ We were so happy, a new place, a new way of life, a better school for my boy, our lives ere just gonna get better.′
‘And then I heard a gun shot, should have been a bullet passing by my left ear. It just made me deaf, it was so powerful, so chaotic, i just fell, and my wife grabbed me, we were on our knees by then’
‘Valerie got frightened, she just fled, the poor dog.’
‘My boy Dorien, he just ran after Valerie’
‘A fleeting shot of gunfires, and my boy, my Dorien, he just fell, i wanted to believe he only got shot in the leg, but, but no, he fell’
′ Still unable to recover from these shocks, i crawled to my kid, held him to my heart, hoping a miracle would happen, hoping that he could hear my heartbeat, hoping that he could hear and wake up, but, but no...’
‘Words failed me’ ‘the world failed me’
′ and i looked to my side, and she wasn’t there’
′ I turned myself back to look at her, to get to her’
‘and , and, and she was there standing, I could not see even a single thought reflecting of her face. She just stood there blatantly. It was like someone took the love out of her, such coldness’
‘I could not hear anything, couldn’t see anything but her, and she fell to her side, time slowed, i watched her fall, it was so painful to look but it didnt’t stop, she was falling, it was like, like, like a whole life time, and she was there still falling’
‘And she hit the ground, the mob was gone, the gun shots were over, and everyone was murdered, i held her on my lap, my tears washed the dirt away from her face’
‘I cried so bad, i couldn’t cry anymore, i was drained of water, filled with extreme grief’
‘Valerie, she crawled to me, a moment of break i wanted,but, she just, fell right on my side’
‘my family was gone’
‘my family as gone, Stacie’
‘and here you are, to report this to your company, that’s only focussed on making money as a corporate, only making money of people’s pain and pleasures’
‘I’m sorry, sir, i don’t know, i just got nothing to tell you, you know, i got... , i gott’
‘Sir, are you all right, sir , can you hear me, nurse, nurse’
Nurse: What happened, what’s happening, oh my god, doctor, doctorrrr.....
Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick toooooccck....
Yes, but NOOOooo...
Swish, as I fell on the bed
Of an independant community of water drops
Swiftly yet smoothly it engulfed
Pulling me down and deep unto its heart
My aura of a loving warmth
Hugged by a freezing smooch
As a thousand hands of liquid
pulled me closer
A healing light from the heavens
pulled me back and further.
SHIT, is that my body drowning.
Big and bigger
The alarms gone, Sun is on and there you are lazy , lazy trying to find reasons to do what you should, hasty in finding excuses. You are a grown up, you are aware, you know what is wrong with you, and how it can be repented . Yet, there you are watching the battle beween reasons to work and excuses to not.
But you have not been sleeping your days off, you are doing something. Watching something, buying something, literally being responsive to the ones that really work, but you, not you, you dont work do you.
If you can think of reasons to do something, that doesn't help you grow. Why cant you feel a reason to help you work for what you love, maybe is it a little failure, not able to find your people who appreciate your unique way. You dont work on people to expect good response, you work on yourself.
Dont let the big world of people make you feel small, let that bigger insides of you out, play wild. Play heartful.
When you have become truly what you are supposed to, then people could do nothing but appreciate. Earn that magnificience.