“CKKKKKK!” shouted Sara, crying.
CK opened his eyes slowly. He saw the dense forest through his muddy eyes. Uff thank you mom, I am alive , thought CK, feeling his presence. He then took his hand to wipe the mud off his face. “Argh!” CK murmured, closing his eyes, feeling the burning sensation in his hand. He looked at the scratches in his hand. He wiped the mud off his face and hands, closing his eyes tightly, bearing the pain and he managed to stand up, clutching his painful knees. He then lifted his aching neck as he bit his teeth and saw Sara being held at gunpoint. She then took a deep sigh of relief seeing him standing in between the shrubs.
“Jump; you will be safe,” shouted CK.
“You are going to go down, or up,” said the terrorist, pressing the gun hard at back of her head. Feeling the gun, Sara shivered, breathing heavily, looking at CK.
“Jump closing your eyes,” shouted CK, hearing his heartbeat rise up, seeing her terrified at the gun. “Trust me,” shouted CK with his full energy, stretching his hand. Those words made her to wear the mini backpack and jump. Closing her eyes, she felt the landing so safe and painless. She opened her eyes, puzzled. She then realized she was on CK’s arms.
CK’s heartbeat became normal while holding Sara. My arms are the safest place for you in the world , thought CK, with his eyes interlocked with her. Sara was seeing him as if she was witnessing magic. They were brought back to reality when the terrorist jumped next to them. Sara held CK’s shoulder and got down from his arm, but continued holding it with her trembling hands seeing the terrorist. The terrorist stood up, “Is he a man or something else? Doesn’t he feel pain? How will he? Only people with feelings will have pain. What is he going to do to us? CK thought, patting Sara who was trembling in fear, holding his arm.
“Move,” shouted the terrorist, walking towards them. He pushed CK ahead.
Is he going to kill us and dump us in the forest ? CK’s legs trembled as he walked. He could feel his heart banging his chest. Sara saw the birds scattering from the trees feeling strangers’ presence. The terrorist kept following them, pointing the gun at them. CK looked all around, hearing the birds. Are we going to be a meal for these birds? Oh No! Please mom, save us please !.
“Come on, hurry up!” The terrorist yelled. CK could feel Sara’s dead-cold palm. Is this going to be our last journey together? I wanted to travel all over the world with her thought CK, looking at her through his teary eyes.
They walked so far that Sara stopped, holding her knees. “I can’t move further,” She breathed heavily.
CK wiped his sweat. As he turned back, he saw the terrorist walking a little away from him, looking at the trees. CK searched for the flight but he couldn’t see anything. His eyesight was filled with only bushes and trees. So only he is following us. Why can’t I fight him? No, that’s not a good idea, he has a gun. But he is going to kill us anyway. His thought process stopped when he locked eyes with the terrorist. The terrorist signaled him to move further with his eyes. CK nodded and told Sara, “Come on, he is behind us. Move!” Sara turned back and looked at his gun.
“We’ve been walking for so long. Instead of torturing us like this, he can kill us,” Sara muttered, climbed up holding CK’s arm.
“Don’t lose hope,” CK replied, reactionless. Hearing it, Sara turned and looked at him, puzzled. He closed his eyes and nodded his head up and down slightly to assure her what she heard was right. He continued walking, quietly. His words gave her the energy to walk. She was still looking at him.
“He is the only one following us,” CK whispered. She was about to turn back but she stopped when he held her wrist firmly.
“No, don’t turn back. We should wait for the right time, he has a gun. When I signal you, start to run.”
“But I don’t think he is planning to kill us, if so, he would have done that near the flight, why should he make us walk? She asked, scratching her eyebrows.
“Yes, that’s right but I heard the leader saying ‘use them’. I think they are trying to use our corpses for some purpose. That’s why they are taking us somewhere. He spoke, facing down.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you heard it before? Sara stared at him.
“I didn’t want to scare you,” replied CK, expressing pity.
“Oh, I am actually so cool, I am not scared. I didn’t know that we are going to be killed,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears.
I will not let you get killed. We will escape from the terrorist and live a happy life , he thought, looking at her.
“What if he shoots when we try to escape? Sara asked, thinking about it.
“He is going to kill us anyway. We should take the risk,” CK replied in a firm voice. “Let’s hope for the best,” he added.
“Come on, walk fast. We should be far away from the terrorist,” he urged, pulling her hand. Sara managed to walk with the hope of escaping from the terrorist. Sara’s hand rushed to her ears when they a heard a loud noise.
They became stunned, seeing a giant elephant right behind the frozen terrorist. ‘A single elephant is dangerous than a group,’ the saying he heard long back flashed in CK’s mind. Sara closed her wide-open mouth and stepped back. Hearing her foot crushing the dry leaves in that pin-drop silence shook CK off his thoughts. He saw the terrorist moved carefully, facing the elephant. This is the right time. We won’t get another chance, alerted CK’s mind.
He looked all around, but he could only see the dense forest. Sara looked at CK whose head kept on turning. He gathered up the courage, took a deep breath and signaled her to run. She had a blank face. He signaled her again and only then Sara remembered his word, nodded yes and looked at the frozen terrorist. She heard him running. She then turned and looked at him, and realized she is still standing. When she was about to run, she saw the terrorist running behind him, so Sara didn’t know what to do. She could feel her heavy heartbeat, standing still. He tried to run fast, and felt thankful for the long legs and the trees. After a few seconds, he turned back while running. He saw the terrorist after him and a glimpse of Sara who stood frozen.
“Run,” shouted CK breathing heavily. The terrorist looked at Sara who stood motionless and pointed his gun at CK. His heartbeat pumped at a tremendous speed when he saw the terrorist pointing the gun at him.
Seeing the terrorist pointing the gun at CK, Sara was lost in thoughts of him. Their conversation, his love for his mother, the way he pats her, the way he caught her in his arms flashed up before her. CK remembered a scene from his favorite film in which the tribe runs zigzag to escape from the arrows. He just implemented it. He started running zigzag. His mind become blank and his heartbeat began to rise. Sara stood motionless, looking at them. CK ran hiding from one tree to another, zigzag, so the terrorist struggled to point at him. Sara was looking at them without blinking her eyes. Sara could feel her heartbeat rising every second.
“No, no, no,” murmured Sara. The terrorist pulled the trigger. Sara closed her eyes and ears tight, hearing the gunshot. The birds started to fly in all directions, scared like her. CK fell in between the giant root of the tree, and everything went out of focus and his heart stopped beating after the gun shot. Sara trembled and opened her eyes hearing a loud sound made by the elephant. She saw the elephant lifting its trunk, running towards her, terrified by the gunshot. She stood blank seeing the giant running towards her.
THE ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY
CK felt his heartbeat again after it had missed a few beats. He looked all around touching his hands and legs and breathed a huge sigh of relief, realizing his presence. Hearing the birds from all directions, CK got back his consciousness and he remembered he was followed by the terrorist. So he peeped through the tree, and saw the terrorist running towards him. Seeing him, CK stuck his back to the bark. Closing his eyes tight, he took a deep breath and started to run zigzag. Seeing him run, the terrorist shot at him again. It was again a miss, and CK got used to gun shot, so he ran fast. Hearing the gun shot, Sara jerked and look
ed all around. Seeing CK running, Sara remembered what was happening, so she suddenly turned and looked at the elephant running towards her. She took a foot up to run in CK’s direction, but she kept it straight, seeing the terrorist following him. Sara started to run, hearing the elephant coming closer breaking branches of trees. She was jumping through the bushes and small plants. Sara ran so far and looked back, breathing heavily. She saw the elephant walking towards her. She started to walk fast, unable to run. After a while, she crossed a pool of water and then turned back, and noticed that the elephant was drinking water. Sara stood catching her knees and breathed a huge sigh of relief looking at it.
Oh shit, it was not following me. I was just on its way , thought Sara breathing heavily.
Sara hid behind the tree watching the elephant. CK ran so fast without turning back, and went out of the terrorist’s sight.
“Shit!” The terrorist shouted, stamping the ground, looking at the sky.
CK turned back holding his chest with a hand, unable to run further. Feeling his heartbeat, breathing heavily, CK saw the blurred forest along with the sweat dropping from his eyelashes. CK took a few deep breaths. He looked in all directions looking for the terrorist. He breathed a huge sigh of relief realizing that he had escaped from the terrorist. The terrorist kept searching for him.
As soon as the elephant went out of sight, Sara ran and went down on her knees and took a sip of water after pushing away the dust. She could feel the water travelling through her dry food pipe. She felt as if she got back her soul, she drank as much as water as she could and then she splashed water on her face.
“I hope CK has escaped from the terrorist, now I have to find him,” said Sara in a firm voice, rising up and getting back her energy. Sara walked fast towards the East shouting, “CK!” by keeping her palm arched near her mouth, knowing he ran in that direction. She saw the squirrels running here and there feeling a stranger’s presence, her eyes were moving all around. Sara walked far but she couldn’t find him, and she was clueless whether she was in the right direction. “No, no, no, nothing should have happened to him,” Sara crossed her forearm, rubbing her arm while holding back her tears.
Meanwhile, CK fell on his knees, leaning on the bark still terrified by the fear of being shot by the gun. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if the bullet has gone through my head, I would have been dead before ten minutes , he thought, wiping his sweat with his trembling hand feeling choked. ‘How strange it is, I was blank while doing it, but thinking of what would have happened gives me terrible feeling’ he thought with his heartbeat raising.
No, no, no, nothing has happened to me. I am alive, and I am not going to think about it further. Everything happens for a reason . Holding the corner of his forehead, tried to console himself as usual. Maybe the reason is Sara. Only because the terrorist followed me, Sara got away . He patted his chest, trying to make the heartbeat normal. The last time he saw her running before the elephant flashed in his mind. His heartbeat began to rise. What if something would have happened to her? warned his mind.
“I am a fool, I always think negatively. She would probably be searching for me. I should find her soon and inform somebody about the flight,” CK got up, holding a branch of the tree, still terrified by the concern for Sara in his mind. He felt so exhausted, as if there were no parts in his body. But still he managed to walk to find her.
His mind was continuously visualizing the elephant attacking Sara. His eyes were looking all around, searching for her. His tired legs moved without his control. He tried hard to stop his mind, but he couldn’t. He walked so far, but couldn’t find her. His shirt was drenched in sweat, and he stumbled to stand holding the fiber of the tree. CK was breathing heavily as he felt the pain in his legs even more while standing.
“S arah! ” CK shouted, closing his eyes. He felt his heart hurt even more than his legs.
“SA-” CK stopped, thinking, “I shouldn’t shout. The terrorist may still be following me.” The terrorist searched for him, but he couldn’t find him.
Ugh! They would be waiting for me. I should inform them . The terrorist held his forehead with his palm. The next second, the terrorist started running back to the flight. You are an idiot. You should have at least stopped the girl . The terrorist scolded himself running back to the flight. He saw the flight in between the trees. The terrorist took his speed in spite of being drained out. The terrorist halted abruptly, seeing that the scene was different.
The terrorist froze seeing the policemen. Before the terrorist could realize what was happening, he had a bullet in his chest. Hearing the gun shot, the birds started to fly in different directions, scared. CK and Sara heard the gun shot and a loud scream. Sara stopped running, and her eyes were moving left and right. Sara dropped on her knees, as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I shouldn’t have allowed him to take the risk,” she cried, bursting out in tears.
CK was stunned. Could it be Sara? But, the terrorist was following me, how could he have? Tears welled up in his eyes. The first moment when he saw her in a saree, the nanosecond eye contact, their conversations, her childishness, the moment when she opened up about her father, the moment he held her in his arms, everything flashed before his eyes. He hit his forehead, crying.
I shouldn’t have left her alone - No there are chances, it could be someone else. He wiped his tears, trying to overcome his mind voice.
You are destined to be a never been a loved one.
No, you won’t lose her, run, run! His heart screamed.
Sara cried even though she knew it wouldn’t help her. She remembered each moment with him. Her eyes were struck when she visualized the moment. CK escaped from the gunshot. The next second, Sara bolted in the direction of the gunshot and so did CK.
“There may be more. We must take-off,” urged the head of police.
“Yes, Sir,” shouted the fellow policemen.
The dead bodies of the terrorists were thrown out of the flight.
“Wear your seat belts, we are going to start,” announced the airhostess with a big smile seeing the passengers hugging and kissing their loved ones.
“Are you sure the two passengers were killed inside the forest?” The head of police asked one of his men.
“Yes, I have investigated among the passengers. The terrorist leader had announced that he was going to kill them one by one till their demands were met. Since they were seated near the exit, they had started with them. Thankfully we arrived soon. I shot the terrorist who was returning from the forest,” The policeman briefed. The head policeman stood silently.
“The flight is damaged due to hard landing. We can manage to reach the nearest airport, but we can’t delay. We should start as soon as possible,” shouted the head of the flight crew, rushing to the head policeman.
“It’s not safe to risk the life of passengers because we don’t have any idea why they landed here. There is probability of more terrorists attacking us, so we should hurry up,” added the policeman, rushing up his words.
The head policeman nodded his head puzzled. The flight engine roared.
CK ran so fast. He was stunned seeing the dead body of the terrorist who was about to kill him. He breathed a huge sigh of relief realizing Sara wasn’t shot.
Oh, it’s the rescue team, alerted his mind.
CK looked for the flight all around. He saw a small portion of it between the trees, which put a smile on his face after a long time. But soon the smile disappeared, seeing the flight move slowly.
THE CHASE
“Hey!” CK shouted, waving his hand and running towards it.
Sara hid behind a tree, cupping her mouth, hearing someone’s voice. She kept looking left and right, and her leg was trembling with the thought that it could be terrorists.
Fixed on getting to the flight, CK didn’t see the log of wood in his way. His leg hit it and he fell abruptly on dry leaves and slid in the mud. But his eyes were still stuck on the flight. He saw the f
light rising an inch above the ground with a roar. Hearing the flight’s noise, Sara peeped out of the tree holding its bark tight with her trembling hands. She saw the flight rising above and her heartbeat rose along with it.
“Hey, we are here,” CK shouted, trying to get up holding the log of wood. But his voice was lost in the noise. Sara’s hands rushed up to her wide opened mouth seeing him.
“Oh you’re alive!” She cried, with a big smile on her face. The birds were flying in different directions, and squirrels were moving all around. Sara could hear different sounds of animals along with the sound of the flight. She was blank and clueless as to what happened. CK managed to stand on his knees with his eyes stuck on the flight, continuously shouting. He tried to stand up on his feet, catching the log of wood, but he fell abruptly. Seeing him fall, Sara came back to consciousness and she rushed to him, lifting his arm.
“Go stop them,” he shouted, pushing her hands away.
“Is it-” Sara turned and looked at the flight with a big smile. She started to jump, waving her hands shouting, “Hey!” After a few seconds, her hands stopped midway seeing the flight taking its speed.
“Shit, why are you jumping here? Go stop them!” CK kept trying to get back up, looking down. He didn’t hear a reply. “Are you deaf? I am talking to you-” He swallowed his words as his hands rushed to his ears hearing the noise above his head. He gasped at the sky. Sara stood frozen, looking at the flight, closing her ears. They saw the flight flying away from them. Tears welled up in Sara’s eyes, and CK felt as if his hope was being pulled from his soul and taken away in the flight.
Why it’s happening only for me, why am I so unlucky? CK’s heart kept banging against his chest and his eyes were fixed on the flight that was disappearing. Their hopes faded as did the flight. Suddenly there was pin-drop silence, and they could hear the sounds in the forest. CK fell on the ground, leaning on the tree. Oh my god, I can’t believe what is happening in my life. First the hijack and now we’re left alone in the forest. Why is it just me? Sad and dejected, he buried his face in his palms.
NEVER BEEN A LOVED ONE Page 4
