That night she was occupied with her thoughts when she heard the thunder rumbling. The wind was blowing fiercely. So fiercely that the tall trees were dancing vigorously. The streaks of lightning were painting the night sky woth their rough strokes. And the thunderbolts were busy making their own music. In her fourteen nights here she had encountered three stormy nights already. This place was the perfect place to experience all the weathers in a short span. There was hot and humid weather for a day, then there were these storms, then there was a chilly weather, then snow came and then flowers bloomed emphasizing spring. A marvelous place this was.
She got up to lock the last window left open. This was her favourite place as this window enabled one to see scenic views of the vast forest. It looked heavenly at night with its unknown origins. Mysterious and spooky. Suddenly a flash of lightning hit the tree before her. She shielded her eyes from the gigantic burstbof light and prepared for a loud bang, but she was disappointed. There was no sound.....
She opened her eyes to see the place just like before without any burns or marks. And there on the ground before the tree was someone lying. She was terrified.
Who was this stranger? How did he end up here? Who hurt him? Was he dead or still living? Where was the person who hit him? Was it Lares who wounded the man?
These questions filled her mind. She was scared. Very scared. But then what if that wounded person was still living? Should she go and check up on him?
She decided to wait a little. For safety measures she took the large knife in her hand if this attacker were to return and find her. Due to the storm all the doors and windows were already shut. She shut down all the lights and hid in the corner while looking over the wounded man.
Seconds pa.s.sed, minutes pa.s.sed. Still no one came. The storm was slowly receding. The lightning and heavy rains had stopped. It had been an hour since she first encountered this. No one had come. And the wounded man was not moving. At all.
Was he dead?
No, no. A lot of time had pa.s.sed. There was a trace of no other person here. She must go and check up on this man. If he was living then she ought to help him.
She gathered up all her courage and grabbed the knife tightly. As she opened the door, she felt chills down her spine. But she went forward.
The man was lying under the dense tree. She came close to him. He was making strange noises, as if in deep pain.
As she came closer she saw that his chest was rapidly moving up and down. So he was still living.
"Hey! Who are you? How did you end up here, that too in this condition? " , she asked him. There was silence. May be he was losing his consciousness out of pain.
As he did not reply, she went forward and turned him around.
The moment she turned him around she was gripped with fear.....