Help from the OtherSide

58. Deccan

We did as we were told and my regular vision ceased to exist. We sat in complete silence till hazy while light formed before my closed eyelids like lucid dreams.

The trance like state tingled my bones and hurt my head, as if it were being sucked off it's strength. I clenched my teeth and held it in. Few seconds post the pain, the light reduced and the images moved in a steady motion; like a movie being played on my closed eyelids that only I could see.

Sky was dark and thunderous, raining heavily. The droplets fell with force enough to drive elephants into a frenzy. The roof of a modest looking house came into view. Through the roof I saw an grey haired old man wearing coke-bottle spectacles, stand by a telephone with circular spinning dials.  

He hung the phone quickly as a little black haired, rosy cheeked brown eyed boy, I immediately recognised as Deccan, ran to him.

Faint voices of the two conversing were heard as he pleaded with the old man. The man shook his head and guided the boy to the bedroom, trying to put him to sleep.

But the boy slipped from the grasps of the old man; I presume to be his grandfather, and ran to the old woman in the drawing room.

The kind looking woman hugged the boy and whispered in his ears but he shook his head defiantly. The grandparents sighed and finally relented, letting him use the telephone. With tiny fingers, the child dialled a number and spoke excitedly to the people on the other line.

From the boy with his grandparents, the scene shifted to a young couple in a hotel room standing anxiously by the window, talking over their flip-phone.

A fair skinned man with slick black hair and prominent cleft chin, stood behind the lady massaging her shoulders. He tucked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and turned her around, gazing lovingly at her. 

I could identify the couple just by looking at them. The little boy at home was their son. He had his father's black hair and mother's beige complexion and brown eyes.

I heard the child from the other end of the line beg his parents to leave for home and the mother explained softly as to why it was difficult for them. Heavy rains made it dangerous for any vehicle on the road.

After intense pleading, the parents left the same night; on their son's request. The man drove skilfully, avoiding potholes and cars coming from the opposite side. He took an unexpected turn and entered an isolated road by a lake. Their route was as dark as a pot of ink. 

The man drove purely out of instinct, as sight was nearly impossible. Judging by the sky it was around midnight. The uneven and bumpy roads made their belongings fall on the floor of the car. The woman's phone may have fallen with other things because it started to ring again but this time, she wasn't able to locate it. 

The ringing grew distractingly loud with every passing second and irritated the driver. He pressurized the woman to search it faster as the raindrops on the roof  and violent thunders created a deafening noise. The man was unable to focus on the road anymore and he too bent down to find the phone.

As unfortunate as things could be, a truck came roaring from the opposite direction blaring it's headlights at the man. He squinted but the rain made it extremely difficult to navigate. They grew dangerously close to each other until the woman screamed her lungs.