Dreamy Red

Episode 21 - Diversion

I closed my eyes in fear. I thought I was going to die. But I felt something gooey on my face. Whatever the animal was, it was licking me before lunching. I didn't want to give in so easily. So I opened my eyes and tried to push the animal away from me. Its teeth were dirty and sharp as razors. It opened its mouth and brought it closer to my face, some of its drool fell on me. Gone, my face was going to be ripped off just like Nishanthi's face and they wouldn't even be able to recover my body. But again the animal licked my face. Ew. Its sticky saliva was all over my face. Then it lifted its paws from me and brushed its body against mine. When I looked properly, I realised that the animal was Twinkle, Nishanthi's pet hound.

I gently moved her aside and stood up. She sat opposite me and raised her paws as though she wanted me to pet her. I felt relieved that she didn't want to hurt me, she was just happy to see me. I patted her on the back. She got excited and again pushed me down and licked me. This time I laughed instead of getting scared. I wiped my face with my handkerchief and I put down my backpack on a rock nearby. I pulled out a biscuit packet from my bag and threw Twinkle a few biscuits. She caught them midair and ate them up hastily. She must have been hungry. So I placed the full packet down for her to eat. After eating, she started panting. So I took the lid off my water bottle, filled it with water and placed it on the ground. She drank it very fast. I refilled it. She drank that up too.

I then washed the lid with as little water as possible and put the bottle back in my bag. I put on my backpack and we hiked through the forest together. We followed the north direction pointed on my compass. Twinkle tagged along happily. We walked and walked but all of it looked the same. Same tall pine trees with thick shrub coverings. Same rocks with mosses. Same squirrels and birds. It felt fishy. Either the entire forest looked alike or we were circling around in the same spot. So I took my phone again and checked the GPS. Yes, we were in the same place where we started. Dad's compass had failed me and I was totally lost. There was a possibility that my compass got deflected due to some other strong magnetic force elsewhere nearby.

But my stomach rumbled in hunger. So I didn't want to think much and wanted to munch some food. I put my backpack down on a rock, opened the zip, and picked up a box of cup noodles and my hot water flask. I poured the hot water onto the cup and waited a few minutes for them to get cooked. Twinkle kept staring at the box, so I threw to her a few more biscuits from another biscuit packet in my bag. Then I sat on another rock and slurp, I ate up the noodles quickly. I wasn't tired till then, but after looking at the time, I felt really tired. It was almost three in the evening. Did I walk for that many hours, I wondered. But it was all useless. So I thought of resting a while in the rocks.

Unfortunately, after eating the biscuits, Twinkle started to sprint in full spirit. It looked like she got energised. At first, I thought she was excited about having eaten the biscuits. But then she ran farther and farther. So I had to follow her because there was no other go. At least her company would keep me distracted and safe or else I would be devastated. I ran for a while behind her. But she kept turning back and looking at me in intervals to check if I kept up the pace. Sometimes, I would lose her. But she would come back and bark at me to follow her. It was as though she was showing me the way.

After a long run, I stopped running. I was very tired. I stood and panted. The weight of the backpack didn't allow me to run. I couldn't abandon my bag as it had all the essentials. Twinkle was nowhere to be seen. I turned around to look if she came back for me. Five minutes passed, and there was no sign of her. I shouted, "Twinkle, Twinkle." That was the first time I ever uttered a word from when I started from the Nishanthi Villa. My voice was rough and my throat was paining. I gulped down some water and felt relieved.

I walked in the direction where she had gone. I could hear her whine somewhere close by. I feared that she might have been caught by some wild animal. So I walked cautiously towards the sound. I avoided the branches and dried leaves on the path so that my footsteps didn't make a noise. I had the cracker and lighter ready in my hand with more grip than before. I had to be brave. As I walked further, her whining became louder and I could also hear the sound of flowing water like a river.