Dreamy Red

Episode 22 - Beneath the Carcasses

Gurgle. Gurgle. I was deep inside the water. I was struggling to breathe. I couldn't look up. I kept pushing my hands and legs upwards so that I could reach the surface. I was about to pass out, but when I saw a huge fish with tentacles swimming toward me, I got scared as hell. Somehow I built some courage within me and I looked up. The surface was only a few feet away. So with one strong plunge on my feet, I dived upwards with all my force. I kept wading upwards until I could taste some fresh air. I had to reach the land before the big fish could devour me. So I took a few deep breaths and managed to swim my way across to the grassy mud land. Whew. I could have died, I thought to myself when I dumped myself onto the land. The mud was sticking to my clothes and body as I was dripping water.

While I stood upright panting, I heard Twinkle whine from the top of the cliff beside the waterfall. She came jumping down the rocks towards me. I was happy to see her. It looked like it was easy for her to climb down the cliff but I wasn't sure if it would be fun to climb back up because I had to get to the top where the cave was. My backpack was over there too. While I stood there stroking my hair and thinking about what to do next, I saw something strange beneath the waterfall. The rocky part of the mountain vanished right beside the waterfall, which meant there was an opening underneath. I quickly remembered and realised that the map in the chest had shown that spot where the treasure was. So I figured that there must be a cave right under the waterfall.

I untied my hair and shook my head and body like a dog would do to get myself dry. Anyhow, I didn't dry as a dog would. But I felt better. At least my face and hair felt drier. Then I and Twinkle walked closer to the waterfall. As the water flowed heavily, it sprinkled a lot amount of water on us. I didn't mind as I was already wet. But Twinkle whined uncomfortably. I realised that she wasn't liking to get under the waterfall. "It's ok, Twinkle. You stay here while I go and check what's inside", I told her comfortingly. She was happy. She nodded her head up and down in agreement. She understood me so well. "If I don't come back within some time, go get help, okay?", I requested her. I know I was being stupid. But since she was a smart girl, I was pretty sure that she would be able to help me. She nodded her head again.

I grasped my sling bag tight, waved bye to Twinkle and walked towards the rocky opening of the waterfall. I was completely drenched when I reached the inside of the waterfall. But it was good in a way because the mud sticking to my clothes was washed away and I was clean but super wet.

There was a clear-cut path within the rocks. Gently, I walked on the rocks and stumbled my way across a dark cave beneath the waterfall. Little light passed through the waters making the front portion partially visible. The rocks were moist and slippery. I had to remove my boots and socks so that I didn't slip off and it felt uncomfortable too as it was wet. I placed them at the entrance as I didn't want to carry them along.

I opened my sling bag and scavenged it for my torch. It was completely wet. I tried switching it on. But it didn't work. I couldn't see anything inside. Then I quickly took my lighter out and lighted it. That light was enough for me to see a bit of the ground around me. But it wasn't going to last long. And I had no idea what I was searching for. Ah yes, a pond. I saw one right in front of me. It was deeper inside the cave with no light at all. The water was pitch black. It seemed like it could be deep. I knew that I couldn't swim in it when I couldn't see anything. The lighter would get extinguished as soon as I get into the water. I thought that I had to think of a way to swim inside and find the mystical oyster shell.

I moved away from the pond to see if I could find some twigs to light. When I showed some light to the walls of the cave, I saw a stick and wick torch like in the movies hammered to the wall with wood and iron nails. I immediately lighted it. What a stroke of luck, I thought. As soon as I lit it, the part of the cave where I stood was very well lit. There was another torch a few feet away from where the light of the torch near me started to diminish. I lighted it as well. Similarly, there were many more torches and I lit all of them one by one until the whole cave was completely illuminated.

The water in the pond was not black anymore, it was translucent and muddy in colour. Yet, I didn't find the confidence in myself to dive into it. It still looked deep. I had survived once, I didn't want to hope I would survive again. Moreover, I didn't have a diving harness or an oxygen mask. I knew that I could breathe underwater more than any average swimmer but still, that wasn't enough to search for an oyster which could be way much deeper than I could withstand. That's when I felt like retreating from the quest.

I opened my sling bag and inside it, I saw the red beads glowing fiery red from the lights of fire torches. Maybe it was telling me that it needed to get back home. Even if I died, I knew that my family would come in search of me and my body won't rot inside the pond because Twinkle could show them the way to me. I had more trust in Twinkle than I could trust any human. I planned to dive in and check the depth. If I couldn't tolerate it, I could come back to the surface and go back home and come next time with an oxygen mask and harness.

I took a heavy breath, placed my hands upward in a namaste pose and dived into the pond. Though I thought it would be deep, it wasn't very much. The bottom was crystal clear. It wasn't made of rocks, instead, there were bones and carcasses of dead animals. Something deadly must have been there which could have killed so many animals. I was in a dilemma. I knew that I could withstand the depth and search for the oyster. But even then it would be arduous to search through the heaps of carcasses and bones which were actually quite foul-smelling. And there was a chance that I might encounter the creature that was responsible for so many of those murders. But before I could swim back to the top, I thought of giving it a try.

I swam to the bottom of the pond and started removing some of the slimy-covered bones aside to look for an oyster. The pond was only about 3 meters wide which was easy to cover. Every now and then I came to the surface to breathe in some oxygen. At last, I thought of giving up and returning home. But then I saw that towards one corner of the pond's bottom was a small canal opening. I swam to it and rummaged in it for the oyster. Aha, I found a significantly large shiny white and purple hue clamshell shining brightly amidst the mossy rocks. I opened them. It was sandal in colour on the inside with etching marks of many beads. I was so relieved that I had completed my quest successfully without getting killed.

I took out the mala from my bag and was about to slip it inside the shell. But I had celebrated my success too soon. I saw something slithery and long like a fat human leg swimming across from the other end of the canal. I squirmed aside to let the thing pass. It was a large deformed snake with scars all over its body. It had a large rodent in its mouth. By the looks of it, it must have been a good hunter. I at once realised that the pond was the snake's lair. I had to get back to the surface silently before it could strike me.

But I wasn't able to breathe. The shock of seeing the animal made me lose my breath. I was unable to keep pace and was not able to swim. I swallowed some water involuntarily which made a squishing noise and in a matter of seconds, the snake was right opposite me blocking my way out. I panicked. I was going to be the snake's lunch, I thought. Without any second thought, I slipped the beads into the oyster because even if I died, I would have at least done what I had intended to do. Then I was out of breath. I could feel that I was drowning in the water. It was blacking out. I was dying helplessly. And then I didn't feel a thing.