A SILENT ROWER (PART 1)

CHAPTER 1

It was the soft and sweet jingling sound which was melting with the sound of water that woke me up with an excruciating pain. When I suddenly heard a familiar melody.
Was that Musician Wren ?
It was whistling sweetly as it flew over my head and I could hear its fading voice , moving far away . All that remained was the sound of water and this jingling sound coming from a nearby source.As I tried to move I felt little dizzy and all I could see was darkness.What's going on? I can't see a thing.
I tried to raise my hand but an invisible force clutched them in their position. It took me a moment to realise that my hands and feet were tied , there was a cloth on which covered my face. My head was aching badly but I tried to concentrate on the voices around me. There was a gentle pleasant sound of subtle bubbling of water as it splashed in synchronised manner. The breeze was leaving the trail of rain's fragrance with the strong scent of nature around me. I could hear chirping sound coming from different directions. The surface below me was hard as wood and was shaking slightly in a rhythmic way.It's a boat! I am on a boat! There must be someone.
After several failed attempts to release myself from the ropes that held my hands and feet firmly, I shouted and pleaded for somebody's assistance, cried for help, yelled as loud as I could, cried my eyes out, screamed for help again and again, but all I got as a reply was this utmost silence. After all the ruckus I felt as if somebody drained the remaining energy out of my body. My voice became lower and lower as I cried for help until it was almost inaudible. Someone was rowing the boat a midst all this uproar, silently.There is definitely a person on this boat . Perhaps...rower cannot hear me.
" Can you hear me ?"
I repeated again.He cannot hear me at all otherwise he would have said something.I tried to get the attention of the rower tried to hit the sides of boat by my feet in the hope of a response. But there was only silence that greeted me yet again. Silence was far more daunting to me than any other thing that time. It felt as if somebody was trying to say..KEEP QUIET. It was penetrating me like a sword. In each passing moment I felt as if my heart would explode with fear and helplessness. There was no escape. Fear and silence engulfed me completely. I prayed to the God which I never believed in before.
Why am I here? What happened? Am I going to die?"Are you abducting me right now? At least say something please ."I tried my best to put these words out of my mind. I was in no position to speak any further and for the rest of the journey lay there silently like a corpse. With each passing moment, I was also losing my hope.The person who is rowing the boat, so diligently that my words are unapproachable to him, either is deaf or might be afraid of the unknown consequences.
The only sound that I could hear was this melody of the jingling sound coming from somewhere on the boat. I had no strength to fight or think in that situation . All I could do was to wait. Surprisingly after sometime an utter calmness surrounded me that I could not feel in all these years. I felt as if I was laying on my Nana's lap. It was almost hilarious to think such an absurd thing in the situation where I had no idea where was I and what were they going to do with me? Silence was my only companion in that venture.
The boat stopped moving with a sudden jolt which pulled me out from my thoughts. Somebody came near me and pulled me up . It was a grasp of a man . He pulled me out of the boat . It was a tight but gentle grip at the same time which was unlike for an abductor. It felt as if he was pulling out a most precious piece of glassware , carefully so that it wouldn't break. It was something I could not understand but it was way too familiar for some reasons.
I remember my Nana (caretaker) used to pull me out from my hiding corner which was inside the cupboard of our mess. It was my safety corner to hide from all the unknown faces. I was living in an orphanage. I am not saying this to gain some sympathy but my situation was kind of pitiful. It's not abnormal for a child without parents to come in an orphanage . But I found myself standing there despite having both my parents alive. Who even didn't care to give me an explanation behind this decision or asked my opinion. Well who would ask a child for that to begin with? One day my so-called mother took me for a walk. It was our last walk together. After few minutes she stopped near an old house. The house looked exactly like a horror house which I once saw in my picture book. It was all surrounded by iron railings with creepers on it. There was a huge wooden board on top of a big iron gate. As I couldn't read the board of that place but was fascinated with the architecture of that house, she looked inside through the iron railings and turned towards me without any expression on her face she told me she will back right away. Do not go anywhere else okay? I nodded in response and she left hurriedly. Her stride was fast for a moment it felt as if she was running and then she disappeared. I stood there alone like a good child without moving an inch, until a worker in the orphanage noticed me standing outside. He scooped me up in his arms.
" Oh lord! It's so cold out here. Where is your mother child? How long have you been standing here?" But I didn't answer. I was just looking in the direction where she went without looking behind even once. That time I thought my mother would definitely come back and would give me a warm hug and say oh dear sorry I came late...well who in the world would give a damn to explain an eight year old brat about the turmoil through which adults were going through. So my mother preferred leaving me behind to lessen her burden. I was and will never be the first one who had been through this. There are various instances where infants were discarded like a piece of trash and left on the streets because they were the outcome of such adult turmoils. If it's in the destiny of that child to survive then it will otherwise it will rot there just like a piece of trash. I was still in better situation as there were people who gave me food to survive and shelter to live in.
The rower took the end of the rope which was tied to my hand and began to walk , pulling me behind him. He didn't speak a single word all this time. I stumbled on a rock all of a sudden and my consciousness disappeared for a few seconds but the rower took hold of me firmly. I almost thanked him but after realising that my situation was not correct for this gesture my words got stuck in my throat. I was dumbfounded for my actions though. Thanking someone who might be your kidnapper is unheard and utterly absurd. But there are certain traits inside human conscious that are so engraved within our soul that it just comes out as a reflex. Maybe politeness and sincerity were such traits that were engraved within me. This is what I learnt in all these years in that orphanage.Be polite and quiet.Especially when one is living on the mercy of other's.
I tried to speak one more time to that silent rower who was taking me somewhere into the woods."What is this place? Who are you?"To my surprise this time instead of silence, a deep sigh answered my queries. I realised that a simple sigh can tell a lot without the use of a single word, it felt as if he said-I AM TIRED, PLEASE STOP.
Smell of the forest... I am familiar with this.
It's such a nostalgic and magical fragrance that could revive a dead from its deathbed, our caretaker at the orphanage always used to say this. "That is the reason there are so many horror stories about forests."
What if he is mute? Maybe he cannot speak.
I knew these were only baseless speculations only to calm my nerves. There was a smell of sweet shower in the air. Chirping birds, symphony of crickets and croaking frogs were all singing their songs in chorus .The sweet and cold fragrance of November was reaching my bones in form of shivers.
I don't remember how I ended up in this situation.My mind was racing as I was moving forward deep into the forest, on an unknown path with a complete stranger. I could hear the crunching sound of twigs beneath our feet as we were moving forward. The ground was wet and slippery. The path was hard to walk as there were hard rocks all over. I tripped many a times but the man gave me support to regain my balance. I was feeling weak as I was walking blindly, I thought of ways so that I could run away from his grasp but I had no strength to fight and I was feeling dizzy as if I have been drugged.
That silent man stopped so did the jingling sound which was following him. I could hear the sounds of hooves coming from somewhere. He came behind me and without realising he lifted me up in the air for a moment. I could hear the sound of an approaching cart. In few minutes it stopped near us and the silent man after putting me on it walked somewhere deep into the woods. His fading footsteps were the only sound I could hear which soon vanished somewhere leaving me behind on the hard wooden surface. He might have reached his destination and went back in search of a new one.


Someone climbed right behind me and the cart began to move slowly towards a new destination. I was on the verge of losing my consciousness but the cart jolted me here or there very hard which prevented me from blacking out. I could hear the clip-clop sound of horse's hoofs. After few minutes it stopped. The cart driver came down and his footsteps came near me. He pulled me out from the cart and took me inside a close shelter. This place was warm. He took me into some sort of a room and then pushed me towards a chair and tied my hands with it. Stuffed a cloth in my mouth. After checking the ropes he opened the door and went outside, leaving me alone in that unfamiliar place.
There was a sweet fragrance of roses in the room, fire was burning somewhere nearby. There were new sounds in that place. I could hear the ticking sound of a clock, somewhere inside that room there might be an open window through which the cold breeze was entering inside the room. I could also hear the dripping sound of rain drops which slowly picked up the speed. There was no other sound in that room. I was feeling very weak. I wondered where did all my strength go as I became so defenceless and was moving here or there on the mercy of someone else. I think I was drugged back then.
A door opened behind me. There was the sound of footsteps of more than one person this time. My heart began to beat faster. What is going to happen with me now?
" Is this the girl?"
Somebody spoke in a hoarse voice. I felt a sharp sting on my wrist and the sounds around me began to fade away.