My Little Angel (OhmFluke)

5. Village

“Where the hell have you been? I have been looking for you.” Mek huffed at his best friend.

“Sorry na. I fell asleep.” Ted flashed his classic dimpled smile.

“This goddamn place doesn’t even have any reception.” Mek shook his phone. “Or else I could have directly called you.”

Ted chuckled watching Mek’s frustrated expression. The duo was currently in a mountain village as a part of the ‘clean drinking water of all’ programme launched by their NGO, iHoPe. The programme was launched after a study showed that a lot of people from mountain villages were dying from the use of contaminated water. Their NGO was able to bag the opportunity to be part of the mission by the Government to provide filtration facilities in the mountain villages.

Normally, the whole procedure would be taken care of by the staff of the NGO. But as a nature enthusiast, Ted wouldn’t let go of the opportunity to breathe some fresh air and get away from city life. He took up the mission on himself despite being the CEO of the organisation. He even managed to drag his best friend cum secretary, Mek, along with him.

Mek was not at all interested in the visit. He was a city person. He loved using technology and one day without internet was like hell for him.

It was a huge mystery to everyone how Ted and Mek who are polar opposites managed to become best friends.

“Why were you looking for me?” Ted spread the wet towel on the string to dry.

“It wasn’t actually me. It was the village chief. He has arranged for a feast to thank us.” Mek replied staring at Ted.

“Oh. Why didn’t you decline his offer? We mustn’t be imposing on them.”

“I did. But he insisted.”

Ted was about to urge Mek to be firmer while declining the offer when he saw the latter staring at him.
“What? Why are you staring at me like that?” Ted asked.

“Don’t tell me you went to bathe in that ice-cold water.”

“Uh- Huh”

“Ted, do you even realise that we came here to provide clean water because the water resources here are contaminated? And you go and take a bath in the water every day? Have you gone nuts?”

“Mek, you are overreacting. First of all, the contaminated water was from the wells and ponds within the village’s premises. The water from the forest stream is pure.” Ted justified.

“There is no way I can win when I argue with you, do I?” Mek scoffed. “You and your nature bullshit. Thank God that we are leaving this hell hole tomorrow. If I had to stay here for another day, I will go mad.”

Ted just smiled and shook his head at his friend’s angry antics. He was used to it by now. This was not the first time he was dragging Mek to some remote village with him and every single time Mek would throw the same tantrum as today.

“Why? Missing your ‘baby boo’ already?” Ted laughed and teased, earning a glare from Mek. He knew that it was the best way to turn Mek’s attention away from nagging.

“Who is going to miss that nuisance? I did be grateful that I don’t have to see his face every day.” Mek continued to mumble something inaudibly as he stuffed his clothes into his bag.

“P’ Teddddd…..” A bunch of kids ran straight to Ted and hugged his legs.

“Hey,” Ted smiled at the kids and picked up one of them.

“P’ Ted, are you really leaving tomorrow?” The little one in Ted’s arms asked.

“Yeah. Both I and P’ Mek will be leaving tomorrow.” Ted replied slowly stroking the kid’s chubby cheeks.

The smile on their faces fell when they heard Ted’s words.

“P’ Ted, can’t you stay for a little longer?” One of the kids asked. Even though it had only been a few weeks, Ted had already won the hearts of all the villagers, especially that of the children. They had formed a deep bond with Ted.

Ted squatted down to the kid’s height, letting the kid in his arms stand on the ground. “I too wish that I could stay a little longer, but I have to go to work. If not, I would love to stay here.”

The kids pouted. They were upset that Ted was leaving.

“P’ Ted will you visit us again?” Another kid asked in a small voice.

“Of course, I will visit you guys.” Ted smiled at the tiny kid who was looking at him with glossy eyes.

Mek rolled his eye when he heard this conversation. He always advises Ted not to make friends with all the people in the villages that they visit and somehow Ted always manages to befriend the whole village, making it difficult for both himself and the villagers to say goodbye.

“Kids, P’ Ted has to get ready for the feast tonight.” Mek interrupted the group before his friend would start getting emotional. “Aren’t you guys going to help Uncle Chief set up everything for the celebration?”

“Yes, we are” The kids answered in unison. As the kids who grew up in a poor village, a feast was like a festival for them. It only happened when they had special guests in the village. That too when the village Chief approved.

“Then, you should get going.”

“Bye-bye, P’ Ted. We will wait for you in the celebration.” The kids said as they ran off to the chief’s house where the celebratory dinner was about to be held.

Ted waved at them with a smile. He sighed, still looking at the direction the kids disappeared into.

“If you are done saying goodbye, start packing your bag. We need to leave tomorrow morning. We won’t have time to pack tonight after dinner.” Mek commented with a fake smile.

Ted returned an equally fake smile and grabbed his bag to pack.

“What time are we leaving tomorrow?” Ted asked.

“As early as we can. I need to buy some souvenirs from the town for my phi.” Mek zipped his bag as he finished packing his things in it. “I am going to take a bath. The chief had sent in some traditional clothes for us to wear tonight. Put them on.” He handed a pair of clothes to Ted while taking one pair with himself to the washroom.

Ted finished packing his things and changed into the traditional attire.

“How do I look?” Ted asked when Mek came out of the bathroom.

Mek scoffed in return. He didn’t understand how Ted always managed to look like a supermodel even when he was wearing rags.

“From your reaction, I think I look good.” Ted straightened his clothes. “Let’s get going.”

The two friends left the wooden house.

All the humans who came and went were oblivious to the presence of an angel who had followed their P’ Ted from the forest. The angel was carefully observing the interaction between the humans.