Cursed Blessings: Tales of Twisted Fates

Trouble

Early in the morning, Ayan woke up with the alarm tone of his smartphone ringing beside the bed. Turning the alarm off, he gathered his clothes and had a quick lukewarm shower. He pulled on a random set of clothes, wore them, stuffed a long black waterproof changing robe into a cloth bag, and prepared to go out.

As he went towards the door, Aunt Tsering spotted him and inquired in a surprised tone, "Up so early today? And where are you off to?"

"Oh! I forgot to mention yesterday," Ayan replied in a calm tone. "Dawa and the other friends planned a football game this morning at our usual place. So, I might be late for lunch."

Aunt Tsering stared into his eyes and asked, "You're not doing something dangerous again without telling me, are you?"

Ayan shook his head and hurriedly replied, "No, no, Dawa and other friends will also be there. You can ask them if you don't believe me."

"I believe you, alright," she said in a soft tone, "But first, take some fruits with you if you're in a hurry," she started washing some bananas and apples and handed them to him.

He quickly stuffed those fruits in the cloth bag and ran off to the meeting place.

"Damn. I feel bad lying to her," he muttered under his breath.

Most of the teenage boys had already gathered when Ayan reached the place. After waiting a few more minutes, the last few children also reached, their breaths exaggerated from running.

Dawa broke a random stick from the trees and started drawing a map on the ground.

"This is the map of their trekking trail," he explained, pointing with the stick. "Here, there are two routes ultimately leading to the same place. One is short but has a steeper climb, used by the villagers. Another is this longer trail with much gentler slopes that foreigners are taking."

He tapped a point on the map, "No matter which route you take, you have to cross this stream which meets with the river downhill. The villager's usual route has a better bridge but the foreigner's trail has an ancient, makeshift wooden bridge, with few planks. Our plan is simple: she will accidentally fall into the stream and Ayan will save her before she reaches the river."

Dawa's voice became more intense as he continued, "For this, we need to make sure of a few things: no foreigner including her dies or gets severely injured, and Ayan savs her without exposing his identity."

The cross-eyed boy grinned, "That's a great idea. Imagine her face when she finds out later that she was rescued by one of the village boys that she loathes."

Ayan felt this idea was not as horrible as he imagined them to be. Still, he felt doubtful and asked, "What if something goes wrong? I still feel this is risky."

Dawa shot him a reassuring look, "We know you swim like a fish in the river. There's still a long distance till the stream meets the river. You can definitely rescue her with your abilities."

The discussion continued on how to make the fall look like an accident. One boy maliciously suggested weakening the bridge planks by cutting, but others felt it was too dangerous for other adventurers.

Another child chided, "What if we place a banana peel in her way?"

Cross-eyed rebuked, "Do you think she's stupid like you who cannot see a banana peel in front of her?"

The discussion continued, with the boy's eyes lighting up with mischief as they came up with a plan.

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Dawa looked at his wristwatch and announced, "It's almost time. We will play football as usual and watch them leave."

Soon, the foreigners appeared, walking into the forest trail in a single file, led by the stern-looking man with a military air about him. Finally, the blonde woman appeared at the end of the group, encouraging slow-movers as if responsible for leading the stragglers.