#4 in aimtoengage
#64 in Fantasy.. Want to get a collection of stories in all genres, of varied tasted and interests? Here are the yarns of stories I weave... A unique collection of 500 words one-shots of different tastes for the #aimtoengage conte...
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A/N Never expected this prompt. Thanks adventure for selecting a place from India.
"That's the Jatayupara!" exclaimed Akhila.
"What's a para?"
Akhila rolled her eyes at Dave, "Para means 'a stone' in Malayalam... And that's the language you'll find around here, bro."
"I can't understand a word of what it says," whined Dave, holding out his phone.
Akhila peeked into his phone to see 'ജടായു പരിസ്ഥിതി ഉദ്യാനം, കൊല്ലം'
"That's Jaṭāyu Paristhiti Udyānaṁ, Kollam, written in my language," she frowned.
"Jatayu?"
"Jatayu, the mythical bird from the Ramayana...It is 200 ft long, 150 ft wide and 70 ft tall, thus making it the largest functional bird sculpture in the world," she bragged.
Dave grinned mischievously making her groan and she turned around, abruptly bumping into a burly fellow.
The man glared at her and roughly pushed her away, hurriedly disappearing into the crowd.
"Don't they screen people at the gate? Bastard!" Dave mumbled.
"Corruption and negligence everywhere."
"Ignore them. Tell me more about these legends," Dave insisted.
"Whatever," Akhila shrugged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The majestic structure seemed more collosal up from front as they circled around, admiring the artwork.
A movement in her peripheral vision suddenly jolted Akhila into reality and she clutched Dave's hand.
Dave's eyes followed the trail to see the rude man disappearing beneath the broken wing, with a bag clutched tight.
"Where did he go?" Dave glanced around. "He can't just disappear."
They waited for him to come out from the other side but he didn't.
And just as they prepared to retreat, they heard footsteps suddenly and the man emerged from the corner without a bag.
He thrust his hand into his pocket when the gleam of black metal caught Dave's eyes. Suddenly he looked up and his gaze scrutinized Akhila, who visibly blanched. He stepped closer to Akhila.
Dave froze. But the man suddenly seemed disinterested and left.
Akhila almost collapsed with relief.
"He has a gun!" Dave's voice was urgent.
"He is up to something," hissed Akhila, moving towards the wall hidden by the stone wing.
She took out her phone and scanned the area for cameras. Sure enough there was one embedded right above a crack in the stone. The crack seemed unnaturally straight.
Suddenly the rock shook and the chunks started sliding apart smoothly, fired by machines. They scrambled to hiding immediately.
A man emerged and they pressed closer to the wall to avoid detection.
The man left the gap open and disappeared from sight.
Curiosity got the better of them as they tiptoed up to the entrance where Dave shone his torch into the darkness inside.
There was a push and the next moment, he was tumbling down a set of stone steps and hit the floor. Akhila landed right on top of him.
Dave felt a cold metal touch his forehead and the nauseating smell of tobacco.
"Welcome folks to our abode," a cold voice echoed. "And now that you're so interested in intruding into other's property, you'll stay here till we clear our stock."
"What stock?" screamed Akhila.
"Drugs," he gave a nasty smile.
500 words completed. Dedicated to the person who comes first to my mind when I think of Kollam, Kerala.... THinvisibleQuill Sorry, couldn't help it 😅
The prompt was completely new and so is the location. I did my share of the research. Hope the facts are correct! Thanks for your support everyone and to the team of Ambassadors
