A Long Way To Go: A Travelling Story (2015)

Chapter 6

As I forgot to call up the whisperer, we have taken some rest. Then we entered the bus. We saw most of the dramas directed by Sameen. It was so funny that we laughed a lot. I thought that his drama was serious but so funny that we enjoyed a lot. We sang and clapped as the boys were playing card games. We slept as the men were waiting for the arrival. We woke up and found out that there were trees but at the back, it’s the sea surrounded by golden sands. At the opposite, there was a grand hotel. It really was grand reminded me of the Plaza Hotel.

Somehow, as we entered the hotel, we booked separate rooms from the reception.  Maisha, Adreeta and I went to the beach. It was wonderful that the sea was waving and the sands were still stood as if it was like a quicksand. We enjoyed together such that Iliyas created sandcastles along with it, the three men played football as we girls ate burnt corns. Besides us there were groups of people from Dhaka and other regions coming and enjoying the beach. We also showered from the sea. After that, Saiful called all of us in the hotel.

 He said “Ladies and Gentlemen, we all are going to the historical temple where Gautama Buddha had stayed”.

We all got excited. We would like to see the other side of the road. When I went to my room, I heard the whisperer. He said that some part of the road are broken down and the temple’s way out was a little slippery. I was so scared out of that. When I was about to sleep, I heard the familiar screams given by Adreeta and Maisha. They ran into my room.

I asked “What happened?”

The girls replied “We saw a ghost!”

The whisperer came into my mind and said that in that hotel there were ghost stories told by Iliyas or may be it would be a prank. I laughed so much that they got annoyed.

“It’s serious!” said Maisha.

“Let me see” said I.

Then we went to the room and switched on the lights. We saw two men under the sheets. It was no other than Saiful and Iliyas-WHAT! How can a serious man like Iliyas can do a prank like this? They revealed that when Haroon was there he used to scare Iliyas and Saiful but Sameen was not scared of his pranks. All of us ladies laughed. They also revealed that the ghost stories were in the neighborhood hotel. Thank god we were saved!

We laughed and went back to sleep. All the ladies slept as I talked to the whisperer about the events. He laughed so much that it reminded him of his college days. I found out that Haroon and the whisperer had something in common- their pranks. He did say that my depression was nearly gone.

Iliyas, Saiful and Sameen came to our room. They took me out.

Iliyas confessed “Debra, when you entered our lives, our character became changed. Our ladies used to see us stone hearted but when you came, our depression passed away. Who sent you really?”

I replied “I want to see my country and people around. Yet, I have a psychiatrist and he told me to find myself and get away from the depression”.

Saiful said “Oh I see. Your quotes actually reminded me of Haroon. May be you don’t know the person but how do you know us?”

I replied “Maisha told me about you all. That’s all I can say”.

Sameen interrupted “Look, she’s our guest, no need to interrogate her. Let’s go guys”.

I sighed with relief that at least they asked me about Haroon. There are loads of questions: Is the whisperer Dr. Amir Habib or Haroon? Are they same? The answer might be coming at the end. Why Iliyas and Saiful did interrogate me? I think they were not meant to be harsh but I forgot it.

At dawn, I woke up and jog into the sea with football. I did yoga after that. Adreeta and Maisha came towards me. I smiled with happiness. We played football together. We were reminded of the prank given by Iliyas and Saiful.