The Gospel Truth

V. PREY

It was quite a hot noon. The last period lasted a little longer. The English teacher was committed to complete the chapter today itself. Five boys and two girls; this was the total count of students in her class. All except Sheena were the residents of the nearby localities but she had to go to five kilometers for her village. The bus stand was hardly 100 meters away from the school gate. She ran fast praying to God for the bus to get late but... not a lucky day. The bus had already left the stand. All the students of her locality were now gone. Also, the local buses were not that frequent on the route and the long route buses didn't stop for the local passengers. It was 1 p.m. and the next bus was at 1:45 p.m. The fierce sun was beating down her nerves. How could she stand there doing nothing for 45 minutes?

So, she decided to cover the distance once again on foot.

'The teacher has become too much now. Her ten extra minutes cost me heavily nowadays. I must have a talk with her. She must know what the hell extra ten minutes do with me.'

Walking along the highway for five minutes, she took the right turn to the byroad leading to her village, the shortcut; it was not that short though. Merely half a kilometer was the total gain in this route but this small distance too counted on such a sunny afternoon. This, hardly twenty feet wide path, the real definition of dirt road, the paddy fields and some mango groves on both sides of it, was broken at regular intervals. The patches in the road were even more disturbing. The bikers and other vehicles would prefer not to follow the route. Moreover, the soaring temperature had made it almost deserted.

After a few minutes of walk, she heard the sound of an old bike and then the shadow of biker appeared. In the beginning, she didn't care for. The shadow came closer gradually but didn't cross her. Closer and closer...This instilled a sense of fear into the child. Sheena understood that she was being stalked. She dared not to turn and kept walking, increasing her speed. Her throat ran dry but she couldn't stop until the availability of any kind of help. And then, she summoned her memory and realized a small tea stall some 100 meters away. She literally ran to it. There appeared some laborers having tea and snacks. Running Sheena heaved a sigh of relief. She reached the stall in a couple of strides and then turned to have a look of the stalker.

He was lost, lost in the hot air.

'Who was he? Why was he following me? Was he real or my fear only? No... no... I felt the stalker's presence. He was not a shadow only. The shadow carried a physical human being behind it.'  A thousand thoughts appeared and then disappeared without any conclusion.

Anyways, the stalker was gone now; it was the time to start again.

As she started, the shadow once again appeared hardly after 10 minutes. She noticed the shadow again and frightened. The shadow again came close to her and became closer and closer...... The surrounding was empty of people. Now, Sheena made her heart strong and turned immediately.

"Oh, Bhaiya! It's you? Why have you covered your face?"

"The protection from sunshine, you know."

Sheena nodded.

There was nothing to worry about. He was not a stranger but her villager, very close to her family, returning from the market.

"Going alone in this hot afternoon?" He looked around and asked.

"I was late and the bus had left before I reached the stand."

"Ok. Come on, be seated. I will drop you home."

And she took the ride.