Hide & Seek

Duende

Down on his knees, hands flat on the ground leaning away from the knife pointed few inches before his face, his eyes wide, Nicholas stared at me, then at the knife, then back at me.
"First, you refused to talk to me and now you want to kill me. Wow! Some thing you are."
"Nicholas?" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Can you get that thing out of my face?"
I drew away the knife and helped him to his feet. Smoothly he brushed away the dirt from his clothes. There was twigs in his hairs and I resisted the temptation to pry it out against the painful tugging of my heart. He ultimately removed it himself.
"What were you doing under the bushes?" I was incredulous. "You weren't playing Hide&Seek, were you?"
He tilted his head. "You are jocking right?"
"Could be." I shrugged and retrieved my backpack from near the stone. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I live here."
"What?" My eyes wide. "In the bush?"
"Wha-No!" He laughed. Soft, his eyes closing as he did so.
"In the forest?" I doubted it.
"No." He stepsided and pointed somewhere behind. "You see that house over the creek?" I focused where he pointed sure enough amidst the herd of trees there stood a cottage house over the creek.
"You live there?"
"My grandfather is the head of Safety And Precautions here. For trekking. I live with him."
"And your parents?"
"My father fathers lives in the University campus."
"Oh." I didn't know that and I wondered if anyone else did and the fact that he didn't mentioned his mother was slightly anomalous and I refrained from asking. Seriously, I'd had my share of curiosity when I decided to know about this particular Nicholas William . We were quiet for few moments gazing at the beautiful cottage house.
Then he turned to me. "What are you doing here?"
"Trekking."
"Alone?"
"No, I'm with-" I stopped. It was unlikely he would believe I was with Reya, a ghost. Hell, it was absolute he wouldn't belive it. So I just nodded and smiled.
Unconsciously I started to rub my throat and realised how thirsty I was. I look for my water bottle but it was on the ground with its contents filtering out. Nicholas must have noticed me eyeing the bottle for he passed me his. I took it and drank. "So, why you are here?"
"Oh, I....I take a stroll from time and again."
"You don't get lost?"
"I know the ways."
"How?"
"I've had several trekking trips to my grandfather here."
I hand him the bottle back. "Well, I think I'm lost."
He smiled. "Where do you intend to go?"
"Below."
He started walking bakcward. "Come on, Fishy, then, I'll show you the way."

I hurried to his side and we started trudging downward. At this moment I didn't care about the painful tugging at my heart but to go below land back to the camp.
I had never seen him in anything but school uniform. Navy blue pants and blazer over white shirt with tie loose round his neck and sleeves halfway to his elbows, occasionally. Now, in his orange t-shirt, jeans and trekking shoes it was all very unnerving. He looked he was off to Camp Half Blood (And no, I never read the books, its Priya who was a reader in our group and would keep buzzing about her literary adventures. She even had Pinterest page for it). He looked too good. His features bright in the greeny haze of the hill. I looked away. As we ventured down avoiding rocks and sloping patches he told me about the trekkers who most of the time got lost and how they would end up at his doorstep. He asked me about my parents and Dev. He said he had a cousin brother but was in Manali, far north. He smiled a lot, there was a dimple on his right cheek, right in the middle, which brightened him more and suddenly I was curious as to why he appeared dejected during lunch the other day.

He suddenly stopped and rounded me. "Have heard of the word Duende ?"
I frowned. "Huh?"
He smiled. "Its spanish. Meaning.... a feeling of awe and inspiration to have, specialy when standing in nature. The overwhelming sense of beauty and magic."
I tilted my head. "Why would you says something like that so suddenly?"
He shrugged. "Because we are in nature." Then he beamed. "Look behind you."
I did. For a moment I couldn't apprehend what he meant but then my breath caugtht in my throat. The view was too beautiful to be true.
Far ahead. Very far from within the the throng of tree, steam was hissing,  breaking free, rising towards the sky and in the light of vigorous sun they glittered. It was like a spring fountain jolting out of the earth.
"What...what...how...?" I couldn't speak. Never had I ever seen something like that.
"There." Nicholas was suddenly beside me. Too close. Pointing to the left of the wondrous magic. "There's a waterfall. Its hidden behind those cluster of trees but its water falls directly into a loch further down. The force is so strong the spray of water rises up above from within those trees stooping downwards. If you close your eyes and listen carefully you will hear the stream."
I closed my eyes and quite soon was able to hear the thrashing of water far ahead. My eyes shot open. I turned to him. "Lets go there."
I was already backing away. Excited. But he grabed my hand and jerked me to a stop. "No." He laughed. "That's dangerous."
"Why?"
"No one goes there. Its beautiful. Yes. But dangerous. No one's allowed to go there. There's a fence around. Look."
Pretty well, there was. Visible among the greens. "Come on, now." And we flocked downward. My heart, tugging again. Not from his presence but the disappointment.

We were nearly down the hill. Along the way I didn't see anymore trekkers. The light started dieing as we ventured downward and the tall trees grew more dense. Birds flew overhead, twittering and tattering. Soon we could see the steps which led direct to the flat land. Halfway Nicholas stopped and glanced up.
"What?" I asked.
"Do you know..." his eyes focused on a patch of lightwork dancing on a branch "....it takes photon up to 40,000 years to travel from core of the sun to its surface, but only eight minutes to travel the rest of the way earth?" Oh no! He was going into one of his 'Physics-sic' trance.
I cleared my throat. "No. And I don't want know." Heck! I didn't even know what photon means.
He looked at me. Face dropping which instantly reminded me of SUGA. Oh shit!
"Stop, Nicholas!" I screeched.
He scowled. "What?"
"That look."
He shrugged. "I do not have a look."
"Yeah," I narrowed my eyes. "Ofcourse."
He grinned. His dimple deepening. "Come on, Fishy, don't tell me you are not interested as to how light travels?"
"Nope. I'm not."
His shoulders drooped and I wondered if he was doing it on purpose. "Fine. Go on then."
I frowned. "Uh...okay?"
He put his hands on his hibs and tilted his head. He looked like a teacher in scolding mood. Cute scolding mood. I averted my eyes. "On your own."
I gaped at him. "What...."
"Down the steps, and if you don't know there's a gaurd who will lead you to the picnic field."
"I know the way." Seriously what did he think of himself? Ofcourse I knew the way, down the steps, but.....
"Then, what? You will get lost on the steps?" He was jocking. I could see in his eyes the way they sparkled with humore.
"Fine." And at once I sprinted to the steps.
"Hey," he shouted behind me. "Don't run like that, you could slip and the elevation opposed to....." I tuned him out hastening and jumped over the last step scaring the guard who goggled at me as Nicholas's voice obscured into the woods.