Fear and Fireflies

This time I was very exited to go to my grandparent’s place.

Especially when Dhiraj, my super brainy scientist cousin spilled the beans of ‘SURPRISE’.

This time we were a bit late due to my parent’s work.

I was on cloud nine when I came to know, I would meet Tushar (cousin), Major General in the Indian Army, I didn’t meet him since the last 5 years.

What more would I ask for as a surprise when our ‘vexing trio’ is united all over again?

We arrived in the late summers of 2014.

This sub-urban area was quite serene with amazing nature trails and a typical bucolic environment.

Dhiraj and Tushar arrived ahead 2 weeks earlier than me so they did their ‘sniffing around the place’ homework very well.

One evening Dhiraj insisted to go on a long walk in the late evening hours so that we could enjoy the sight of fireflies.

They kept on decorating the whole vision to the extent that I couldn’t stop marvelling the view in my mind and agreed straightaway.

It was a beautiful summer night, just perfect weather, the moon was out.

We walked to our rural area to have our little fiesta.

The walk there is a dead-end road that leads up to this forest area.

Just the sounds of nature, crickets and what not.

It’s an hour's walk from the nearest home.

We see the opening to the forest and turn on flashlights and start walking towards the clearing about 1km in.

Only Tushar had his cell phone, which at that point was useless without any network but definitely made a good flashlight.

So, we finally got to our little spot, the panorama in front was intensely ravishing.

The fireflies flew above us like they were carried in unfelt currents.

There was a buzz of excitement as if these tiny glimmers of light had electrified the summer night.

They danced in the star-studded stage as if choreographed by every joyous memory and dream.

I have never witnessed something so pure and realistic; it was as if the mind’s curiosity which has taken the form of lust was satisfied.

I was very grateful.

At that moment, I looked up and away form the view and from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw headlights.

I shushed them and told them to look but it was gone.

They told me it was just the moonlight playing tricks on me but I had this weird feeling and anxiety in my chest that I’d never felt before.

And now I know it was my intuition.

I kind of just put my fear aside and continued to stare at the fireflies.

After a while, we agreed it was time for bed, we turned on the flashlights and started following the trail back to the road.

When we were out of the bushes and into the open road, a pair of car headlights turned on, blinding us.

I was so confused and out of it but I knew something was about to go down.

The person in the car turned on the engine and started speeding towards us almost hitting us but kept going.

We were screaming “What the hell” to this guy as he disappeared down the road.

We thought that that was it, some douche bag screwing with us.

We continued on our journey home.

About 2 minutes later the car speeds past us again , the flash of the headlight blinding us.

This is when the alarm bells start ringing in my head and the adrenaline starts pumping.

I and Dhiraj froze, we looked at each other.

Tushar has a petrified look on his face that I will never ever forget.

At once, Tushar started searching for his cell phone and he dug into his pockets and couldn’t find it.

We flashed the lights on the ground looking, but he must have misplaced it along the way.

We were completely screwed.

The car flew by again, and we started to run the opposite way.

I looked behind me and could see it slowing down.

It stopped about 100 meters from us, the loud honk broke the silence.

It kept going and going, beeping and flashing his lights.

We started sprinting through the forest, Tushar led the way with me following and Dhiraj behind me.

Branches and things hit me as I ran blindly in the dark, after running for a few moments I realized we were separated.

I didn’t stop I kept galloping until I fell over a log, twisted my ankle and my head hit hard on a solid thing.

I sucked in my breath from the pain and just laid there.

I could see either Dhiraj or Tushar’s flashlight moving.

I could hear both of them yelling out my name.

In a moment, the flashlights went off and they hid.

It was so silent I couldn’t take it, I covered my mouth so my breathing became steady.

At the same time, I could feel my vision blurring out, couldn’t feel the pain in my ankle anymore but my head felt heavy, it was miserable.

In a flash, I saw a tall man approaching steadily, he had a hunting rifle in his hand.

I was praying silently in my head that he wouldn't find us.

He also had a flashlight on the rifle, and he started walking towards me, I thought I was down for, the light moved a few inches from my head and he almost walked over me.

I heard a branch break from where one of my brothers was.

I slowly moved my head and watched in horror as the man pointed the gun at Tushar.

Suddenly I heard hysteric screams, really loud once calling out to the man.

By now I couldn’t see what was going on at any moment I was going to blackout, my eyelids felt heavy.

I heard a loud ‘thud’, someone fell, I gathered my energy by opening my eyes.

I saw a 6ft 3inch standing still, he smiled, his face was brightly illuminated even in the scant moonlight.

I think I saw he had ‘Luciferian’ snow-white wings.

He looked just like an angel.

He said, “Are you going to lie there like a lizard?”, I recognized the voice instantly.

It was Dhiraj.

Later I heard Tushar say, “Well done, we caught him!”.

I was in a complete sense three days later, Tushar used his military tactics to trap the man amicably without having the slightest doubt I was the bait.

Later we learned that man was a ‘Serial Killer’ who was on a hunting spree for almost 7years.

That day, for the love of God we dare, didn’t enter the forests till date.