He carried the child on his head in neck deep waters, towards safety.
Many many eons ago, heavy rains lashed the town. The skies above thundered, the earth shook with the vibrations caused. Everything was still except for the blinding rain which poured in torrents and the surging waters which flowed through the town streets towards the river nearby. No one made the mistake of venturing out and risking their lives.
No one except a bearded man who emerged from his well guarded house during the dark night. As he came out, he constantly looked back, over his shoulders as if fearing being followed.
He carefully carried a basket on his head in which he had placed his most precious possession; his cherubic child. Slowly he made his way towards the river. As he saw the river in spate, the waters gushing forth, he hesitated. But he knew he had no other option. With a prayer on his lips, he entered.
As he waded in, somehow balancing himself, the waters started rising. Within no time, it was at his waist level, but did not stop rising. It reached his chest, his neck… There was a sudden movement in the basket and the child’s legs started dangling out of the basket.
The waters rose further, the man almost lost his footing in the surging waters, when the little feet of the child touched the waters. And lo and behold; in the very next second the waters parted, and suddenly a path cleared in front of the man. With a prayer of thanks, the surprised man carried the precious basket to safety, to the opposite bank of the river. The child was now safe in the new town; the man was Vasudev.
It is raining heavily since the early morning. The police are marooned in the police station, surrounded on all sides by neck deep water. They have completed their night duty but the morning batch is yet to arrive. Suddenly a man from the nearby locality comes towards the station, wading through the waters. “Please help us, I beg of you. The waters have entered our homes and many women, children and senior citizens are trapped inside. If they are not rescued in time, many will die. Help!”.
The Senior Inspector takes charge. He forms a team of policemen who will try to rescue the hapless people. They fan out into the locality, in neck deep water. Soon they are able to rescue many.
Suddenly they hear a woman screaming, *Please save my baby. I am trapped. Please…”, and her cries go weak.
A policeman enters the dilapidated dwelling to find the woman and her baby, stuck inside a crevice. He looks around and finds a plastic tub floating by. He grabs it and tells the mother to place the baby inside. The mother places the child in the basket. Coincidentally policeman’s name is Govind.
He carried the child on his head in neck deep waters, towards safety.
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Photo By: Dean Moriarty
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This is an entry for Five00-7, a writing event hosted by ArtoonsInn. Check out the event prompt and guidelines here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/five00-7/
Use the tracker to record your rulfy progress: https://1drv.ms/x/s!ApiLwn00sMcLgw25_MChxGCrua9_
