I had plans to clean my drawer for over a month. There was of course not enough time for me for something that was right at the bottom on my list. After much deliberation, one fine morning, I decided to get down to it. As soon as I opened the drawer, the dust and heap of unwanted paper dampened my spirit. But despite the upheaval task, I did not budge. While cleaning it, there, in one corner, I found it. That photo of my old friends with me in the middle.
“Yes”
I cried out in the bewilderment. The photo reminded me an unforgettable event of my life. It took me twenty years back.
******
It was perhaps Mimo who brought the news of a hidden treasure to our class. Slowly, Jiten, Ravi, Soumya and a few others joined Mimo and me in the team. To hunt downthe hidden treasure of local Zamindar.
Late in the evening, our team set out for the forest. Led by Mimo, we were inching into the forest with a special map that I handed him. The night darkened and we took out a big torch from the bag. Fireflies lit up the forest and we found countless twinkling stars around us. Slowly, by nine pm the whole team stood in front of a large cave. The map showed the location just inside the cave. We looked at each other, not sure who should step in.
As we decided to step in together, Mimo suddenly jumped into the air, turned back and ran right opposite to the cave. Before we could understand what prompted him to run away, Ravi and Soumya tripped on something on the ground and fell immediately on a pile of dead leaves. Ravi fainted and Soumya kept shouting for help.
“Please help me. There is a ghost in the forest. Please don’t kill me.”
I was dumbfounded. I looked at Mimo at the corner of my eyes. He had turned absolutely white. I shook him with force and whispered into his ears
“Why has everyone left? What is going on?”
Mimo turned to me and pointed a shadow in the distance. I saw a big monster running for us. I held the torch high and hid behind a tree. We were trapped and did not have a chance to come back alive. As I was thinking that the monster would hold me up in the air by my neck and suck the blood out, he raised his massive arm and slapped me right on my face.
“Scoundrel, what are you guys doing here?”
It was my father, not a monster. He came after us to find out why we had not come back in the evening.
******
Even after so many years, I did not forget our hilarious journey and how it ended. My friends kept sending messages in a WhatsApp group which I largely ignored. I decided to write in there.
‘Remember our forest treasure hunt?’
***
Photo By: unsplash
This is an entry for Five00-9, #Vintage. Find all the entries here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/category/five00/five00-9/
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