Story.                                           The Flies

                                                       Sadique

“See, what is that?”

The fat lady asked.  Her name was Seraphin. She was so tired.  She was going to sit somewhere.  It was then she saw, above the smaller plants and bushes a big tree with almost round leaves and big thorny fruits. 

    

     ‘’Should we go there and see?’’

The other lady, Ragini varma , asked. She was a  slim lady.  Both of them were hungry. They had been wandering through the forest for the last five hours….

       ‘’Whatever it is I am going to eat it. I have not eaten anything for the last six hours.’’

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     The children had eaten everything.  They were faster and more skilled in finishing the food items they had kept in the bus to replenish themselves.  Only two children had shared what they had brought, some fruits.  It was Rahmath and Stephen. Besides it was a long journey.  So, when they had reached in a calm and quiet place they had told the driver to stop the bus for some rest and relaxation. It was a road along the border of a thick and vast forest.  The children had got down from the bus and sat in a meadow.   

      It was then Seraphin had the call of nature.

                                                                  ‘’Is there a toilet?’’

     

       All of them laughed. What a foolish question. They were near a thick forest. 

       ‘’Why do you need a toilet?  The forest is so vast ……..Can’t you adjust with it?’’  Ragini varma asked. 

        

          ‘’Can you…can you give me company……..?’’Seraphin asked.

             

             ‘’give you what?’’  Ragini asked in the midst of others’ laughter.

            

                ‘’Please……I am a bit afraid to enter the forest.”

                  

                 ‘’you need not go that deeper…ok I will come with you and wait somewhere near.’’ Ragini agreed.  ‘’But don’t invite me for any further purpose.Ok?’’

                  

      Though she didn’t like the comment she didn’t say anything, because she wanted her help.  As the others watched both of them disappeared into the forest.  All these had happened almost five hours before…

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      They wandered through the forest to find the way back and got more confused.  It was then they saw the aforementioned tree with big fruits. 

They ran towards it. When they reached near it they saw some monkeys eating them. They took some stones and drove the monkeys away.  Seraphin, though fat, could climb trees.  Within minutes she reached on an upper branch, plucked some big fruits and dropped them into the hands of  Ragini Varma.

      Ragini Varma didn’t even wait for her friend.  The moment she got the fruits, she began to eat them as if she had never seen fruits before.       

                       

               ‘’wait…wait…keep one or two fruits for me.  I am also hungry.’’

Seraphin shouted from the top.  But it seemed that Ragini never heard her.  Seraphin soon understood that Ragini was a voracious eater. 

      ‘’Give me atleast one of them…’’  Seraphin begged. 

                      

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      The children  and the others waited.  Their mobiles were out of range.  They had been waiting there for a long time.  They had no choice. They were afraid of being lost in the forest if they entered it. 

       ‘’will they ever come back ?’’somebody asked.  They had lost their patience.  Nobody had time to wait for others in the long journey of life…

           ‘’Let’s go....’’  Someone else suggested.  ‘’why should we wait for them?  Who told them to go into the deep forest? ‘’   

             

             ‘’May be they have seen something better there…should we waste our time? ‘’  It was Renuka. 

                But the driver of the bus was not ready to start up the bus.  So all of them waited and waited and waited……..

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         ‘’ Oh, my God, see Renu, its juice is very sticky….whatever I do, no use. It has stuck in my clothes. See I am being surrounded by some flies.’’

          ‘’You are only surrounded by flies.. I think some of them have entered into my blouse …. Will you please help me?’’ Seraphin saw Renu fidgeting as if to escape the bite of the small insects that had entered into every nook and corner of her body.

            ‘’Oh God o god…oh I can’t stand it. Help me…help me..HELP MEEEE……..

                They saw more flies coming..some of them entered their nostrils…

Some entered their ears and mouth. 

                 

                  ‘’What should we do?’’  Ragini asked.  ‘’It was you who brought me to this mess.  Tell me …WHAT SHOULD I DO?’’

                   ‘’See Ragini…. There is only one way left for the time being…RUN……..we will think about a solution later. Come…come with me….                   

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          They never expected that they could run with that much speed.  They had never run so in their lives.  The forest was so thick that they sometimes tumbled over the roots of trees.  It was almost evening. But the thick foliage prevented the  sunrays from entering the forest and made it a dome of darkness. 

          Suddenly, may be the work of a mischevious monkey, a vine fell from the top of a tree on Ragini. ‘’EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’……SSSSNAKE….’’ She screamed.

          ‘’You …you, Seraphin, you brought me to this mess.’’ She added when her scream came to an end. 

            Somehow they had outrun the flies. But, still, some flies were inside their blouses, nostrils and mouths. 

     They were tired.  Very tired.  So they stopped running and started to walk. 

     ‘’where are you going?  How come you two city ladies are deep inside the forest?

        The voice came from behind a tree.  It was a profound voice.  Had they heard this voice before?  Yes? No?  No never…

         ‘’ Who are you? Sir…..   who ever you are, please help us sir.. we have been looking for a way out of this forest for the last seven or eight hours…we never found one.  Help us…”  

          ‘’I will help you, but on one condition  once you reach your people ,you never enter this forest again…. Agreed?’’ the Voice asked.

            ‘’we are ready for any condition…take us out of this maze..’’ They pleaded in a very pathetic voice. 

                They never saw the owner of the voice.  They only heard the foot steps.  They followed it, driving away the flies from their body, with a  branch of a small plant..a bit afraid ……..

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        It was Ragini who saw a shining object through the gaps of the bush and leaves of plants…  She danced like a child and ran towards it.                                                           ‘’look….LOOK….our Bus. Where are the children?’’

         The children were tired and asleep.  It was getting dark. The driver of the bus had made fire with some twigs and was sitting near it to get protection from the cold.  He was, despite the heat of the fire, shivering due to cold.  It was a surprise that Seraphin and Ragini had not felt cold even once…. 

        They looked around for the person who had brought them to the road. Unfortunately, they saw none, but they heard the voice again,

         ‘’remember what I told you.  Never enter this sacred place again for any reason.  This is not a place to discharge your waste..’’ 

            They heard again foot steps on the withered leaves.  They didn’t want to know who it was.  Both of them never gave any importance to such things.   

              It seemed that Ragini had something in her mind.  Straight away she entered the bus , caught two children and began to squeeze their ears.

              ‘’You guys…you gave her those fruits..that is why she had some indigestion problem.  That is why we had to enter the forest, that is why we had to eat those juicy fruits, that’s why we are surrounded and disturbed by these flies..’’ 

               She babbled as she squeezed their ears.       

The children did not understand anything. They wriggled due to extreme pain.  They had done only one mistake.  They had shared the fruits they had brought from home.  Their parents had given them those fruits.  Was it a mistake that they had distributed it among others? Many others had eaten it.  Nobody had any problem with it.  Why Seraphin?  Why not others they thought as they tried to escape the ‘punishment’ of their madam. 

            Then the children saw them.  They were coming out of the nostrils, mouths and blouses of Seraphin and Ragini…THE FLIES…… The flies were fast conquering the bus.  The children were panicked.  They ran here and there to escape the onslaught of the flies.  But how much could they run inside a bus.  The doors were locked.  The driver was long asleep near the fire.  Many screamed. Many could not even make a sound, because flies had reached their lungs. 

               When they looked around, to see whether Seraphin and Ragini were there, they knew that they had already disappeared…..

                 ONLY THE SCREAMS OF THE CHILDREN FILLED THE NIGHT AIR…..                                                                                    end.