A drenched evening

Is it not little silent today? The usual noisy rumbling stream is eerily quite.. rushing past as if in a hurry. But then where are the stones? They aren’t talking to the stream anymore. Are they submerged or may be rolling under the stream.. the water has got a greenish.. brownish color .. It had rained continuously for 3 days.. I’m out for the first time since the week begun..

Look at those drops.. Hanging to the edge of grass.. Shining in the evening sun.. “Hey Don’t move..I’ll fall” But the grass seems more adventurous.. swaying in a gentle rhythm of the breeze.. I get a thrilling sensation. A memory of being thrown up in air.. two hands waiting to catch me..to throw me up again.. As a kid I used to laugh..I used to ask for more heaven bound launchings.. But I lack that trust now.. A trust on an invisible hand..that it would be alright when I come down.. free falling..

I haven’t got rid of adventurous spirit.. But my adventures are solo performances..I take calculated gambles. I flirt with chance..but I know I can fall down. But isn’t life a sum of memories of such escapades.. Aren’t we actually meant to challenge the laws of gravity..

Oops..How do I cross now? There used to be a wooden bridge.. Its all gone..I rarely used it.. You may not know, up there what we call a bridge..A log thrown over the stream…You got to stretch your hands and do a tight rope walk across the stream..As you move it moves under your feet.. If you look down the water invites you to lose your balance..So the best strategy is to look ahead and cross.. Trust you legs..

I prefer hopping across..Further up the stream..there was a stone..well placed exactly at the center of the stream..Take a deep breath..One..two..three and jump..It take skill to kill your forward momentum..You have to balance on that stone..wow..You are in the middle of the steam. .vortexes dancing all around you..Touch it ..the cold water from glacier hasn’t gained one degree of warmeth..It can chill you right here..Look at the flow…It can kill you right here.. smashed against a stone..You would be dead before you even now..But you can’t drown..So it doesn’t matter if you know how to swim.. I don’t know how to swim..Look how the mind tries to justify the shortcomings of self..

Today it seems rich in water.. Its still impossible to swim but its ofcourse possible to drown.. My stone is submerged.. Should I jump believing that it would be just under the surface..’Trust your fate..The stone wouldn’t have budged..Water corrodes the strength but not in a day..the stone willed give up..atom by atom. against the unrelenting strokes on water..’

‘No.. it wouldn’t be a wise move..I can cross all right but the sun is about to set..If I cross it would be difficult to come back..’

I. distracted by moisture in my socks..The blood sucking bastards have managed to get in there.. Got to head back. Leeches are interesting animals..Imagine what would it be like to sit still. hungry and wait for you’re your food to come to you..’Buddy…I don’t have too much blood in me..You will have to shed your’s today..Your time has come..’

I put a pinch of salt on the leech..the blood oozes out from its permeable skin..The salt slowly turns red.. crystal by crystal.. I can feel it loosening the grip from my skin..Its dead now..

The sky is turning red too..The wind has stolen the chill from the water..The night would wrap the hills in black shroud..A perfect background for displaying a tapestry of stars.