Endless Tales of Corona - 3

Chapter 3: The Trap

By Uthra Murari

Nikhil was horror struck as he timidly walked towards the pool of blood.

For a moment Nikhil felt as though his heart stopped as he saw his own reflection on the pool of blood. But, wait! There at the place where he expected to see the reflection of his face, he saw Matthew’s!

Shocked, Nikhil stepped a few paces back in a swift motion. Hitting a rock, he tripped and fell flat on the ground with the mud sticking to his face. He could feel his heart beating against his ribs.

Trapped in the woods - Art by Vlad Yurashko

He sat up and his mind began to race – ‘What did I see just now? Am I hallucinating? Did my face change into Matthew’s?’

Nikhil touched his face frantically in dismay to check. ‘Phew! Nothing has changed.’ With this reassuring thought, he rubbed the mud off his face. He took few deep breaths to calm himself down and gathered some courage to take another peep into the pool of blood.

Once again, Nikhil could see Matthew’s face, but this time he was waving at him. What Nikhil assumed as a pool of blood was something else. It was a glimmering liquid with a deep reddish tinge. It looked glass-like and below the layer, it looked as though Matthew was calling out Nikhil’s name while coughing intermittently. But nothing was audible.

“I can’t hear you, Matthew!”, Nikhil shouted back. ‘It is possible that Matthew can’t hear me as well. But how did he get under this?’  thought Nikhil.

Nikhil touched the strange deep reddish glass surface and found it to be slimy. As he pressed his fingers further, he found it sinking in. Nikhil threw a stone into the strange deep reddish glassy surface and it fell right on top of Matthew’s head. Matthew raised his hands at Nikhil and his mouth moved aggressively as if throwing abuses at Nikhil. Nikhil was amused how deep the slime could be. But for a while, he was glad that his friend was full of life.

Nikhil concluded that this must be some sort of a barrier or a trap into which Matthew must have fallen into and he needs to do something to bring him back. He searched around for a log of wood which could be used to help to pull Matthew climb back. Although there were many trees around, he couldn’t find one which he could use. He decided to extend his hand into the barrier to lift him up. Matthew got hold of Nikhil’s hand. He pulled with all his might. But was unsuccessful.

Matthew’s cough had now intensified, and he was beginning to experience breathing difficulties as well. “Oh no, you are beginning to show symptoms of Corona!”, said Nikhil. “What do we do now?”. Nikhil remembered the words of the ‘normal’ person with whom they had a conversation a few hours ago. He had told them that the tribal people had helped him recover from an illness. ‘Could that be Corona?’, thought Nikhil.

Pinning his hopes on the ‘normal’ person to save Matthew, Nikhil looked around to see if there was any way to get Matthew out of this trap. That’s when he heard a loud – “AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH”

- To be continued -

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About the writer - Change is the only unchangeable thing. A universal truth that defines the very DNA of her. An ambivert at heart but an introvert by expression, Uthra is passionate about personal growth in all spheres of life & living that makes her a constantly evolving individual who mutates much faster than a virus!