Endless Tales of Corona - 5

Chapter 5: The Resurrection and Discovery

By Naveen Kumar

As Nikhil watched with a helpless torment, the beasts feasted on Matthew and devoured him. Nikhil was swirled into the eye of an overwhelming current of despair, but his eyes were wide-open witnessing the grueling scene unfold.

‘Matt...’ his lips whimpered in a delirious dismay.

Matthew was on the death’s verge, as life receded from the chambers of his body. He felt the life within disintegrate and his being clutched away the finest and final strand of life’s thread.   Matthew realized these are going to be the final moments of his life. He saw multitude of images flash in mind. Sans any overlap, sans any clutter, they passed in sequence like reflections on water. His carefree boyhood, awful teachers, girls and boys of his school, his days at the medical university, his lips pledging the Hippocratic oath, him holding the scalpel for his first surgery with shaky hands, his hospital, the nurses, the patients, the distinct smell. He did not just remember, but relived every moment of his life, through the moments of joy, sorrow, angst, peace, anger, love and through every emotion that graced his life.

I Am The Resurrection - Painting by Mike Moyers

The light of life emerged from his body and gleamed through the space. It was ready to detach and shoot into the outer space, but a shiny thin strand of life’s thread still unsteadily clinked, not wanting to let go.

I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?

 - John 11:25-26

Matthew heard the biblical verse in the background of the bells clanging in the towers of the church that overlooked the sea in his town.

* * *

Nikhil saw the beasts with spiked structures emerge once again.  He watched Matthew’s struggle in rapt attention. He saw his legs kicking the air, and the kicks getting weaker. He noticed the shudder of the beasts when Matthew’s kicks landed on the spikes. Seeing the beast shudder, Matthew kicked with all his might, summoning up the last drops of strength. Nikhil wasted no time either. He began hurling stones targeting the spiked structures that stuck to the body of the beasts. The beasts could not tolerate the blows on the spikes on which they survived, and they scurried away heavily. Nikhil watched them falling to the ground at a distance not very far from them.

Nikhil followed the inner voice blaring from within.  He collected Matthew’s crushed and crumbled body, which was now merely a blob of flesh with dark blood stains. His limbs paced as fast as it could, reaching the hot spring – the steam spewing into air made it easy to spot.

Nikhil carried the sloppy mass of flesh, that once was his friend, and sprinkled it with copious amounts of hot steamy water from the spring. The vital chemicals along with water molecules, diffused into the cells; and a million reactions began in the cells of Matthew’s body. A few strands of life’s thread appeared, forging a stronger bond with his body. As the bond strengthened, the light of life flashed into his body suffusing its precincts. The neurons fired, the systolic and diastolic beats began, the limbs moved, and as life’s functions began, Matthew was resurrected.

Nikhil leaned on the broad trunk of a tree watching Matthew in sanguine sleep. The serene surroundings, gentle breeze and the warm vapors from the hot spring all made him euphoric. Now, having seen the worst the bad looked better. 

All was hunky-dory till the evening they took a pleasant stroll on the promenade at Rock Beach, admiring the exquisite facades of the French styled buildings. The Corona fever was just spreading its waves. After dropping Matthew Nikhil had gone home that day to pick-up the essentials to embark on this great awry exploration. Nikhil saw Matthew rising. He rushed to support him.

“Did you see them? They were the same thing” were the first words he spoke.

“What?”

“Those beasts, they are nothing, but magnified models of Coronas. When I saw those drawings of the monsters destroying people, I saw the spiky structures and it did strike me, but thought it was unwise to see a virus as a monster.”

“Make yourself clear Matt…I am no doctor like you.”

“The Corona virus, too has spiky structures and if a medicine can target these spiky structures and destroy them, that is the cure. Did you see how the attacking the spikes of the monsters made them flee? That is excruciatingly painful for them that it may cause their death.”

“Yeah, but I am unable to connect the dots.”

“Let me try. My gut says the virus originated from here and these tribes did it for some reason. They made the monsters just like larger models of inventions made for whatever purposes – to learn, for fun” Matthew’s face glowed as he shared his discovery.

“Do you think the man, who lost his wife, has a role?” Nikhil asked

“Maybe, maybe not, but you know what? “

“What?” Nikhil asked

“The cure is here.”

- To be continued - 

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About the writer - He like to wander the world like a sweeping broom ingesting it's madness, only hoping to leave it better. Naveen seek purpose in life trying to be useful to others and love reflecting on  life's nature in the company of words. Read his poetries here http://hedonicwords.blogspot.com/