LOST AND CONFUSED

The priest was totally in a daze. He was still transfixed on the landing beside me. I gathered my strength and courage. Then with a strange surge of bravery, I pulled at the arm of the priest. He suddenly awoke as if from a trance. I pulled him again, urging him to approach the two poor souls who were struggling at the foot of the tree.
He understood my message. Quickly he ran but stumbled along the way because he tripped over roots and stones. The struggle was one which I had never experienced.
Lightning was everywhere and the sound of thunder was getting louder by the second. My mind was num and I could not hear anything. My eyes were only focused at the pair of souls. My only aim was to help them in whatever way I could.
The priest was also struggling. Together we crept an approached them. Now we were facing one another. My heart sank when I saw the two of them. The boy was struggling to get up while the other girl was helping him.
'Love Story' and 'Romeo and Juliet' could not match the intensity ofd the scene in front of us.
"Help them. Help them." My heart cried out.
The priest understood or knew what was to be done. He took out the rings from his tiny bag and was about to say the prayers when another bolt of lightning hit the ground beside the four of us. We were thrown about, scattered like little rats.
We regrouped; the priest and me. The two souls were hurdled; hand in hand against the tree.

My prayer and hope

"Go away! Leave these two souls alone!" I begged.
"Let them be united and be happy." My heart cried out.
My four buddies were crying and whimpering like little puppies. I could divide my attention. I had no time for them. I knew that my role was of major importance. They were just witness to a great event in their lives.
The girl moved forward and all the time she was begging the priest. She knelt and got up a few times as she approached the priest. Then the unexpected happened.
A bolt of lightning flashed out and struck. For an instant I was dazed. When I regained consciousness, I saw the boy on the ground under the tree. He crept slowly probabl;y he was injured by the lightning. The girl was beside him and helping him up. It was a really sorrowful scene; like a sad love story that was about to end. Was that the end of the whole affair? No, it couldn't be.
The end was yet to come.
I stood at the landing of the staircase. Instantly I knelt and put my palms together and prayed.
"God, have mercy. Let them be united. Let them be. Let them be together. Be merciful."
I was not sure what I was praying. I guessed those were the words of my prayer, more or less.

It Happened

It was then that we saw them; the two ghosts or souls. The boy was dangling and swaying to and fro from the very branch we expected. We could see clearly now as we were only ten metres away. The girl was standing under the tree and looking at the hanging figure. She was sobbing and wiping her eyes.
The priest at the bottom of the staircase stood up and was totally transfixed. I for one was unable to speak. I watched everything as if I was a part of the plot. The other four buddies were huddled together at the top of the staircase shivering and whimpering like lost puppies. They must also have seen the two figures. They could not move or run away. I was the only one who got up and stood beside the priest. We stood and stared in silence.
The breeze had turned into a wind. The branches swayed in time with the figure of the boy still dangling by the rope around his neck. Leaves rustkled and flew around the tree. The girl stood up and turned. Her movements were slow and light as if in a dance. Her tears were rolling down her cheeks and her hands were outstretched. Her gestures were of begging and her facial features were genuinely sad and sorrowful.
The wind that was gathering speed together with the thunder and lightning was so powerful. These elements were working in union as if they were against the two souls that were about to be united.

Who is that? The Ghost?

A short breeze started to blow. It did not produce any effect. We were still sweating. Leaves on the tree began to rustle and the dried leaves on the ground began to scatter about. The speed of the breeze began to build up. From experience we knew that a storm was brewing. We were in total darkness now as the moon was slowly being blocked by dark clouds.
We could only depend on the flicker of light from the houses a few hundred metres away. This gave us some guidance and direction.
The five of us suddenly screamed our hearts out because out of nowhere something or someone appeared beside us. Se sensed it because of the heavy breathing suddenly bearing on us. Our hearts must have stopped beating at that very moment.
We turned slowly because we did not dare to see what it was. We were about to run away when a pair of hands blocked and stopped us.
In a whisper, the voice said, "No, no. Don't go. Don't be afraid. It's me."
From the tone of the voice, we concluded he was the priest whom we had been waiting for. We began to calm down. We had no time to ask him how he had appeared out of nowhere because there was a drizzle.
Quickly, we made our way to the abandoned house. We had no choice because we did not want to be caught in the rain that was sure to follow.
The six of us moved slowly with the priest leading the way. He seemed confident and not the least scared. The five of us sat on the same staircase and waited. Surprisingly, the clouds parted a little.

We saw something...what

It was then that we saw something or someone, at first faintly and then quite distinctly. We wanted to scream but we could not. We seemed to have been rooted to the spot speechless.
The figure moved slowly from behind the house towards the tree. If only the clouds had move away to allow more light to seep through, we could see clearly who the person was.
Then it disappeared behind the tree. Our fear kept us rooted. Even Ravi was unable to move. He was shivering and Guna quickly held him close to his side. Our eyes were all peering directly at one direction; the tamarind tree.
In most horror films, at the least unexpected moment, something would spring out to scare the wits out of the audience. Then everyone would scream their heads off. None happened here. Not a thing.
In my mind a thousand questions and possibilities kept churning. Maybe we had been fooled. Who was the person behind the tree? What was happening? Why didn't the ghost or ghosts appear? Should we go home? Should we wait? My mind was numb; totally confused.
I could bet the other buddies of mine shared the same feeling. They must have been waiting to run away and be safe in their houses; in the warm beds rather than standing and expecting the worst.

Hesitation

Ravi, the youngest said softly, "I'm not so sure now. Can I go home? I'm really afraid."
Thaila interrupted, "Ravi, be brave. If we haven't harmed them, we will be safe."
Gopal whispered, "Right, be brave. I don't know what to expect but stay together."
Guna added, "I'm scared too but if we are helping someone, it has to be good. So I'm staying put."
Well, four to one was the verdict. Furthermore, Ravi could not possibly go back alone in the dark without company. We all stood silently and waited for the unexpected.
An owl hooted far away and then stopped. Then it was all quiet again. What a strange night! Dogs would usually be barking furiously as some of the residents nearby kept them. Even the insects were exceptionally quiet. The distant clanking and hooting of the midnight train jolted us.

Going to The Tamarind Tree

I signaled to Gopal to wait. After a few minutes, my grandmother went to bed and I was relieved. I quickly switched off the lights and bolted the front door before leaving.
Only then did I notice that the rest of the gang had already assembled under the tree in front of my house. Quickly we started our journey. It was not a very long walk. After about ten minutes, we reached our destination. It was the tamarind tree that we had been to in the afternoon. Nothing had changed except for light from the moon.

In the light of the moon, the place was even more eerie. The shadow cast under the tree was dark and formed strange shadows. The only brightness were streaks from the moon through the branches. The air was so still and silent that we could hear our own breathing. We were perspiring profusely both because of the still and stuffy air and the fear that was building up. We kept silent all the way and looked suspiciously and expecting at any moment to see what we were to encounter.
We did not dare go near the tree in front of us. We stood a few metres away and waited. We did not know what to expect; to see or to hear. All the five pairs of eyes were wide opened. Our hearts were beating in rhythm. Our ears were cocked.

The agonosing wait

That night the dinner was really tasteless; not that my mother's cooking was bad but the thought of the encounter that was to happen spoiled my appetite. My mother noticed the sudden change. I did not really ate but nibbled at the food and all the time my mind was far away.
I waited after dinner. As the minutes ticked away, I became more restless. My beating of my heart increased. My palms became sweaty and my mind was numb. I could not concentrate on my reading. I did not know what I was reading. I just sat with my book in my hands and staring at the pages as if they were windows outside. My eyes did not blink; not even once.
After a very long time, I was suddenly awoken from my trance. I heard a low whistle coming from somewhere outside. It was not the owl; for it did not sound at all like an owl. It could not have been a bird. Birds would have been fast asleep by now.
I walked to the window and peeped through it. Gopal stood under the tree. He waved at me. Only then did I realized that it was the hour; the appointed time. It was confirmed by the struck of the old grandfather clock in the house. It was eleven o'clock.
By then my parents had retired to their room. My brother and sisters were already fast asleep. Only my grandmother was doing some sewing. I waited for her to sleep too. It was agonizing.

Go home and get ready

After about ten minutes, his eyes opened and he regained consciousness. Then he got up and sat up facing us again.
In a slow and solemn voice, he said, "Yes, I will help you. We have a mission to carry out tonight. What a pitiful pair!"
He added, "I will see you under the tamarind tree at midnight, tonight."
So saying, he left and we went home full of hope. We were excited at the event that was to happen tonight but at the same time we were a little scared at the expectation of seeing the ghosts. We exchanged glances and smiles as we went our way home. We were smiling because we knew that half the battle ha\d been won. At the back of our minds, we knew that thee was a bigger and more frightening encounter that was to take place soon.
We promised to meet in front of my house at eleven and go to the tamarind tree. Finally we left.

THE TRANCE

After frowning for a while, he asked me for the rings to have a look at them. I produced them from my pocket of my shorts. They felt warm in my palm. There was a strange feeling; a tingling and warm assuring sensation.
Once they had exchanged hands, the priest suddenly gave an abrupt, startled jerk and we saw a strange look on his face. It was look of a totally different person. With the rings at his fingertips, he swayed from side to side. Then he started mumbling and speaking strangely. Guna, the spokesman, was also surprised and stumped. He could not understand what was going on. We were even more shocked and stunned. He listened intently to the gibberish but could neither make head nor tail of what he was saying.
Guna whispered, "I think he is in a trance. It is possible that he is getting a message from the ghosts."
We all looked in silence with our mouths wide opened. We could not utter a word. All we could do was sit still and stared at the priest.
His eyes rolled around for a long time. All the while he was mumbling something at times loudly and at times very softly that we had to stretch our eyes to catch it. In between he heard laughter and sigh. Then he would sway his head and we saw tears rolling down his cheeks.
Suddenly he collapsed on the floor in front of us. We gave out a shriek and sat completely stunned. We looked at one another. We wanted to run away but when we saw the rings in his fingertips, we remembered our mission. We then stayed and waited.