Kalyani is telling us a story of an incident that changed her life. Kalyani was on a college trip to a remote village. During trekking, she fell and injured her ankle and was left alone. You can read about it here-
You are more beautiful than I remembered- A story of love beyond the realms! (Part 1/3)
She saw a beautiful pond and met a stranger who was waiting for her when she was swimming in the pond, naked! Who was this stranger, and why was he waiting for her near the pond? what were his intentions? Let’s find out.
PART 2: The Touch
My first instinct was to cover my bare body and have a look at my laid-out clothes near the shoreline. “who are you?”
“you were crying for help right? I know you took a bad tumble down the hill. I came to check on you” he said in a loud voice.
“ok,” I collected my hair with one hand and covered my chest with another. I had a bra and panty on still I couldn’t help but feel shy. I knew he could see my bare body through this clear water. What timing, could you not have come 10 min late, I would have been dressed by then. I thought to myself.
“please look away, I need to get dressed since my ankle was hurt, I thought of ….”
“Sure, but your clothes must have been worn out. I brought a pair just in case. Here, I will lay it down near your clothes. You can wear it. Sorry it is not much but that’s all I had” he said. I thought for a minute, why in the world would I wear what he brought but then I remembered the holes in my salwar and kurta. It barely covered anything so maybe it was good that he brought something with him. Ensuring his back was at me, I tried to get out of the pond as fast as I could, still limping. I used my kurta to wipe off the water. The dusk was falling. There was a coldness in the air as well.
“let me know once you are done, I have to talk to you about the plan to get you back to the village”
I said hmm and continued to change. I saw that he had brought me a dirty-looking T-shirt and shorts. It looked like the clothes were very old but at least they were still intact so with little hesitation, I went on to put the brown colored T-shirt and shorts on.
Unbeknownst to me he had turned to see me carefully; examining the clothes he brought. After wearing clothes when I saw he was staring at me, I was taken back, shocked, I took a step back
“you are more beautiful than I remembered,” he said with a calm voice, staring into my eyes.
“What??” I spat out.
“I just turned and saw you like this. It reminded me of a poem, in which a poet talks about the beauty of a woman”
Soaking my hair with my old torn-out salwar, I asked “Can we please go toward the village? Did sir send you? Who are you?”
“lots of questions.” He let out an awkward smile. The fading sunlight hit his smiling face. He was a little taller than me. I decided to stay a bit away from him.
“yes, you can say someone sent me to look for you and no, we can’t leave right away, and you sure you really don’t know me?”
I got scared, I froze “What do you mean we can’t leave right away?”
“Well, the sun is already fading and it’s not wise to go through this forest with wildlings roaming free. We have to wait till dawn before we start back,” he came a little closer and said looking deep into my eyes. I hated it when he looked at me like he knew me.
“so I would have to stay here all alone?” incredulously I asked, with a hint of anger.
“no, I am going to be with you. Here I got some fruits which you can eat for the night. I will get some fire going. I know you must be feeling cold”
Yeah, I was feeling cold, with my wet inner and cold breeze. I felt somewhat better that he was with me, I don’t know why I felt he was safe. A woman has instincts around these kinds of things. We could all sense the intention of man. I knew he was playful but trustworthy. Or maybe since I had no choice, I assured my mind in this manner.
He assembled a fire for us near the shoreline. With a few clicks on the stone, the fire was away, growing. He sat at the other end and I was sitting opposite him. We were eating a few fruits he had brought.
“What is your name?” I asked him.
“Bodhi” he replied munching on berries. I guess as far as my memories go of that night, that was the second to last question I asked. After that question, he started asking questions about me and I answered. I told him how as a child I lived in an orphanage never knowing who my parents were and why they abandoned me. Then from the orphanage to the hostel… That has been my life.
The moon had come out to play in the sky. Its reflection on ripples made me realize a line he said, “What you meant when you said, you really don’t know me?” This was the last one.
He chuckled “I was from Kakan village, I thought you knew people from there….” He said.
He knew I didn’t buy his answer. In the dancing fire, I saw that he also wore a similar brown t-shirt and shorts. He kept on questioning and I answered. What other choice do I have?
In the dead of night, there were various noises echoing in the forest. He kept on explaining about each one, assuring me we made the right choice by staying for the night.
He asked me if my ankle was still hurting. I nodded. In a flash, he ripped a few leaves off a nearby tree and rubbed them together. Suggesting to put my ankle toward him, he started applying the fine paste on it.
His touch, I can’t explain how I felt when he touched me. I felt soothing, I felt he knew me. I really don’t remember exactly what happened after that but I know what I saw. I saw a flash of images, where I was wrapped around him in a warm embrace. I saw we were swimming in the pool, naked. I saw him taking my face in his palm and kissing my lips. I saw him making love to me. I felt him inside me. I knew how his kiss felt. I felt all of that all at once.
“Avani…”
I woke up panting to his gentle nudge. His face was hovering over mine, and behind him, the orange color was breaking the sky open, slowly.
“What happened?” I asked him as I adjusted to see him through squinted eyes. I also touched my body to check if I had clothes on, whatever I saw, did it actually happen? My clothes were on me so was all that just a dream? When I touched my lips, I could sense his smell. I could sense a bit of pleasant pain in my crouch as if he was in me, not too long ago. I sat up, confused.
“the day is breaking, we must leave,” he said, urging me to hurry.
“Bodhi, I am not feeling too well. What is happening to me? Did something happen last night?”
He came close, squatted, held my hands, and said “You slept as I was massaging your ankle, you must have been tired and now you are waking up to your true self”
“My name is not Avani, who were you calling while waking me?” I said, freeing my hands slowly.
“it doesn’t matter by what name I called you. What matters is that you are awake. You have seen the truth. The promise is fulfilled, Avani. I don’t have a lot of time before I have to go. Let me drop you at the village.” By putting his hand on my shoulder he requested me to hurry. I didn’t question back.
I took a look at my reflection in the pond and splashed a handful of water on my face. I thought what I saw, what I felt was real, was just a figment of my imagination. With that decided, I stood up. The ankle was surprisingly healed. As I was about to walk in his direction, I saw a shiny thing. On closer examination, I found it was the edge of my digital camera. It must have gotten tossed in the soil. I was happy to pick it up.
“Could I take a photo of you and the place, for memory?” I asked him, lining up for the perfect shot. Through the lens of the camera, I could see him, the pond, and the stream feeding the pond behind him clearly. I was very happy with the shot and clicked a few quick snaps.
He didn’t speak much while walking toward the village, only one thing he mentioned, “Due to fog, if we get separated, just keep walking in this direction, you should see the village without a doubt” I nodded. Indeed it was foggy. Not just in our path through the dense forest but also in my mind. The playback of those flashes was constant.
“Bodhi” I called out to distract myself but neither I could see him nor his response to my many calls. Great I did it again. Was I lost?
To be continued…
Next Part, we will find out who was Bodhi and more importantly who was he to Kalyani. Was that a dream or something else?
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