In the mid of dense forest: 15th July Friday: 6:20 pm:
People, who know a little bit about the nature of the jungle, know that its timetable is quite different from other places. Here the Sun sets very early. Actually, the dense canopy of the forest doesn't allow penetrating the mild sunrays of late afternoon to reach its ground. Naturally, darkness comes early and the clock tells 'Night begins around 6: 30'. Needless to say, this timetable didn't change for our adventurers too. It was 6: 20 but seemed like around 8 o'clock at night. The sound of crickets and other hidden nocturnal creatures coming from the bushes and trees, the wild smell and the moist breeze made the surroundings more mystic. All the people were frisking here and there in exasperation as well as in the hope of any way out. Only Nina was sitting inside Micky's jeep as her injured knee was paining. It was swollen and bruised. FAN 5 and Fusion 4 never faced this kind of situation before where they were feeling like a trapped mouse. Suddenly Alisha shouted,
"Hey guys, there is a faint light showing on the right side. Look."
Everybody turned towards the pointed finger of her. There was indeed a feeble blinking light visible but seemed quite far from their present place.
"How is it possible? That is the same trail where we have already gone and we didn't notice anything like this."
Alex said in disbelief.
"Must be a ' will- o'-the-wisp' (Ghost light)"
Natalia rolled her eyes.
"Shut up. Stop making your cock-and-bull story."
Maya sounded irked.
"Let me see."
Micky said and got the binoculars from the dashboard. A smile appeared on his lips when he focused it on the source of the light.
"What? What did you see?"
Cody asked restlessly.
"It's a house, guys. Lucky we!"
Micky answered with a hope drenched voice.
“Then what are we waiting for? Come, let's search it."
Billy said enthusiastically.
"Yeah, come, get in the car."
Micky instructed. All sat in the jeeps and started in the search of the light. Their only hope for now. The headlights of the jeep were penetrating the pitch-black darkness of the jungle. Some monkeys started chattering in alarm. An owl hooted in fear. The sight was dreadful but unavoidable. Both the jeeps carefully entered the narrow trail again. Micky felt a soft grip on his bicep. Nina grabbed him in fear and a need of assurance. Micky placed his palm on hers.
"Don't worry. We will find something."
He whispered.
....................................
Amidst the dense forest: 15th July Friday: 6: 55 pm:
Though the light seemed not so far, their ride took quite long to find out the source. Now, they were in a place from where they could watch the house with naked eyes. However, it was still quite far to reach. Moreover, it was on the left-hand side of the trail and was a little interior. As a result, they had to turn their wheel towards the left if they wanted to reach there. Maybe that was the reason nobody couldn't locate it in the daylight. Maybe it was finely camouflaged in the dense wood. It was the light that revealed its being. But one more problem was that if they want to get there, they had to leave the jeeps and take a walk to the house.
"Guys, let's leave the jeeps and get there."
Micky said eagerly.
"Are you crazy? Can't you see the bushes are so thick? We can hardly go through it. Moreover, there must have been so many venomous snakes. And who knows, there might be leopards and tigers too."
Natalia said in discomfort.
"Then what do you want? We will wait here for the entire night? And by the way, there is no guarantee that we will find out any way to get out of here. So, we have to take this risk."
Cody said in an irritated voice. Maya continued,
"Lia, if you want, you can stay here in the car. There is no risk here, except some ghosts."
She mumbled the word ' GHOST'. Natalia's expression was worth watching. According to her 'Ghosts are more dangerous than wild animals because they can disguise themselves in anything. They can be the monkeys up in the threes, the birds, the buzzing insects and even the trees swaying in the wind.' Natalia looked around with wide eyes and swallowed the saliva. Suddenly her throat became very dry. Everybody controlled their bout of laughter.
"Lia, there is no tiger in this forest. Yeah, leopards may be there and that's why it would be wise to go to the house. Who knows? We can get help from there if it is an office of the forest department."
Nina said in assurance. Natalia kept mum for a while. It was like a ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’ situation.
"Okay, I will go. But what about you? If you didn't forget, you are injured. You can't walk in this condition. Moreover, we don't know how far the house is from here and how long we have to walk."
Natalia said and this time she has a valid point. Everybody looked perplexed.
"I will carry her."
Micky affirmed.
...................................
Approaching the house: 15th July Friday: 8:10 pm:
It was indeed quite tough to get through those dense bushes. Moreover, some of them were thorny which increased the challenge twice. Micky was carrying Nina in a bridal position. As she was wearing shorts, her legs were more open to the reach of those thorns. Micky was trying his best to protect her from the scratches.
"Learn something from Micky. He is so romantic. Nina is so lucky. Hmmmmm."
Alisha sighed in despair while complaining to Peter.
"What is romantic about it? Micky is carrying her because she can't walk. I am sure he had not have done anything like this if she would have been fine."
Alisha rolled her eyes and flared her nostrils in pique and said,
"That's why everybody calls you Saint Peter. Unromantic, hard-headed. Can't you see both are enjoying this opportunity? It has become a blessing in disguise for both of them."
She tried to draw Peter's attention towards them.
"Whatever. I can't justify romance in this awful situation."
Peter said with a shrug.
"By the way, you said I am unromantic, hard-headed. But last night you were moaning something else. Yeah, baby..... you are the best......ummmm..... I love you......come on..... make it hard..... these were your words. Wasn’t I unromantic then?"
Peter said with a poker face.
"Shut up!"
Alisha whispered with a crimson face. Fortunately, no one heard his words; otherwise, she would have been in deep shit. All were walking with lots of difficulties just for the hope of any positive result but the house was still far.
"What is this man? Why doesn't it get closer? We have been walking for almost half an hour and it is still far from us. I can't walk more guys. It's been long I didn't eat anything."
Cody halted for a moment while resting his both palms on his knees and bent a bit. Everybody turned to him with a dumbfounded face.
"You have finished 2 sandwiches and a packet of cheeps some time back dude. How can you be hungry so soon?"
Billy said with a surprising tone. Cody parted his lips to answer but Maya suppressed him by saying,
“Cody, though you are exaggerating the time, in one point I agree with you."
Natalia rolled her eyes and said,
"Thank God, Maya that you also realised it. He is right. The house is not getting close despite we have been trying to reach it so diligently. I told you it is will- o'-the-wisp' (Ghost light). It is trying to lure and confuse us. I am telling you, we are doing a mistake by going there."
"Oh please, Lia. Enough of your silly superstitions. I was not saying this. I wanted to say that I am also feeling hungry and tired. If there are any people in that house and they have an arrangement of fire then hopefully we will be able to get some coffee and food. HOPEFULLY."
Maya uttered the last word in frustration.
"We have instant noodles packets and coffee but both need hot water and unfortunately we don't have firewood. We didn’t get the chance to buy it because of all this chaos"
Alex said and sighed in despair.
"But it is a forest and I don't think firewood would be a problem to collect."
Nina said.
"It is not so easy, Sis. Seems that yesterday or today morning there was raining over here. All trees and twigs are wet. We can't use them as fuel."
Billy replied.
"If you all are done with your word marathon then shall we continue? We would have reached by now."
Micky said in irritation. His fair face seemed reddish due to tiredness. Few beads of sweat were visible on his forehead.
"Put me down. I can walk now. It's not paining anymore."
Nina mumbled.
"I didn't mean it. I can carry you for the whole day."
Micky murmured while looking around with an indifferent expression.
"Yeah, we are playing word marathon. And what you have done in the petrol pump was just friendly talk, right? That landed us in this big trouble."
Billy said in a little high pitch.
"Bro, stop it. It was nothing but a stroke of bad luck. Micky didn't do anything intentionally. He just lost his temper."
Nina sounded hurt.
"Yeah, and one day this habit of his will land both of you in big trouble. Mark my words."
Billy scoffed. Micky's eyes were spitting fire. This argument might continue but suddenly Alisha yelped in a shaky voice,
"It's like standing on memory alone."
All looked forward and witnessed a perfect ghost ranch. At last, they reached their destination.