Marooned And Terrified Missi

        Since her teenage days she had cherished the dream of going to the city and live a better life than what she could manage in this remote mountain village which could only be reached by trekking more than three kilometres on hill tracks from the highway that connected Darchula, Pithoragarh and other towns.

The youthful bubbly lass Missi, from a far-flung village bordering Nepal in Pithoragarh district finally finds her place among city hoi polloi in the state capital Dehradun when she joined a paramedic training course after local schooling, to get qualified as a village level health worker. 

Accompanied by her uncle during her maiden visit to the city, Missi’s amazement was palpable as the bus travelled through the hill road on its way to the state capital, passing through bigger settlements with colourful buildings and people dressed in modern clothes, which she found intensely appealing than the traditional village costumes she wore. She instantly knew this is what she aspired for and decided to overcome her rustic mannerism and make herself relevant to city life. And she decided to do the change over quick enough to find acceptance with her classmates and acquaintance she would make there.

Dehradun was a completely different picture than she had ever imagined. Numerous roads with magnificent buildings, parks and other civic facilities were all over. The village duo was totally taken aback with the imposing show. Overcoming the initial awe and diffidence they asked some pedestrians for directions to the training institute hostel address. After a few slip-ups in the labyrinth of crossways they finally reached the hostel and found a sense of security against the hyperactive scenario back in the streets with motor vehicles zooming past and honking their way through the crowd; the street vendors’ cacophonous hollering over one another to attract customers; and at another place, a swelling crowd enjoying and cheering a brawl between two guys. For the village naïveté’s it was too much to take in one go and at the end of it they found the environs of the hostel a welcome respite from the daunting affairs of the world outside.

Missi’s overawed and jolted kin left in the evening to board the bus back home not willing to deal with the city hullaballoo any longer despite her repeated requests, and Missi found herself left amidst the other boarders of the hostel to fend for herself. Ritualistically she was subjected to some soft ragging by the seniors in the hostel before getting inducted into their group.

One of the seniors Bina, she found out later, was from a village in the neighbourhood of her home and that both families were distantly related. The discovery expanded into a natural affinity between the two and they began relating to one another’s needs and problems evocatively.

Days passed and so did Missi’s training on paramedic skills progressed.

Meanwhile Missi expeditiously adapted some bits of the city dweller lifestyle. She alternatively wore jeans and tops alongside the traditional salwar kameez; carried a shoulder bag for the notebooks and study material and most strikingly trimmed her hair and used makeup to don the urban looks. Overall she appeared more of a city girl now peeling off her upcountry appearance.

At the end of the third month’s training curriculum, Missi was posted in the Rudrapur area on a short field assignment to get some hands-on job experience. Rudrapur was much closer to her home than Dehradun. This practical training was part of the curriculum students had to partake in at different stages of their study programme. Before she proceeded on her field assignment she spent a great day outdoors with Bina, from a visit to the cinema hall to watch a new film to a sumptuous meal at a restaurant and engaging in some personal shopping. Bina requested her to visit her home and look up her parents if she was visiting her own home anytime after the Rudrapur assignment. Missi promised to do so.

It was the period after the monsoon. The fall season would soon begin and there was a nip in the air of the approaching winter. Rudrapur in the foothills wasn’t so cold and offered good weather conditions for outdoor work. Missi accompanied the local health care teams to different villages where they attended to patients, provided vaccination and immunization for infants and children. They educated households in maintaining hygiene and cleanliness and other health care factors.

Missi was a quick learner and after two weeks was able to handle matters all by herself under the watchful eyes of her supervisors. Missi’s cheerful nature was itself a winning factor. On repeat visits to the villages she was happily greeted by kids chanting ‘nurse didi aa gayee’. She felt immensely pleased to be acknowledged as a professional and a likable person. In her internship she found the confidence of both, the targets as well as her supervisors, fetching for her a good learning and performance assessment report. On completion of the five weeks field training, she sought permission to take a few days break clubbed with the ensuing extended weekend official holidays, to visit her home in the Darchula area. Permission was granted and she proceeded to visit home, now as a confident, upbeat Missi in a freshly packaged city girl appearance.

Her village folks gathered around her in awe as she walked into the hamlet. They fought it hard to match the girl to the one that left for Dehradun only a few months back — immature, scared and complete naiveté; and now the one who stands before them is a confident modern-looking beautiful city girl. Nonetheless, all were pleased to have their cheerful, bubbly girl back home. The young lads were especially bowled over and many of them vied with one another to find her attention. After spending a couple of days with the family, she proceeded to make the journey back to Dehradun. On the return leg, Missi had prescheduled a visit to Bina’s home. So she took a small detour through the woods towards the neighbourhood village. It wasn’t difficult to find Bina’s home and her friend’s family was delighted to hear from Missi on the well being of their daughter. She spent about an hour with them before leaving for the main road through the hill tracks to catch the bus for Dehradun. Her friend’s mother requested her to carry some homemade dry food for their daughter which she happily obliged by putting it neatly inside her backpack.

After about half a kilometre of downhill trek suddenly it started drizzling. Missi hadn’t taken note of the dark clouds gathering in the sky earlier. Anyway, she was equipped with a light raincoat and she put it on. Aware that the post-monsoon rains in the hills usually come and go in a while, she decided to continue the stride and truly the drizzle stopped after a few minutes. At the next turn downhill even from the distance, she could see a small wooden bridge across the river below. She reckoned the bridge would have to be crossed for making it to the main road further down. This route was not familiar to her and when she met a passerby on the track she asked for direction. The man affirmed that the road would be a kilometre further down across the river, and suggested she would better hurry since there could be a downpour soon, pointing to the sky.

Missi too realized the need to move fast and paced up. Suddenly there was the huge cracking sound of a thunderbolt that echoed off the mountainsides. Unable to determine the situation, she ran towards the glen in front hoping to find some protection from the rains and lightning. The downpour began abruptly as if a large waterspout was opened to full force, and the might of the downpour kept increasing. For once she was terrified imagining it must be the similar cloudburst she had heard earlier from the elders and its devastating consequences that followed in the hills. She only hoped she was wrong and kept running to reach the level ground ahead.

By the time she hit the flat ground of the meadow, she realized that the torrential rains was also accompanied with a raging squall that made progress much too difficult against the wind. She chose to take cover under an oak tree in front clinging to its trunk on the opposite to avoid getting wet. The rains continued but the gusty wind had subsided after a while. This calamitous development was so sudden and terrible that Missi was apprehensive if it would be at all possible to catch the bus today, following which the uncertainties of being under the open sky without a shelter made her freeze with fright.

Suddenly there was the huge boom of landslide somewhere close by and in a while large amount of gushing water from the hill slopes began spreading over all around her. She could sense the worst was approaching and she must find some cover from the upcoming calamity. Missi began running ahead towards the elevated area of the meadow. And as she began climbing the rocky mound, through the dense growth of shrubs and some pine trees on it, she imagined for a moment that she had seen a small hut hiding behind the trees. I must be hallucinating in this terrifying condition she thought, and continued with the ascent to the top of the hillock to find relative safety from the submerging land below her.

And surprisingly true to what she imagined she saw, was a stone-built hut seemingly abandoned and with some part of its slate roof at the rear portion worn out and damaged. She knew at least this ramshackle shelter would be better than being in the open on the ground below in this disastrous situation. Missi despite the raincoat on her was fairly soaked by now and was feeling restive. She peeped through the partly open door and found no one around. She didn’t expect anyone either in this desolate place. 

Missi stepped inside the room. It was a large cabin with two portions. Apparently it was an abandoned forest beat office. She was relieved to see the roof was intact over the front portion of the cabin. The floor was dusty but dry with a carpet of dry pine needles blown in through the open windows. At the rear partitioned part of the room, she could hear a constant drip sound of water from the leaking roof. In the front portion where she stood, there were two windows on the sidewall that were half shut while there was another window on the opposite wall that only had one intact panel that swayed open and shut in the gusty winds blowing outside. 

Anyway the reprieve from the fierce and distressing elements of nature was the biggest boon for her at this moment, Missi thought. She began to undo her backpack from her shoulders to place it on the floor before she had taken off her soaked raincoat and footwear. This was when she caught sight of a big furry mongrel sitting cuddled by the wall at the corner of the room looking at her inquisitively. She hadn’t taken notice of the animal in the dimly lit room as it sat partly hidden behind a wooden table, the only piece of furniture lying in the vacant room. 

In normal circumstances, the dog’s close presence wouldn’t have scared her. She was used to dogs at her village home. But the sudden detection of the large mongrel intently staring at her in this desolate room, made her shriek out in fright. The dog too probably was nervous of Missi’s presence, and in a show of submission began wagging the tail without moving up from where it sat. The communication was clear... no harm intended and an appeal to be allowed to share the place. 

 

Missi sat down leaning by the wall at a distance without taking her eyes off from the canine. It was already nine thirty in the morning and she wondered when would the mayhem of weather godsend? Just then a blinding thunderbolt struck somewhere close by. The room lit up in the flash. She was taken by surprise and petrified to the hilt, and impulsively she let out a shrill and began weeping. The situation was getting alarmingly worse. She began feeling very unsafe even sheltered under a roof. The dog perhaps shared a similar sense of insecurity and in a very submissive stance, head down and ears pulled back, it slowly approached Missi to find some safety in closeness with another living being. Missi didn’t shoo it off either, rather at this moment of horror she welcomed its contiguity.

Outside it was now raining cats and dogs. Missi peeped out of the half-open window. She could see nothing outside as the torrential rains created a screen of sorts through which her sights could not go beyond a few feet. The inflicting condition made her restless. She knew there was no escape from the situation any time soon, leave aside reaching the hostel she had set out for. The worrying part was, it was difficult to estimate how long she would have to be holed up in the isolated hut. It was like being nowhere and marooned helplessly without the world even knowing about the dog and her predicament. Suddenly she felt alarmed with the thought what if it keeps going like this for days without respite. How will she survive?

Impulsively she reached out for the backpack to take an inventory of the foodstuff she carried. There was some quantity of homemade dry food she had in her storage, picked up from her own home, as also some that was for Bina. Besides some biscuit packets she had bought earlier were still intact in the bag. And for the day’s journey, her mother had packed her some rotis and pickle early in the morning. 

All this could last her a few days for sure but how long would it be before she could make her way out of this wretched situation was the biggest dilemma facing her. Yet the more frightening situation was expected to descend after the daylight is gone in a few hours from now. In the darkness what would she do? Although being the intrepid village girl she had little fear about living it out this way, yet handicapped by darkness how is she going to handle things in this obsolete place? She wasn’t even sure if the cell of the tiny flash light in the field medical kit was still live. These horrendous thoughts began to drive her crazy.

To hold her cool in the edgy situation she decided to digress from the ominous thoughts and make friends with the dog that had cuddled itself tighter dipping the nose in its belly to keep warm. It wasn’t sleeping though, for every movement Missi made it would open its eyes and watch her actions carefully before going into the earlier passive stance once again. Surely the big mongrel was equally uneasy in this terrible situation.

She called out with a soft choo-choo sound. The dog now getting a clear sign of espousal from the co-marooned, got up and after a body stretch easing its limbs, calmly came over to Missi. The unaggressive gesture of the animal gave her the confidence to touch and stroke its head in an effort to reassure it that she wanted to be friends. The dog reciprocated by wagging its tail and responded with a low wheezing sound to affirm its distress.

Missi wondered if it was hungry. Poor fellow, she thought, may not have had anything to eat since dawn... perhaps is owner may have turned it out to fend for itself. Else why would it end up here alone? The thought of the dog going hungry made her feel famished too. She had started very early in the morning to visit her friend’s home and then head for the highway in time to catch the first bus on the route. And as she had decided to have the grub on the bus, she had remained nearly empty stomach all this while except for a cup of tea with light snacks at her friend’s house.

Missi pulled out the pack of rotis and pickle deciding to consume it first as it might go stale if stored for long. There were four rotis and she decided to share it with the dog. The animal was indeed modest and moved aside a little to give Missi the space to eat in peace. Missi intuitively called him out “come Dost have something to eat”. It looked at her gratefully licking its mouth in acceptance. Missi gave half a roti to it and the dog after sniffing it sedately accepted the feed, and then sat down munching it, gratitude showing on its face. Missi thought indeed the animal was hungry and gave him rest of the roti. At the end, they shared the rotis equally. After the meal as she pulled out the bottle of water to drink, pausing for a while wondering if there could be a way to share it with the dog. She looked around for some pot where she could pour some for the dog to drink, but there was none around in this deserted cabin. The best thing she could do was to cup her palm and pour a small quantity of water in it slowly to help the dog quench its thirst. It may not have been enough, yet the water should keep it going.    

                

A little after noon the downpour lessened and persisted as steady drizzle. Suddenly the dog got up and walked out of the half open door. Missi was perplexed and a bit alarmed imagining it was deserting her. The idea of being trapped alone in the weird place through the night got her adrenalin churning. She walked up to the door to figure out what the dog was up to and was relieved to see it had gone out to ease itself.

 

An hour later the rain had subsided much yet the scene outside was far from reassuring. What was a flat land just below the mound in the morning is now a sea of water and had seamlessly fused with the river that lay to the left. The trees in the middle of the glen too were half-submerged and the scene was indeed daunting. Never in her life had she seen anything like this in the mountains. The wooden bridge over the river was gone without a trace and she imagined it could be days before she could step out or, maybe perish here without food and water entrapped in this dreadful place. She dreaded to be alone and called out “Dost come in fast”. The dog obliged but before taking the small flight of stairs to the cabin allayed its unfulfilled thirst from the rain water that had collected in the potholes below the raised area of the hut. 

Even though it was autumn, still the rains had brought back the chill and after nightfall, it was bound to be colder. Luckily she had in her backpack a winter jacket that she was carrying back to the hostel and there was also a thick shawl to drape. She decided to cover herself with these during the night and cuddle up on the desk to escape the cold of the bare stone floor. For Dost she decided to dust off some piled up rags in the rear part of the cabin that she had noticed earlier and put them under the desk for it to escape the stony coldness of the floor. As it is, these mountain mutts have a thick woolly coat of hair on their body and are adapt to endure intense cold weather. Yet it would be more comfy for it to sleep on the rags, Missi considered. 

Missi set out to organize her mission of survival through the night. In about half-hour she was all done with the setup and found immediate acceptance from Dost, expressed in a few short approving barks. Missi had also used a few of the rags to cover up the missing portion of the window pane but could not do much about the half-open jammed door that wouldn’t move an inch. Anyways she will have to do good with whatever was possible in the situation.

The problem was that time now stood still without any let up in the rains. Missi wondered what could cause so much rains and the flurry of water to continue for so long. This is not typical in the mountains. Even heavy downpours don’t last that long. And rivers get in spate and recede quickly enough as the water flow down pretty fast on the slopes. She crossed her finger and prayed that at daybreak let there be a clear sky for them to get out of this wretched place.

Missi, in order to beat the torment of solitude and the arising dread of the unknown eventuality, began a monologue with her newfound pal who she had named Dost. She affectionately took its chin in her hand cooing “where do you come from buddy”. There was no vocal response from the mongrel on her query yet in its drooping eyes Missi could read it was homeless and abandoned by its master.

“That’s too bad my friend but don’t worry even though we would be together for a while, still I will make sure you get my love and attention, adding “I won’t desert you here no matter what becomes of us”.            

Then she continued with her chat “do you have friends or a girlfriend for a company back in the village?” The response was a sharp dog style fluttered shake of the body, head to tail, presumably to shed off the stickiness of the hairy coat from the moisture in the air. Yet the action appeared like negation on her poser.

“Good then let’s be family for the time we are stuck here, then if we survive through this and go our ways, we will have some sweet memories of our affinity in this difficult times, to carry back home.” The dog produced a short wheezy noise, maybe to convey its understanding.

She continued “do you know I was supposed to have been in a bus now miles away from here if the rains hadn’t caught me midway. I had to reach my hostel by the evening and resume my classes the day after, but it’s now impossible. I don’t know how to inform them that I am stuck here helplessly waiting for the rains to stop and things to be normal.

“And you know my family back home would also be worried. They must be wondering if I could board the bus before the calamity began. They don’t even know that I am so near to them stranded here, yet so far that they can’t even reach me. What can I do? It’s not my fault... it’s no body’s fault; it’s only a cruel joke that nature is playing on us, relishing our helpless situation of being lost to the world. Dost do you have any idea how long this silly thing will continue?”

Missi continued with her monologue intermittently with her lone audience Dost for a major part of the afternoon till the signs of impending darkness began setting in the room.

 

Missi decided before it really gets dark she should take a bio-release for self to avoid the compelling need during the night. Outside, the twilight was a different call. The cloud cover spread across the sky; the drizzle persisted and Missi knew in the mountains as night advance, the rains begin to pour heavily. Surely it would be another day in captivity tomorrow out here without relief, Missi mused.

Within an hour Missi and the dog were engulfed in the pitch darkness of the cabin. An occasional lightening would toss a flash of light in the cabin to breach the wearisome darkness. The eeriness of silence too was overbearing. Even the ritualistic night concert of the common cricket that sounds raucous in such unbroken silence was conspicuously absent. Missi was finding it difficult to believe that she was sitting here trapped, unable to reach out to anyone who could have rescued them. By now, had things been normal, she would have been in the hostel at Dehradun, engaged in chatting and catching up on matters with peers. Perhaps it was a nightmare and she would soon wake up to realize that her subconscious has imagined this confinement.

She pinched herself on the arm and realized she was wide awake. Dost too was sitting cringed on the floor facing her with its eyes glowing in darkness. It was all a reality, and a terrible one for it. The thought of perishing here if not rescued in time made her burst into a sudden loud wail. Dost a little alarmed by her reaction, realized the need of comforting her and coming over to her side softly licked her feet to reassure that it was still with her. Missi couldn’t stop herself from weeping; the build up of emotion, fear,

uncertainty... all had played havoc on her mind through the day. And she had to release it to feel better.

This is the problem with the human psyche, Missi considered after collecting herself. Her companion Dost was suffering the quandary equally, yet it was so restrained and poised in its show of emotions.

She switched on the flashlight to see what time it was. The watch showed six-thirty in the evening. My god it can’t be, the watch must have stopped. She pressed her wrist to the ear and found it was ticking rhythmically. Now it was the moment of distress that was confronting her in the darkness. It seemed to her that the show had abruptly frozen and time had come to standstill. All this was driving her crazy and she had to get out of it somehow if she were to keep her mental balance.

This moment she was terribly missing the mini transistor radio that she had bought during her field assignment but gifted it to her younger brother at home the day before. The gadget would have allowed her to connect with the outside world to know the real situation on the deluge and maybe listening to some music to overcome the loneliness. But now that was not to be. She began humming to herself in an effort to create an antithesis on the wretched situation. It helped calm her somewhat and a little later she laid curled up on the table covering herself with the shawl. The occasional lightning continued to flash nature’s intimidating arrogance to the hapless captives.

She must have dozed off from the mental fatigue of the impinging events. The cracking sound of thunder shook her out of her repose. But she felt much better now, and in a strange way she realized she can actually handle it, if necessary over the next few days. Invigorated with this thought she looked for Dost under the table. It was not there. She wondered when and where did it disappear. She switched the flashlight to find the mongrel choosing the corner of the wall to cuddle up, discarding the bed she made for it under the table.

Poor thing, she surmised, it probably desired a reassuring contact with something in the panicky condition and aligned with the wall it must have felt better. She felt a sense of compassion for Dost and decided that she would invite her on the table to sleep around her feet during the night. That should be reassuring and comfortable for the animal. But now it’s time to eat something before retiring for the night. She opened the pack of biscuits to share for dinner. 

Dost had responded to her invite to sleep on the table and appeared to be much relaxed in that place. Missi lay curled up in foetus position facing the door, trying to gauge the outside situation but couldn’t get much of an idea of what was happening there, excepting the soft sound of water drops from the rooftop. That would mean the weather must have played out the worst and things could possibly improve, she thought.

She resisted the urge to look at the watch as it could be too testing and simply immaterial at this moment. Let the night continue for as long as it wants to, but she wished it dawns bright and sunny, wiping out all the malady of errors of the day. It was a wishful reflection that may or may not happen, yet she decided to await the relief, and shut her eyes.

It wasn’t long that she slipped into deep slumber unplugged from the torment of the elements. In her sleep she saw herself falling in a huge ocean. As she slowly immersed she looked up and saw a covering of the azure blue water that blocked the way out. And she also saw the paddling feet of Dost in the waters above, searching for her desperately. She continued to dip through to greater depths and the hue was turning progressively darker until she reached the bottom of the depth and settled on the rocks. The colour in the depths by now had turned into indigo blue, darkish and captivating in which she felt comfortable and in a strange way aware that the end to this boundless immersion was finally over from where she could find her way out of this. Suddenly she heard someone whispering close by “you are at the end of your transit and now you have only one way to go... liberty for you!” No one was around there except her solitary soul. The uncanny imagery woke her up with a jolt. She thought someone actually spoke to her and it was so real. And she could remember every word of it. What did that mean in any case? Did it presage the end for her in this desolate place?

Missi didn’t know what to make out of this strange dream. The indigo moment at the depths was so discerning and calming as if all her agony had washed out, yet the whispering voice was telling her something else. Was it a premonition of greater danger or a well-meaning nudge to find a way to be liberated from this tormenting existence? She didn’t know. The indigo moment was more perplexing than its initial charm. Missi couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night and when the first light broke in through the partly open door, she got up to meet the day with new hope of divine intervention.

In the low light and thick mist, the only thing she could figure out was that the rains had stopped and the sound of gushing water was absent. And that was a welcome sign. Dost slipped past her out of the cabin into the misty morning and she called out with real concern for her companion in the battle of survival, “don’t go far Dost, I will be waiting for you”. The dog responded with a short woof, whatever it may have meant! The sound of bird chirps in the trees made her feel that the day could be free of the ravages of the previous afternoon. Birds can judge it with their sixth-sense and their calling out to welcome the day can be assumed as the harbinger of a happier outcome. 

There was enough chill in the air and she decided to retreat inside the cabin and wait for the sunrise which would despite the cloud cover and mist, enable better assessment of the surrounding. Meanwhile the mongrel resurfaced in the cabin and after briskly fluttering itself to dispense the water from its woolly coat, began wagging its tail staring animatedly at Missi. She asked “what is it Dost you look quite cheerful after your sojourn outdoors, do things appear better over there? You think we could get out of this place today?” The reply to her queries was more energetic wagging of the tail. Missi presumed the dog must have smelt some imminent change in the air and accordingly appeared perky. “Wait I will give you something to eat and we will have some of these” she said picking out some of the dry foodstuff from the bag.

By the time they finished eating the sun appeared behind the thinning clouds. Missi rushed to the door to take a look at the condition outside. The mist had fairly thinned out and she could see up to some distance now. The air felt drier with no rains but she knew she would have to wait some more time to get a view of the glen which had taken the appearance of a sea yesterday afternoon. Only if the water had cleared out from the surface completely, could there be an opportunity for them to escape this captivity. She gazed at the sky but could not see much through the mist cover. She reckoned the next hour or two will play out as a fretful waiting game that they will have to endure anxiously.

Back in the cabin she settled down on the floor with Dost by her side. The dog could have abandoned her when it had slipped outdoor this morning, but dogs known to have inherent faithfulness, don’t desert their human companions until they are disowned. Poor thing it would certainly need a new home now if it were to feel protected. She stroked its head and throat affectionately and said “Dost when we get out of this place you must go back to your village and find someone who would love you and feed you. You are such a nice guy I wonder why are you homeless?” The dog gave out a deep sigh and coyly put its chin on her lap as if acknowledging her concern.

Missi continued “it will be the saddest moment of my life when we part company Dost, but what to do I have to reach my hostel and you can’t come with me. But when I return after my final tests six months later, I will look for you around this place and if we meet I will take you to my home and keep you in my family. That’s a promise.” The dog licked her hand a few times over to express its gratitude.

It was ten-thirty in the morning and the weather had reasonably cleared up. There was no mist anymore and as she stood outside the cabin the glen up ahead was visible. The water had cleared though but it was now an ocean of sludge, left behind by the flash flood. She looked at the direction of the wooden bridge and it was distinctly missing. The way to the road from this end was conclusively cut off for now. Missi knew the only chance of getting out of this place was to retrace the steps through the hills from where she came. She didn’t want to take any chance and waste any time here. Quickly she gathered her stuff lying around, packed them up and called to her comrade “come Dost let’s leave”.   

The dog happily led the way downhill over the rocks. They reached the slushy flat land and the ravaged look of it without any visible green cover was pathetic. Missi had to carefully step through the slippery surface and proceed slowly. She had determined the direction for the return journey with the huge oak tree as the signpost under which she had taken shelter when it began raining yesterday. It took an immensely long time to traverse the distance through the slush. The mongrel was cheerfully leading the way pacing up some distance ahead in a jiff and then returning to her barking out, urging her into following it. Truly Dost has proved to be a true companion in such worrisome condition, she thought.

When finally she reached the oak tree much to her dismay she found a stream in front of them flowing through the edge of the glen and the bordering heights that lead to the hills ahead where she was headed. Missi tried to remember if it was there when she had passed through this way yesterday. No, she was certain there was nothing like it anywhere at this place, else how would she had crossed over when the downpour started? She could now make out that it was the result of the flash flood that had covered the whole glen and now with the water receding, has created a new stream on the lower part of this meadow, perhaps branching off from the main river up ahead in the hills.

Whatever be the cause of this new phenomenon, it surely was a major hurdle to cross. The water in the stream was not much deep yet was extremely rapid to throw her off balance if she tried to walk through it. Missi became tensed over the new problem and wondered how long would bad luck follow them in this wretched land? Her companion the mongrel was also taken aback by the sight of the barrier. It became very restless and ran up ahead along the stream, probably in an attempt to find a way out. Perhaps it did find one when it rushed back and jumping around her urged her to follow it by pulling on her trousers. Missi decided to take a look. 

Some distance away around the slope of the meadow the stream itself was partly blocked by few big rocks on its path and was forced to flow between the projecting rocks that could make the perfect crossover bridge on the watercourse. Missi enthralled with this find yelled out loudly “thank you Dost you have been so helpful and supportive”. The mongrel acknowledged with a few short woofs as if to say what are you waiting for, get going. Crossing over the rocks wasn’t difficult for the mountain lass and soon they were on the other side of the barrier.

Yet the larger problem they were faced with now was that the usual foot tracks of the hill were simply effaced under the impact of the torrents, and at places, passage was also blocked by felled trees. In some other parts, mud-slips had cut off the regular hill tracks compelling them to take a short diversion. They had to make their way up strenuously through the shrubs and boulders with Dost serving the role of pathfinder.

Having climbed some distance Missi stopped to catch her breath and took a look at the land below. The first thing that struck her eyes was the stream below. To her amazement the brook from this height and angle presented the typical indigo hue, which she had seen in the dream last night. Suddenly it struck upon her, was this the upshot of the whisper prophecy she heard in her dream? Maybe the presage was to prepare her for another hurdle on the final flight to freedom that was symbolized in the indigo blue colour of the deeps. Suddenly it flashed on her that indigo is the providential message. Indigo is the colour of her kismet. The indigo moments in the depths that had calmed and comforted her, is here again reflected in the brook’s colour. The last hurdle to freedom was perhaps over.

Indeed it was! Missi and Dost slowly made their way through the hills back to her house. And the mongrel was bestowed with a home where it could find a sense of belonging. Perhaps the two of them had to meet somewhere to make this happen. And perhaps this is how nature willed it to happen!