The Beautiful Island

The Beautiful Island

7 mins
474


Chitra opened her eyes and looked around. Where was she? She got up and was stunned by the beautiful environment. Green as far as she could see, studded by pretty flowers of amazing colours. The sky was dazzling with the early morning sunrays. She heard musical chirps behind her and turned around. There stood a huge mango tree and a flock of parrots just flew out of the tree. Surprising that there was not a single human being. Where was she? Where is Jayram? Wasn’t she last driving with him?  


Chitra started walking towards the East and just after a few furlongs she had a surprise! A vast body of water with clear blue water. Is it a river or a lake? She went closer and realised it was a river. She was suddenly thirsty and went to the water. She knelt down and just dipped her hands into the cold water, when she saw someone swimming gently towards her and calling out, “Hey, hey, do not touch this water. This is not good for human beings.” Chitra was flabbergasted. “What? Why? Are you not a human being?”


“No, I am a mermaid. This island belongs to my friends, who are not human-beings. In fact, you are the first human-being to come here. We are the guards of this river. You need to take their permission to drink this water.”


‘I am the first human being? Where am I’. Chitra’s spine chilled. She quickly walked back and looked at the mermaid, who reached the shore and bent half her body upwards and Chitra could see that below her waist, she had scales of a fish. She stood with a shock.  


“Do not get scared, my dear lady. Nobody here will harm you. My friends are very kind. Just walk towards that banyan tree and beyond that is where they reside”, saying thus, the mermaid went back into the water.


Chitra walked with loud heartbeats. The huge banyan tree looked heavenly. She loved nature and had never seen any such place in her life. Amazing varieties of flora and fauna. As she crossed the banyan tree, suddenly someone touched her shoulder. She was taken aback and turned with fear.  


“Welcome lady! Welcome to our beautiful village. We knew you would be coming here today. Meghraj had informed us”, said a creature which had the face of a rabbit but a human body below the neck.  


“Meghraj? Who is that?”

“Don’t you know Meghraj? He supplies water to the entire planet. He roams around the entire planet and knows everything.”


“Where am I? Which is this island? How do I get out of here?”

“Don’t worry. You are in a safe place. We are the saviours of this planet. We will not harm you. Yes. You cannot live here because you will be all alone. But you can go back, only if you whole-heartedly want to.”


“I am thirsty and hungry. Can I get something to eat and drink”

“Of course, please come along.”


The creature took her into a beautiful garden of roses and in the centre was a huge golden bowl shaped area. There lay heaps of varieties of fruits, vegetables and nuts. There was a small pond of clear water next to it. “There you are. You may eat and drink as much as you wish.”


Around that bowl were bamboo cottages and out came many creatures. All of them were weird. Some were a mix of two different animals or birds and some a mix of humans and animals. Besides, there were many colourful birds and animals. But, surprisingly, even the wild animals like lions and tigers were sitting along with the creatures in a friendly manner.  


All of them were gazing at her. First things first. She was thirsty and hungry. So, she reached for the fruits and hogged quickly. She kept sipping the water from the pond in between. The water was sweet like honey. She had her fill and felt better. But she was really confused. Where was she?


She then looked around and addressed everybody in general. “Can you show me the way out of here? I want to go to my house. My husband and my two children are waiting there.”


“You may go young lady. Nobody has tied you down”, said a creature.

“But how? I don’t know the way out”.

“You came on your own. We do not know where your house is.”

“I live in Bangalore, India. Do you know?”


“Sorry, we do not know anything about this planet outside this island. But yes, we can help you. We will send our messenger, who will take you to Meghraj and he will help you further”.


“But why do you want to go at all? Don’t you like it here?”


Chitra looked around and surprisingly, instead of being afraid, she was feeling peaceful. Yes, this place is beautiful and all of them are so friendly. ‘I have everything to please me. There is no pollution, no fights, no garbage and no noise. There is only natural music all around. But what about Jayram, Vaibhav and Vibha? Won’t they be worried?’


“ I do like this place. But I cannot stay here. My family wants me. I can hear my children crying.”

“Okay, okay. Garudaraja. Come here and take this lady to Meghraj.”


Suddenly Chitra found herself sitting on a creature which was a mix of an eagle and peacock. She was flying through the clouds and felt chilly. “Slower, my friend. I am scared of heights. I am cold.” But Garudaraja never slowed down. She held his neck tightly and shivered. She felt a thud. “Oh my God! I am falling. Why did you drop me from such a height? I will die”, screamed Chitra.  


She felt some loving hands holding on to her. She gently opened her eyes. She looked around.  


“Chitra, Chitra! Are you okay? What were you blabbering?” Isn’t that Jayram? Yes. Jayram was sitting on a wheelchair beside. Vybhav and Vibha were beside him and were crying. “Amma, Amma! Please speak to us Amma”, said Vibha.  


The doctor entered the ward and said, “Mr. Jayram. She has just gained consciousness. Please do not disturb her much. You can talk to her after a couple of hours. Please wait outside.”


Chitra was discharged from the hospital after a month and was very happy to go home with her family. She was informed how the car in which Jayram and she were travelling on that fateful day two months ago met with a gory accident and thankfully, both of them survived with injuries. Jayram had multiple fractures in his upper and lower limbs and she had fractures in her lower limbs and back. She had gone into a coma for a month and required another month for complete recovery.  


She could remember all the details of that beautiful dream that she had in the hospital. Was it a dream or had she really gone to one such place? She could not say. She related about her experience to her family.  


“Today is real. We are all safe. Let us forget the bitter accident and move on”, said Jayram.

“Yes. We shall forget the accident and the painful recovery. But that dream of mine was simply awesome. I want to settle in one such island. We shall explore the world to look for that island”, said Chitra.


“But those creatures! Amma, I am scared”, said Vibha.

“They are good creatures Vibha. They will not harm you”, said Chitra.

“Chitra, don’t scare the children. We will go to Switzerland for the vacation”, said Jayram.


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