7.
Present
The labyrinth looks more imposing aas we near it; the wall is above my height by more than half and every part of the wall is smooth finishing with some writings on it. We stopped at what may be the entrance. The wall reached far on both sides or it never ending on both direction. Its an illusion created by the place as it was smaller when we saw it from above.
"Its not necessary for all of us to go in but we would select a pair. Who would go with me?" I asked the three of them but only one stepped out. "Micheal?"
"No, I am staying back. I can't go in there. I was lost once before in a similar place and I could not get over it. Please forgive me." This is the first time I seen Micheal shrink from any task. I nodded to his request.
"Helmut, we go in together. My squire would stay here with Micheal."
Helmut and myself took what we wanted before we move in. Micheal stood there and looked at us. I wanted Micheal with me but he had stated his choice, so I had to respect that decision.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eighteen years ago.
The boy stood with his father at the Rajah's palace as they watched the entertainment prepared by the Rajah. The Rajah is a local Lord here and this party is for his son who just turned ten. As they were watching the tigers, the young heir to the Rajah walked up the boy.
"Follow me. We play in the garden." It was a tempting offer and the two kids ran off to the nearby garden. Its a big garden and they play all kind of games that kids play. Soon the game became one of hide and seek with the young heir searching. The boy whose name is Micheal ran to the hedges and beyond without looking at where he turns. Soon he find himself surrounded more by higher than his height hedges and more hedges. He grew tired and feeling hungry too, so he sat down on the grass to await the young heir. But no one came for over an hour.
But he waits no more. He began to walk and find himself walking in circles. But soon his ears picked up on some familiar sound; one he heard many times on the branches at night when these predators come to hunt. Micheal searched for an item to be used as a weapon but he finds none. So he improvised from his clothes as he removed his tunic. He wrapped the tunic around his left arm and picked up a sharp edged stone in his right arm. He sit there await the possible rescue or attack by the predator.
It was then the boy was soon to have his imagination taken over his mind with vivid images of all. He starts to see images of the devil and demons. At that age, he starts to feel afraid and wanted to cry at the thought of it. Soon he was weeping as the sky turn dark and the rain came. He hate the rain here as its thick and fast. More to it, the drops hurts his exposed limbs and wet his clothes. Soon he felt cold and miserable as the light fades to dark. The rain is also blocking his view of the passages. It was then he saw the cat as it comes round the corner. Its primate cat from the wild and they normally hunt the smaller preys. Micheal stood up and faced the cat with his improvised weapon. The cat snarled and moved in a circle but not approaching the boy.
Its not right and he now knows why.
He turned to his back and seethe other cat. It has been creeping up to him from behind. Micheal stood with his back to hedge wall now. The first cat decided to initiate the attack but the jump of the cat was stopped by an arrow in its chest. The second cat tried to bolt the scene but the archer took the cat too.
Micheal looked to the archer who is a servant of the Rajah. He has come to search the boy. "I have found the boy. He is safe."
It was then Micheal broke down into tears and cried his heart out. He made a promise not be led into a maze again. He was to learned later that the young heir left him left to go back to the party without telling anyone of his whereabouts. It was only the guards perseverance that found him in the garden.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment