Everyone travels during summer - A Short Story by Ronald Hadrian

Summer is a time of travel. The city, bustling and tormenting its residents with blistering heat, is not a good place during the summer.

Village life is not ideal either. It is hot inside the houses, but the trees planted by wise men hundreds of years ago provide shade, natural air conditioning, and a nice place to have an afternoon nap.

Kavin thought about the trees, the wells, the birds, and the fields as the car rode past the highway to Thanjavur. A beautiful place, his mother kept telling him. His school friends had probably joined some rock climbing or swimming classes by now.

Kavin had suggested a swimming class to his dad, and he retorted, "Why pay money when your buddies in the village would teach you to swim for free?"

That made sense, but mom was a little reluctant. "Those boys might be a bad influence on him," she said, cooking in the kitchen.

"The city kids are not saints, actually," he sneered. "You have no idea how corrupt they have become."

This type of conversation went on between them often. Kavin did not care. He simply wanted to play. He knew kids spoke some awful stuff, but they were mostly true.

The village is in a remote place, but it has changed over the years. Bakeries at every corner, ATMs, and also mobile shops. Funny how things have changed, his father mused as old Tamil songs played in the background.

Their grandparents were not very wealthy. They had a house, a cow, and a street dog. Some farmland that was leased to the neighbors as the grandfather suffered from a stroke.

The grandmother was the active one in the family; she took care of the cow, chased the hens, and protected the cowardly dog from other street dogs. She had a mouth so loud that none even tried to argue with her over the public water pipe.

Even the family feared her, so she was rightly ignored and kept away from important discussions. They arrived by late afternoon. Kavin's grandma hugged him and fed him with her latest fat chicken she had reared for such rare occasions.

The afternoon dreamily slipped away, and the evening saw some action with drunks banging on the door to move the car to the middle of the street as they wanted to see the new Volkswagen.

Kavin didn't like his bedroom, but he had to share it with his cousins Kumar and Lingesh. They really didn't like to speak to him. They treated him like an outsider. Kavin, on the other hand, looked down upon them, and he spoke in English so they would feel even worse.

But surprisingly, his cousins replied, and he didn't expect them to speak English in a fluent manner. Then suddenly, the three became chums. The next day, early in the morning, the boys took him to show the paddy fields. The green blanket spread across acres of land reminded him of a poem that he couldn't remember.

He always remembered a documentary about snakes living in the paddy fields.

"Have you seen snakes?" he asked them.

"Yes, many times. Last month, a grandma was bitten by a King Cobra," they said seriously.

Kavin wanted to go home. He did not like the paddy field now. He kept imagining a snake slithering and hiding inside, waiting for the opportune moment to strike him.

By noon, the boys went to the well. Kavin's father had instructed them to be safe.

"Shall I come?" he asked, concerned.

His mother chided him.

"The boys can teach him, and besides, you are fat and weak; you really can't walk there," she spat out the betel she was chewing. “But I heard some boys went missing some weeks ago,” she added.?

The boys confidently took a towel and led Kavin to the well. It was an old, big well, and the rocks at the edges had fungus sticking out. They shouted into it for some time to hear the voice echoing back. Kavin became comfortable, and then Kumar jumped into the well with a thud.

"Hey," shouted Kavin in shock. "Are you not scared, and how are you going to climb back up?" He looked at Lingesh for answers.

He never got the answer because Lingesh jumped in, screaming.

Then Kavin stayed up, wondering if he should jump. They both seemed to be enjoying their jump, and it felt so good. But fear also gripped him. He sat and watched them swim and play.

"You guys seem to be having fun," he said.

"Yes, we will take you to another place and teach you to swim," they shouted back. "The well is not a good place to learn."

Kavin let out a sigh of relief. He was not happy about jumping in as well. He simply fidgeted with the wrestlemania cards. He did not give the cards to his cousins.?

Two skinny boys wearing only their trousers came that way. They stopped and looked at Kavin, and then they peered into the well. They giggled and went on their way.

"How dare they come here," shouted Kavin's cousin from the well. They quickly climbed by the small rocks on the wall and came to the top.

They were fuming all of a sudden. Kavin did not understand.

"Did they talk to you?" they asked.

"No."

"You should be careful; they sometimes rob things, and we are not supposed to talk to them."

"What do you mean?" Kavin asked, perplexed.

"They are of some other caste," they whispered now.

Kavin thought such a notion was ridiculous. Why would people be hateful?

Then he let the thought go, and he went back to the house. By evening, the boys brought him to the small water tank.?

They tried to teach him to swim, and then they smiled at him and wondered why he couldn't swim like them.

Kavin was a little embarrassed, but they mocked him more and more.

"City kids cannot swim," they made funny noises. Kavin wanted to run back to the home and tell his dad to pack their things and get back home.

The taunting became so loud that Kavin shouted some English bad words that he knew they would not understand right away. He jostled from the spot to the house. The boys, like alert dogs, started to run behind him, shouting.

As they followed him, Kavin went to the house and locked himself in a bedroom. He didn't know what to do. Thoughts of embarrassment and anger flooded him. His mother came after some time and knocked on the door.

"What happened?" she asked. "Now open the door."

"Take me back home."

He didn't know what else to do.

Anger seeped through him, just when he was about to open the door. He heard his mother say to the other boys,

"What happened?"

"He was talking to the other caste boys. So we told him not to."

"But we were teaching him swimming, then he started running."

"What did you guys say to him?"

"Nothing, Mom. Simply joked about his swimming”

"He is not accustomed to your style, and he has always been slower in learning things," he heard his mom say.

This made him angrier. He opened the door and jostled at a frantic pace outside the house. He didn't know what to do. He simply ran, and he could hear his mom calling after him, "Where is he going?"

Anger rushing through his veins, he stormed mindlessly and jumped into the well. The idea of the depth did not reach his mind. He was lost in his anger, and thought nor reason hinder him.

His senses returned as the water, slimy and cold, spread across his body. The water was up to his neck, thankfully. The dry season had drained most of the water, but the well still looked evil.

His senses, once again alert, frightened him. The rocky walls of the well, the bushes, and plants waving seemed eerie to his eyes. He turned and turned, and saw how foolish he had been. He didn't know how he would return to the top; there was no way. His cousins would be the only people to rescue him, and as he predicted, two boys peered into the well.

His cousins laughed and laughed.

"How are you even going to come up?"

The shame flooded him more. He wished the water would rise above his head and drown him.

The boys kept taunting him. One of the cousins called out, "You cannot come from there without any help, can you?"

Kavin did not answer. Then, he noticed something perk up by the walls. His guess was confirmed within seconds. It was the cobra that he had dreaded so much. It was right there, laying down, hidden in the coolness of the well. He stayed silent, but his mind went blank. He started to shout.

"Hey, snake! Snake..." He pointed.

It didn't take long for the boys to understand what had happened. The snake reared its head. It was a long King Cobra, rarely seen in the paddy fields. The boys started to shout, "Climb the rocks soon!"

Kavin hysterically tried to climb, but it was slippery. He moved higher two steps and fell back into the water with a splash. The movement in the water alerted the snake. It started to close in on the water. The boys started to panic, and they shouted. The voice echoed, and Kavin decided then that this was the end. An end that he never thought would happen. He thought about the pain, death, and how he would miss his parents.

He hated coming to this village; he hated coming down to this place. The cousins who had driven him this far.? ? Then the boys who were sneered at and laughed at came by to see what the commotion was. They immediately knew the situation. Without another thought, one boy jumped into the well.

The snake became more agitated and started to enter the water. The boy grabbed a branch from the bushes and held it. The other boy, surveying the situation, jumped in, and they tried to scare the snake away with a stick.

By this time, Kavin's father and mother had come.

The boys began to hit the water hard. The snake, confused, retreated and climbed to the rocks, disappearing through a hole. The boys helped Kavin climb back up.

"Good thing we came," the boys spoke to each other.

Kavin's father thanked the boys profusely.

"Come home, I want to do something for you," Kavin's mother said. His cousins stared in utter shock.

"They are not supposed to come to our house," they said.

Kavin looked at the boys in disbelief.

"They saved his life," father and mother said incredulously.

The boys, however, refrained and went away.

Kavin's mother and father were furious at home.

"Are you still bothered about caste?" he scolded the boys when they reached home.

That day was hell at the house. Everyone argued endlessly. Kavin, on the other hand, simply thanked God that he was still alive. He wanted to? thank the boys. The next day, when they packed to leave, Kavin rushed and found the boys near the well.

"Take this," he handed them the cards. He also stretched out and shook their hands.

They smiled and said, "Our journey back home is a long one, but this will keep us entertained."

Kavin did not understand, and when he sat by the window as the car rolled on, he saw a poster showing the photos of the boys he had just spoken.

“Dad stop…” His dad rammed the breaks.?

“What?”

“Look, “ he pointed at the poster.?

“Hey they rescued you yesterday didn’t they” his mother said panicking.?

Kavin’s dad drove back to the well.?

“They were here,” Kavin said, getting down. But then, for a split second, they three saw a flying saucer hover out of the well. Then it shot into the sky.?

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