Afraid of Light

Madhu pointed his finger to the sky, full of stars and a full moon following the two brothers into the woods. Madhu spoke in a barely audible voice, "Look, It is a full moon night. You won't find him, let's go back home. Grandpa must be worried about us." 

Gopal had nothing to reply as his brother had spoken the truth except he replied- " Shut up, Madhu."

The brothers had sneaked out of their house to enter the forbidden forest at midnight to find a mythical creature- KHYA. 

During the day, when Gopal had returned home from school, he had asked his grandfather, "Grandpa, What is khya? Today, at school, my friends were talking about it. I was the only one who had no idea."

Grandpa had replied," It is a monstrous creature who lives in the dark and is always hungry."

Gopal asked, " Is it even real? Have you ever saw it?"

Grandpa answered," I haven't seen it although my grandfather was the member of 'Khya hunters' "

Gopal looked curious. " What are Khya hunters?"

His grandfather narrated the history of the village to his grandsons-

"When my grandfather was in his 30s, a person named Sher Bahadur was able to kill the first-ever khya which was living under the stairs of his house in the darkness. Sher Bahadur was a brave man who burned the khya with fire and killed it. Then, he formed a group of men of the village to hunt khyas from everyone's house. Later they were called 'khya hunters.'They were able to kill many khyas. And, only a few khyas were able to escape into the forest. Villagers abandoned the forest and, it was called 'Forbidden Forest.' No one is allowed to enter the forest till now."

Gopal asked, " Do you think there are still khyas living in that forest?"

Grandpa replied, "Yes, there are. Sometimes during the moonless night, they come to the village and take the children with them."

Madhu, who was listening to their conversation from the very start, got scared when he heard that Khyas are obsessed with children because they are afraid of adults.  

Gopal paused to think and said, " I want to meet a khya."

"Don't say those things. Khyas might come to take you." Grandpa replied.

Gopal ignored grandpa's reply and asked another question, "Grandpa, why don't they come out during the daytime?" 

Grandpa replied, " I don't know. Maybe they are afraid of the light."

"What they look like?" Gopal had a bunch of questions prepared and was throwing them at his grandpa consecutively.

" My father told me they look very creepy and disgusting. Their body is hairy and, they are unattractively ugly."

Gopal asked, " Why are they ugly?"

Grandpa was annoyed by his endless questions. He replied, " Because they are ugly. Their face is ugly."

Gopal seemed more curious after every answer. He asked again," Why do you think they are ugly?"

Grandpa was tired and strived to think for an answer. He stammered- " Because... because... they are different."

Gopal didn't even take a second for another question, " Does being different means being ugly?"

"Noooo..... It means their face isn't similar to ours." Grandpa was exasperated. 

Gopal replied, " Your face isn't similar to mine and brother. Your face has lots of wrinkles. Does that makes you ugly?" 

Madhu was listening to everything with a curious expression on his innocent face. 

Grandpa retorted, " I can't answer you, ask your parents when they return from the town." Gopal was quiet for a minute, then he threw another question in an upset tone, " Do you think the reason they don't come out of the light is that they feel they are ugly and people might see them?"

Grandpa saw Gopal being upset and replied, "Maybe."

He swiveled his head to his brother and made a bold statement, " I will meet Khya and tell him he isn't ugly." 

" What?" Grandpa astounded. 

"Yes." Gopal grinned. 

Grandpa spoke, " Listen, both of you, don't do something silly before your parents return. I am old so, I can't handle you two. So promise me you won't do any uproar."

Gopal dithered but nodded. 

When the moon arose, everyone in the village fell asleep. Gopal woke up his brother and sneaked out of the house. Madhu was scared and was muttering the same thing over and over again, "It's a bad idea. We will die."

Each brother had carried a wooden torch to guide their road into the forest. As they walked in the forbidden forest for a very long time by maintaining silence as they were afraid to produce any sound, they reached the center of the forest and discovered a big lake they have never heard of before.

From the bank of the lake, Under the moonlight, they could easily see the head of the watchtower which, was vacant for ages. No one had dared to accept the role of the 'watchman' of the place. When Gopal raised his head to the sky, he saw the clouds covering the bright moon. The whole surrounding became darker without the moonlight.

They were walking on the bank of the lake when they heard a strange noise behind. Madhu stood still on his shivering legs. He was too scared to look around. But, Gopal turned around the second he heard the noise. He saw something hurriedly coming towards them. He jumped forward and swung his wooden torch to attack the dark figure coming towards them. 

The figure halted before him. Madhu turned around and saw the two times bigger figure than his brother. He screamed, " Run! Gopal"

Madhu started running in the opposite direction and slipped and fell on the bank of the river. His wooden torch extinguished on the wet surface. 

Gopal lifted his wooden torch high to see the human figure's face. The human face smiled and spoke, " Hey kid, why are you here? "

Gopal gathered his courage and asked, " Who are you ?"

The person replied, "I am the watchman."

" Don't lie. There is no watchman here for ages." Gopal retorted.

"There was no watchman before. There is now." The person tended to correct Gopal.  

Gopal muddled. The person added, " I have been sent by headquarter to my duty."

Gopal had still grasped his wooden torch towards the person. He asked, "What headquarter? You have a quarter head?" 

The person's mind scribbled. He realized the kid lacks a lot of knowledge. 

 "I was sent by the king." He replied, "King is the called the headquarter."

Gopal asked again, " Do you know the king?"

The person had no time to debate with the kid. He replied, " Yes. I am one of his favorite people."

Gopal paused and asked again, " Why would King send his people to a place like this where they will die? And, Why is King called Quarter-head?"

"Headquarter." The person corrected Gopal," Why would I die here?"

Gopal replied as if he was trying to scare the person, "Because there are khyas all over this forest."

The person chuckled.

Madhu was shivering when he walked near Gopal. He looked at the person and stammered while asking, " Are you sure you are a watchman? Not a khya?"

The person laughed out loud. Gopal spoke, "Why are you laughing? khyas are real. They kidnap children. And, they live in this forest."

Where are they? I can't see them here." The person mocked Gopal.

Gopal glared at the person. 

The person continued, " Listen, kids, there is no such thing as khyas. This place is the habitat of cheetahs which hunt the children from the village to omit their hunger. The headquar-, the king inspected this place and found about the cheetahs. They send me here to observe them while the other team will be arriving here soon."

Gopal retorted, " No. You are wrong. You are new to this place. You don't know about the history of this place."

The man replied, " I was born in this village, kid. I have heard all the rumors and myths about the khyas. I went to the capital to study furthermore about all the creatures. And, from all the examinations, I can tell you that they are nothing except cheetahs,"

Gopal didn't want to accept the fact because it would show him as a loser and crush his goal.

Gopal furiously replied, "You are the watchman, right? Go and make watches and sell. We will find a khya and talk to him."

The man was startled and thought that how wrong can a kid be. The kid told him to go and make a watch. He had no energy to correct the kid.

He asked, "What do you want to talk to the cheet-, khyas?"

Gopal retorted, "None of your business."

He held his brother's hand, " Let's go, Madhu."

After half an hour of walking, Gopal turned around and shouted, " Stop following us."

The man replied, " I can't. I am doing my job. I have to protect you two and take you back home safely."

Madhu felt relief when he heard that the man was there to protect them. Gopal was annoyed. 

Gopal noticed his wooden torch was about to blow out. He started walking faster. 

The man shouted, " Hey kids! Let's go home."

Gopal shouted back, " We can go home on our own. We aren't kids."

Madhu wanted to say, 'we should stay with him, we will be safe,' but couldn't say it as he saw the furious mode of his brother.

 "Then what are you? Adults?" the man mocked.

Gopal shouted, "We are BRAVE kids."

Madhu nodded at his brother's statement while walking behind him, struggling to catch the same speed as his brother. 

After another half an hour, Gopal looked at the sky and saw the moon escaping from the black clouds and bestowing its light on the earth's surface. 

The man was exhausted. He shouted from behind, " Okay, stop. I will take you to the khyas." The two brothers turned around, startled.

Gopal attempted to confirm, "Are you sure?"

The person sighed, "Yes."

Gopal filled with excitement but, Madhu terrorized.

They both followed the man. 

Gopal asked, "By the way, What's your name?"

" I am Dhaplan." The man replied. 

As they were walking, they heard some strange noise from behind. Gopal was exasperated, "What is it now?". He swiveled around to see a cheetah glaring at him. Gopal was startled and was unable to move his body. Madhu screeched and started bawling. The man stepped forward with a rod in his hand. Cheetah jumped on the man when he saw the weapon in the human's hand. The man swung his rod and hit the cheetah. The cheetah flew two meters away. The man turned to the frozen kids and shouted, " Run and enter the hollow trunk of the tree." 

The man pointed to a dead tree lying on the ground but embedded on the earth from one side. The scared kids couldn't hear him. They were staring at him with fear on the face.

The cheetah sprung on the man and bit the man's right leg with its sharp teeth. The man fell and started hitting the cheetah clung to his body. He looked at the kids and bawled, "GOOOO." Gopal threw his wooden torch.

He held his brother's hand and ran to the lying tree. He let his brother jump first inside the hollow trunk, then he followed his brother. 

They both glided inside the trunk for ten seconds. The hole took them inside the earth's surface. The two brothers landed inside a cave. 

Madhu had passed out when they crashed on the ground. Gopal woke him up, "Hey Madhu, wake up! We have to escape from here. Let's get out." 

Madhu stood up, still not aware of the surrounding, followed his brother. They looked for the exit of the cave in the dark. The surrounding was barely visible to the brothers. As far as Gopal was able to see around, he saw some skeletons of a four-footed animal. He guessed, 'probably it's a cheetah.' As they walked warily in the dark, they saw a beam of light entering from an opening inside the cave. Gopal hollered with rapture on his face, " It's THE EXIT."

They both ran towards the opening with a face lit up with glee. Suddenly, something grabbed Madhu's legs and dragged him to the opposite side of the exit. Gopal halted and jumped to save his little brother. Madhu screamed when he saw a monstrous figure with a hairy face and long sharp tusks. He yelled, "IT IS A KHYA." 

Madhu shivered then he passed out. Gopal was in astoundment. He whispered, " It is real." He froze and couldn't move his body. He analyzed khya from top to bottom. It was completely different from his imagination. He took notice of its long tusk, hairy face, wide-body, and sharp claws. It seemed like it had lost its one leg because it was hardly balancing to stand with the only leg. 

Gopal thought, "It is his last day." But, a sudden movement of a cheetah jumping over khya from nowhere broke his freeze mode. Gopal came back to life when he saw a cheetah growling at the khya. The khya got distracted and got engaged in combat with the cheetah. 

'It is the last hope.' Gopal realized. He carried his brother on his back and scampered towards the exit. 

He said to his unconscious brother, "Madhu, look, there is moonlight outside the cave. If we exited from the cave, we would be able to escape from the khya." 

He heard the cheetah bellowing in pain from behind. He turned around and saw the dead cheetah lying on the ground. The khya was furiously rushing towards him. Gopal desperately speeded up to exit from the cave. 

He finally came out of the cave only to realize it was worthless. The black clouds had enveloped the moon along with its non-luminous light. He lay flat on the grass, waiting for the khya to kill him. 

He suddenly realized his motive to come there. He remembered the last thing he wants to do. He stood up. He saw the monstrous creature was in a furious gallop at the entrance point. He took a deep breath and then yelled, " YOU'RE NOT UGLY."

The khya suddenly halted and looked at Gopal with its evil eyes. There was no any sort of movement around the surrounding. Gopal felt like the time froze. Suddenly, the khya stepped backward and swiveled to the entrance. The khya was gone leaving Gopal in amazement. He couldn't decide what happened. 

Madhu woke up feeling terrorized. He asked colossal questions in reply to which Gopal said nothing. He was silent. 

They walked in the direction of the village. 

They met Grandpa with a bunch of villagers looking for them inside the forest. Madhu ran and hugged Grandpa and sobbed, " I won't leave you ever again."

Gopal spoke to the villagers, "There is a watchman who saved our lives from a cheetah. He must be lying here somewhere. We need to find him."

One of the villagers replied, " watchman? There is no watchman here, Gopal. Who are you talking about?"

"There is a watchman sent by the king to protect us. A cheetah jumped at him and his leg-" 

Gopal stopped speaking when he remembered something. He remembered the cheetah had bit the watchman's right leg. Also, the khya he encountered had lost its right leg. He couldn't conclude anything at first. But he confirmed his theory when he recalled the watchman's name, " Dhaplan."

He remembered his friends discussing khyas at school. And, one of them had shared a fact about khyas. Khyas were primarily called 'Dhaplan khyas' by the ancient people before it shortened to 'khya'.

He looked at the horizon and saw the sun rising. 

He recalled all the events that happened the night. He acknowledged how smartly the person lured them inside the dark cave because khyas don't hunt under the light.  

When he stopped talking, the villager asked him again, "Gopal, Who is that person? Where is he?" 

Gopal replied, " The sun has risen. He is gone."