The Unlikely Accident

As I looked at Jammal. He was shivering in the cold. Trying to adjust himself in the dark, cold night of January. We both hide on the side of the highway. I barely saw his covered face in the gloaming. The highway was abandoned. Once this rusty highway was the center of trade and exchange. But now a few trucks pass by at night. We didn’t know what they were carrying but we knew those were full of food and other valuable things. We had a small house comprising of 3 rooms and a courtyard. It was the yesterday morning, I was busy feeding cows. I heard a knock on my wooden door. “Aziz! Aziz! It’s me Jammal come out I want to talk to you” said Jammal. I opened the door and found a smile on his face. “What is it? Why have u came here early in the morning? Did something happened?” I asked puzzled. “Everything is ok. I want to talk to you about something.” Jammal murmured gazing his eyes all around. “What is it?. I asked with a puzzled expression. “I have information about some trucks filled with food, rice, spices, and many other items,” said Jammal. “We will raid on the truck’s tonight. And I want you to accompany me.” Jammal whispered. I had done this before. So without any second thought, I agreed. He told me about the abandoned highway. Where we were going to loot. It was long. And police don’t examine often. It was satisfying to know that. I exclaimed sharply. Only I carried a small knife to protect myself. Jammal told me that he has inspected the area already. He knew the location where we will hide and told me that around 2 am at night a truck passes by. So we will hide by the side of the road. “How we will slow down its speed? I asked. “We will put sharp stones on the road to slow down his speed. And therefore we both will climb on its back.” He answered smirking. I was a little scared but I needed something for my needy family. My dad was passed out a year ago. My mother used to earn by sewing clothes. And my 3 sisters who were younger than me helped in cattle and farming. Around about 9 pm at night. We walked to the location barefoot. We did as it was planned. We put sharp stones on the road and then hid by the roadside. It was nearly 2 am we were trembling in the coolness waiting for the truck. I was half-sleep. When Jammal shouted. It’s here! It’s here! Aziz gets up.! I instantly gained my sense. He told me to stay put. It was coming in a normal speed because there were no occurrences of any threats on this highway despite being attacked by wolves or other creatures. The truck had a driver and one conductor. the conductor yelled; there are stones on the road slow down! As they slowed the truck we both hurried grabbed the truck and stepped on it. We were sweating in this cold. “Throw the buckets out of the truck we will carry it afterward,” Jammal shouted fiercely. I threw everything which my hands touched. From a distance, I saw some lights but they weren’t felt like the trucks had on them. “Its police Aziz! Get out of the truck and run! Jammal cried out. The conductor also saw us. He pulled out his shotgun and fired some shots but luckily he was aiming in the air. He was trying to scare us. And he succeeded. We were very frightened. Police also heard the sound of shots and opened the police alarm warning. We are doomed, Aziz! We are doomed! We are doomed! Jammal howled. His eyes filled with fear and tears. “Jump Jammal! Jump! Run into the forest.” I shouted. We both jumped from the truck and luckily landed on some grass on the side of the road. Police also reached us. We ran like a wild beast who is just escaped from prison after a very long time. “Stop! Stop right there.” it’s police a policeman yelled out loud. We rushed into the forest not realizing where we headed. I ran and ran, didn’t look behind. It was almost a half-hour I was running. I stopped after realizing no one is chasing me. “We are safe Jammal,” I said breathing very rapidly. But Jammal was not here. We got separated. I came far and deep in the forest. I was alone. It was midnight. The forest was filled with the voices of wolves, insects and other creatures. The cold was unbearable. I had a jacket only. And I also dropped my knife somewhere. My pockets were empty. I looked around. Only I found was darkness and fog. I went further and saw a graveyard. There were countable graves. I was surprised to see a cemetery in the forest. And also relieved to know that there may be a village nearby. I was still scared of caught by the police. So I decided to spend my night at the cemetery rather than going anywhere. I went into the cemetery and checked for a place to get some sleep. The wind was blowing very slowly, hitting my cold skin. It was entirely quiet and was covered in smoke. I was intending to go by sunrise. That time the only thing I was scared of was to be caught by the police, not from the abandoned graveyard. It was the only thing that was flowing through my mind. I saw an old tree. It was quite big. She had an abandoned grave a few feet away from her. So I plucked some leaves put them beside the tree and used them as a bed. Which also kept me above from the cold surface. I gathered a few wooden sticks. And made a cage to surround me to prevent animals coming near to me. Because I had nothing to light a fire. I lay down on a mattress of leaves which were very cold. I squeezed myself and covered my face with my hands to give it some warmth. My feet were totally frozen. I was shivering in the cold. I was very tired. I didn’t realized and fall asleep on my handmade bed of leaves. A few minutes passed. Suddenly a noise awakened me. It was the snoring of a horse. I opened my eyes immediately in panic. The thing I saw entirely freaked me out. A man was sitting on a raven horse, wearing a huge hat. Which usually British soldiers wear. He had a uniform of a soldier but I couldn’t recognize the exact dress. And a rifle in his left hand and horse rein in his right hand. I couldn’t saw his face because of the darkness and heavy mist. The thing which gave me chills that he had 1 foot long ears. Which were large from the horse. The first thing came into my mind was that I have been caught by the police. They have tracked me down. They are going to capture me and put me in jail. But still, he didn’t move. He was standing 30 meters away from me. He was looked at me for 15 minutes and at that time I couldn’t even breathe properly. I was scared. And was watching him like a statue. He was looking at me too. I haven’t known what was going on. After some time he pulled the rein of horse and vanished in the fog. I was relieved. I thought maybe he hasn’t seen me in the darkness and fog and was just looking at the cemetery to find me. These thoughts were crossing my mind. Suddenly, he came back again but this time there were three of them. They were looking at me again. But somehow they couldn’t come close to me. They were whispering with each other and running the horses slowly. In this cold, I was sweating. I thought maybe this time they will apprehend me. But they were only whispering with each other. It looked like something is holding them back. I didn’t know what. Again they disappeared in the smoke. I believed they will come back again but they haven’t. I haven’t realized and fall asleep. Songs of the bird wake me up. It was morning. I got up and walked for an hour and find the highway. I got a lift on the highway and reached my home. After 2 days I met with Jammal. He also escaped from the police and reached his home that night. I told him about my experience that I saw some soldiers on horses. He was stunned to hear this. “You are Lucky Aziz that you are still alive,” Jammal said. “What do you mean lucky?” I asked. “The soldiers you saw were djinn(ghosts)they were the spirits of the dead soldiers. Who once die there fighting. Whoever went there never came back from that graveyard. If somehow they made it back, they were not the same persons as they were before.” Jammal said. “Ok. I got it. That place is haunted but why they didn’t attack me? I asked Jammal. “Where did u sleep? Asked Jammal. “I slept under an old tree and beside a grave,” I replied. “That’s it! Jammal yelled. “What? I asked puzzled. “The grave you have slept beside must be a grave of a martyr because of whoever sleeps beside a grave of a martyr it always protects them from evils; I have read about it in the books and my grandfather also had told me about that,” replied Jammal.