what if?

              Like every other child I was very close to my grandparents. Especially my grandfather who was like a Santa figure to all of his grandchildren. He used to read us bed time stories, make us swings in the woods and even cook for us some times. Every time he had new stories to tell. Since he had served in the army, he used to tell us stories from his days while in the army. They were my maternal grandparents. My father’s parent died when he was still very young so he did not have much memories about them. 

Every winter me and my sister used to visit our grandparents and spend our entire vacation there. Our grandpa had an ancient wooden cottage in the middle of the forest surrounded by mountains on the both sides. They had huge barn, fish pond and large playground for the children. All along the year I used to eagerly wait for the winter holidays to come so that we can meet our grandparents and our cousins. My uncle and aunt had two daughters one of same age as mine and one a year younger and an elder brother. We used to do all the fun stuffs, roam  around the crop field till we get so tired that at night it would be hard for us to stand on our feet. Our favorite part of the day was to gather around the fire in the evening and listen to the stories from grandpa. 

It was during the winter holidays after my fourth grade. I was about 8 to 9 years old. It was spine chilling winter night; rain was pouring heavily. We were already in bed, there used to be huge bed pressed against the window where we all cousins used to sleep. The gust of wind was rattling along the rooftops making the trees swing to and fro. As the time pass the rain grew more and more strong and thunder roared followed by lightning. Grandpa and uncle came to our room with extra blankets and a torch. The sudden howling of the wind frightened us all. Startled by the sound, our youngest sister who was fast asleep by then, started to sob. Grandpa asked me to accompany him to the kitchen so that he can bring milk for her. He also asked me to carry blanket as the kitchen was outside the main building. In rural areas where they use fire wood for cooking, kitchen was not made attached to the main house as to prevent smoke from entering the bedroom. We reached the kitchen in one run. I sat on the wooden stool as grandpa started to ignite fire. His hand was trembling due to cold and his face expressionless as if his body is here but his mind is wandering somewhere else. He told me that he had witnessed such violent weather only twice in his lifetime. Now and once when he was in army. He started to tell me about that night where he succeeded to escape the fatal incident. 

After his military training was over, he got posted in an army base camp. One fine morning he and other fellow soldier was assigned to go to nearby village and bring some goods. It was three hours travel so they drove off immediately. By the time they finished their work it was already two. While driving back they could see the clouds has become darker and swirly. At first drizzle of rain splashed against the window pane and then pitter-patter. Within seconds it started to rain heavily accompanied by hail stone. It was gloomy and foggy that it was hard for them to even see ahead of them. His friend suggested to halt for some time but grandpa wanted to reach the camp before the weather gets worse so he continued driving. By this time hailstone had started accumulating forming a thin sheet of glass across the road which has made the roads slippery. There was a sharp turn ahead of them. Just when they were about take that turn because of slick surface he lost control over the vehicle. All they could hear is the squealing tires, screeching of grinding metal and breaking of glass before finally falling off the cliff. Utter silence and they could just hear the sound of the river flowing by. 

He opened his eyes almost blinded by the brightness of the light, he could not feel his feet. He tried to get up but due to excruciating pain running through his spine, he gave up. A young nurse greeted him telling him after three days he had finally regained his consciousness. He was lucky that after three broken ribs, fractured legs and a broken neck he still made out alive. Upon asking about his friend the nurse further added that the rescue team searched for three days but without any luck. They found the vehicle but not the body. As the days passed it was getting more and more difficult for the rescue team to operate because the temperature outside was falling continuously and the river has frozen into ice. Still the rescue operation continued for few more days but could not find the body so finally his friend was declared dead. To much surprise, grandpas' recovery was fast and he got discharged from the hospital after three months. A loud bang, grandpa came to his senses we both peeked through to window to see the wind had completely shattered the glass of a living room. We hurried towards the main house to see Uncle and aunt also in the room. No body left the room for the rest of the night as they did not want to leave the children alone in the room.  I guess the elders could not sleep but we children heard more stories from grandpa till we were finally asleep. By 5am in the morning the rain had subsided to mere drizzle, no sign of wind either. Glimpse of sunlight but weather was still gloomy and cold. We went outside to find trees uprooted from the ground, window panes shattered but no harm as such  

Years passed by and am finally in college. Since it was Sunday but my mom made me wake up early. Each year, according to our culture we have to perform a ritual where we have to present some offerings to our ancestors and fore father in form of meals and prayers. The priest was already home and our mother had finished cooking meals. We all remained seated on the floor, the priest started chanting the mantras, we said some prayers for our dead relatives and then some offerings and finally it's over. I offered to help my father to clean the floor and room. We were having random conversation when I casually asked him about his father and how he died and all. He told me he doesn’t know much since he was mere child when his father died. As much as he remembers his father died in the army when their truck fell into the river and his body was never discovered. Upon hearing this, my mind struck, certain thought came across my mind, what if this is the story of the same incident grandpa had told me once when I was a child. 

It could be or it could not be.... 

I guess I will never know(my grandpa died the previous year)