A New Friend
Sama and Winderisha along with their families, decided to go on a trek they had never explored before. In fact, they couldn’t find the trail on their map.
“I thought we knew this region, but it appears we do not,” Winderisha said, as she poured over the map.
Arana said “It’s not our fault! It’s the map’s fault. Anyway, what’s the point of a hike without a little off-map exploration?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“So, are we going?” asked Maliya.
“I guess,” Sama replied.
Arana nodded. Winderisha shrugged. They looked at the grown-ups. Sama’s eyes twinkled in anticipation.
Her parents agreed eagerly, but Winderisha’s parents were a little skeptical.
After some deliberation, they decided to do it. The hike wasn’t treacherous in the least. After a while, the group sat down on a little clearing to take a short break.
“Wow!What a beautiful sight!” Sama sipped some water and admired the brilliant landscape.
“Yeah!” Everyone agreed in satisfaction.
Maliya asked, “Hey! Is that a castle?” She was pointing to a a dark building in the distance which looked like it had turrets.
Sama’s mother said, “Why don’t we see for ourselves? Lets go check it out.” She raised an eyebrow and looked at the others.
They nodded vigorously.
The hike was long. When they reached, the top of the mountain, they saw what Maliya had been pointing to was indeed a castle. It looked ancient.
Sama tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge. The door had rusted over time and refused to move. She tried again. Nothing happened.
Arana banged on the door, impatiently. The noise echoed.
“Maybe, we should all try together,” suggested Sama’s mother.
“Maybe, we shouldn’t go inside at all,” said Arana trembling with fear, as she pointed to a skeleton lying near the door.
“It’s alright, Arana,” said Sama’s mother. She lifted Maliya up and carried her.
Once they pushed the door open, Maliya said, “It looks dark inside. Let’s switch on our torch lights.”
They all followed Maliya in.
“Which way do we go?” asked Sama noticing various passages.
“Yikes! There are corpses,” Arana screamed. “I really don’t like this.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Maliya reassured her. “I have walked past quite a few, and I hardly notice them anymore.”
Suddenly, they came into a room and heard something. Whipping around, Maliya flashed her torch light in the direction of the sound. It exposed a live face.
“I am Anathri, sorry about the dead corpses and the dark. Wait a minute. Are you hurt?” she asked pointing to an open wound on Maliya’s knee.
Maliya looked at it and repled, “Yes, I scraped my knee while climbing.”
Anathri said “ I can heal it in a minute, if you’d like. Would you?”
Maliya said “Sure, that would be nice.”
Anathri commenced the healing, looking worried.
Maliya asked, “Why is this place like this?”
Anathri said “A long time before your so called early humans, my ancestors, built this place. We used sunlight for light. We knew nothing about the other world beyond this mountain.” A tear rolled down her cheek as she went on. “One day, while I stayed in, the others went out and a warrior killed them all. Since then, I have been alone here. I greet any visitors who come by, as they are my only company.” Her voice shook. “Usually no one comes here or asks me anything. I brought the corpses in, because they make me feel at home.” She stopped her tears.
“We can take you with us, if you would like,” Maliya offered
“You’ll be fine” Sama added, comfortingly.
Anathri nodded.“Yeah, I’ll come.”
They headed down the hill to Sama’s house.