A cock and bull story

It was evening and darkness was descending fast. Kritika felt her heart pounding fast. She was in an unfamiliar territory and had lost her way. She vaguely recollected her mother’s parting words, “Don’t stray away from the group.” She had come for a picnic to the Rajarhat woods with her college friends. It was a place far away from her home. She shuddered as a wolf howled somewhere deep in the forest. She had gone astray in search of a spring to quench her thirst and was unable to trace her way back. How she wished she had paid heed to her mom’s advice.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous roar of lightning and she found panic taking possession of her. There was no trace of a person in the vicinity and her hopes of reaching back to her group were fading out fast with each unstable footstep that she took. She felt nervous and scared. After all, she was barely 15 years of age. She let a tear escape from her eyes and began to pray feverishly. And then she saw a boy looking at her from behind the bushes. Perturbed, she crossed the bushes and approached him silently. There was a lake on this side of the bush and the boy was standing right on its edge. He was all about 7-8 years and was staring unblinkingly at her. Kritika tentatively asked, “Do you live here?” The boy nodded in consent. Kritika continued, “I have lost my way. Can you help me find my friends. There are 5 of them. They must be somewhere on the edge of the forest.” The boy stood his ground without uttering a word. And then suddenly, he clutched her hands and began to lead the way. He seemed to know the forest quite well for he was confident and brisk in his strides.

After walking for about 20 minutes, Kritika felt the forest getting thinner. Suddenly, she heard someone singing. A young girl of about 10 was playing nearby. Kritika shot an enquiring look at the boy. But to her amazement, found herself staring at the thin air. The boy had certainly disappeared somewhere. Feeling confused and apprehensive, she approached the young girl and asked, “Hello. Did you see the small boy who was standing here with me? He just-“

“That boy who had a cut mark in his left eye?”

“Yes Yes. Do you know him.”

“O Yes. That boy is dead. He drowned in the lake over there.” (she pointed in that direction).

“What a cock and bull story. He just showed me the way. I got lost and I need to look for my friends.”

“O yes Kritika didi. Your friends are there (she pointed with her tiny finger over the hedge). They are looking for you and are anxious.”

Kritika uttered a quick thanks and hurried over towards her friends. She hugged Parvati (her best friend) and cried on her shoulders. And then a weird thought struck her. How did that young girl know her name!

“Kritika, do you know what that forest guard was telling us,” Parvati went on. “He told us a cock and bull story that a boy and his sister drowned in that lake over there and that their ghosts haunt this forest. As if we would believe in all this ghostly bullshit.”

Kritika stared at her. There was a far-away look in her eyes and she heard herself saying, “Oh, what a cock and bull story.”