I am your typical IT guy living in concrete jungle, spending 7-9 hours staring at screen as if I am hypnotized by it, sometimes even 12-14hrs if the deadline is approaching, at the end of the day though its pays good enough to keep my bills paid and live my life or whatever that’s left to live.
My planned weekend holiday after 4 months couldn’t have come sooner, I had everything prepared for my trek in wild, away from the daily grind, a place that remains untouched by our population but maybe because it was for a reason that I would find out pretty soon. I tried to get my friends tag along with me but either everyone was busy or too far or had other plans, leaving me alone to hike
I got up early in the morning from excitement which is once in a blue moon event itself, everything was double checked, google maps threw no surprises either, it was going according to the plan unlike the random bugs that I deal with half of them probably made by me. The trek was pretty far away, the journey consisted of train ride which lasted for hour, then a 45 mins travel by state transports barely working bus whose wheel could fall off at a moment’s notice, finally the journey concluded by being dropped off by private jhonga to a rural village from where the trek could start. Weirdly enough I never found a fellow hiker on my route, usually there is a group or three, I shrugged it off due to being too early or maybe because monsoon has barely started, which was the ideal season for this trek. Into the wild I went, the trek ended with the fort on hilltop, a true Instagram worthy scenery enough to brag and nag my friends on what they missed out. The climb was pretty rough or at least not what I am usually used to, I had to take more breaks then I intended to maybe it was just one of another side effects from sitting on my ass all day. After three hours into a five-hour trek I noticed another fellow trekker 50-75 m ahead of me. I increased my pace to catch up on him but he always seemed to somehow stay ahead of me, it was getting really annoying. I took a few minutes break, couple of huge breaths and made a quick takeshi castle like dash through bushes to catch up on him, something I regret doing till today, when just couple of meters remained between us, I noticed he didn’t have any trekking bag, his gait was really atypical too, as if a child learning to walk. I stopped right there but it was too late to remain hidden, my gasps for breath could probably heard by every sentient being in area, I decided to look away, like a child thinking that closing his eyes would make the world disappear. I kept on moving keeping him in corner of my eye. I swear I felt his eyes on me this entire moment, challenging me to face him. Finally, my curiosity overpowered my fear and I decided to make a quick glance at the creepy guy or whatever that thing it was. The moment I saw him I had an immense urge to yell from what the hell I saw, his pale face was covered in red, but the most absurd thing about I saw was his huge smile stretching his cheeks, consisting of insane triangular yellowish yet shiny a lone tooth on lower gum. My heart was jumping out of t shirt as I decided to make a quick descend. To the hell with that Instagram pic, I never thought I would wish to be on my desk on my holiday in my life, but here I am today wishing for it. Adrenaline rushed I covered lot of distance wasn’t humanly possible for me but every time but I could feel the distance closing between us with every minute that passed, I couldn’t hear any other wild life either during the entire chase as if everyone has dropped dead or went mute on god forsaken trek, just a 10 min worth of trek remained now with that entity still on my trail like a predator. The quick sprint made me careless and I rolled the remaining way down, to be honest I was actually glad that I could get away from that inhumane thing faster even if it costs me arm and leg for few weeks. A hit on my head from the stone out of nowhere ended my tumble and knocked me out. Thankfully, I was out for maybe a minute or so, my headed was exploding from pain, I took a painkiller tablets that weren’t working either. The minute I reached village I sighed a huge relief as I was barely even able to walk from injuries. The villagers gave an apathetic look or even ignored me, it wasn’t until I entered more metropolitan region that people asked me about my injuries or offered me direction to nearest clinic. I got my dressing done from my trusted doc. But the thing that made me write this story at 3 am is that my sleep was interrupted from the blood in my mouths, all of my teethes are loosening, except for one.