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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Mystery
- Published: 08/08/2020
You’ve just arrived last evening
Born 1988, M, from Biratnagar, Nepal.jpeg)
One day, I decided to leave England and go fulfil my dream. The name Nepal always gave me a sense of belongingness even though I had never been there. However, i had seen pictures of the snowcapped mountains, hills, the mighty rivers, wall falls, the village life, the people, the crowded cities, etc. on the internet and always had been intrigued by them.
I arrived in Kathmandu. The feeling of finally touching the country was surreal. I was there, the country that I always dreamt of going to. I decided to stay in the valley for couple of days and experience Kathmandu. While I was there, I stayed at a backpacker’s hostel in Thamel.
Kathmandu was like no place that I have ever been to, seen or heard. It wasn't completely modern; it wasn't completely primitive. Lifestyle was both expensive and cheap.
To me it felt as if there was a menu to choose from. I had the options to decide whether I wish to spend my days in an expensive hotel, a cozy resort or experience Kathmandu as a typical backpacker. In addition to that, people in the countryside offered you to stay in their homes, eat with them, sleep in their house, make merry, take part in local festivals and if you like, work in the fields with them, all of this for a cost of few pizzas in the western world.
People of that country never forget to greet you with smile, offer you tea, coffee, snacks, meals or even dinner, and they might do it for free. On top of that, you will find yourself among some of the majestic temples, shrines, palaces, etc. in the whole world. It felt like a country I should have visited a long time ago. However, Kathmandu had its fair share of bad reputation with pollution, traffic, and what not but it sure felt like the safest country in the world to visit, even for a girl.
After spending two days in the big bustle of the capital, I headed north the next day. I took a local bus from Kathmandu to Langtang that left around 4:30 in the morning and arrived at 2:00 in the afternoon. Upon reaching my first destination, and seeing nature at its best, I, naturally, had thirst for more. There were a flock of tourists, I assume, for the same reason as I was but the determination in me to do a solo trek was so great that I did not care whether they had just returned or were set to leave.
At that point of time, I had a few days of trekking to do until I reach the final destination of the trek, the widely known Langtang village.
You see, I always felt comfort in my own company. Back in the UK, and in its peak hustle and bustle, I always tried to avoid the crowd and preferred serenity. However, this was Nepal, a land completely unknown to me so, trekking alone felt like a risky affair, however, I gathered courage and decided not to go back from it. After a short rest, it was time to hike.
I had three hours to reach a village which would fall on the route and would be my stop for the night.
After hiking for around an hour, I stopped to take some air. I drank some water, took a very small but much deserved nap under a tree and then started walking again. As I was walking, I noticed that the path further ahead was split in two ways, one path was towards my right and the other on my left, and I decided to go left, unknown of where it might lead me.
After walking for two to three minutes, I saw some beautiful wild flowers at the side of the path, some red ones and some white ones, these flowers gave a beautiful feel. I continued walking as i was enjoying the thrill of being all alone in the nature. The map of the region in my backpack gave me assurance that all might just go well. As, I followed my heart and kept walking, I must admit that I was fearful of having an encounter with wild creatures, foxes, sloth bears, tigers, you name it but luckily I did not come across any.
At around 6:00, I reached a village and from my point of elevation I noticed that this was a thinly populated village as the houses stood quite far from one another. I too came to a sudden finding that this village had no supply of electricity.
As it was getting dark, I decided to ask shelter in the house that was near to me. This house served as the entry point of the village. Upon reaching the front side of the house, I noticed wood fire burning on a mud stove at a corner under a shed. I looked around to see if someone was there already but my search ended in a failure.
I saw a door which was shut, upon close inspection, found that this door was locked from outside. A big metal lock was hanging right in the middle of the door. At this time, I was caught between two thoughts, one was telling me to move ahead and find another house, and the other suggested me to wait for a few minutes to see if someone would arrive. I gazed at the burning wood fire and the vibes from it told me to stay. “Anyone wouldn’t light a big fire and just leave”, I said to myself.
After a wait of few minutes, a middle-age-looking woman walked from the front.
“Namaste, are you looking for shelter?”
“Yes, in fact I am. I want to spend the night in your house, if you allow me to”, I replied.
This woman put out the fire, smiled at me and welcomed me into her house.
Her house was like any other traditional Nepali village house. It had a thatched roof and raised eaves and was made up of bamboo, wood, mud bricks, and plastered with mud.
I asked her the whereabouts of her husband and she told me that he died while working as a construction worker in Kathmandu. He fell from a ten-storied under construction apartment.
Later, the house lady offered me a plate full of meal which contained some rice, lentils soup, freshly harvested and cooked cabbage, tomato achar and a glass of water. It was a wholesome meal and a very satisfying one too. Later, she showed me my room and off I went. I was very tired from the trek so I slept like a baby. The next morning, she brought me a glass full of water and offered me some homemade cookies. I drank the water first and then ate the cookies and I must tell you, those were heavenly tasty.
The early morning sun was in its full glory and my room was beaming. I, for one, was very excited about my day ahead.
I packed my bag and before I was all set to leave, I went to see the host lady, behind her house, in her kitchen garden, where she was busy watering the plants. There she’d grown cabbages, gingers, different varieties of chilies, coriander, tomatoes, and few others herbs. I paid her 1,000 Nepali rupees as a thank you for the food, tea and of course, the room. She greeted me with a smile and waved a friendly hand towards me.
“Please feel free to come back at any time”, she said to me in a most heartwarming manner.
I gave her a hug and said my goodbyes.
I moved ahead in my journey. After a full day of trekking and many stops on the way, I reached a village. It was close to getting dark and I had to call it quits for the day. I decided to approach the first house that lay on my path. As I entered inside the compound of the house, I saw wood fire burning under a shed at a corner. This door too had a big metal lock in the middle. How peculiar.
After few minutes of waiting, I heard a voice of a lady.
“Namaste, so, you’ve come back”
“Who’s there? And what do you mean by comeback”
“Don’t you remember me?”
This voice sounded familiar and suddenly a self-revelation nearly knocked me off my state of consciousness. I was at the same house that I left in the morning and did not seem to understand how it was possible as I clearly ventured ahead from the village, crossed a few rivers, thin forests and walked a completely different path.
I asked the host lady to show up and she would not respond. I decided to leave immediately. I took long and strong strides away from the house, without any plan for the night in my head; all I wished at that moment was to get away from this horrifying situation but no matter which path I take, how quickly I move, whether I run or jump, there was this same house at the end of all my escapes. It felt as if I was caught in some kind of a loop, a time loop or may be a place loop.
Tired, miserable and a failure in getting away, I, a broken girl, sat on a big stone that was stationed at the side of the road.
“Are you not tired and hungry?”
“I am but I want to get away from here”
“Why don’t you let me help you?”
“What is going on with me? And why can’t I see you?”
“How would I know?
But you should know, I am right in front of you, at all times”
I gave up on my quest of escaping from the place as I came to a firm realisation that it was worthless to try. So, I went inside the house and slept in the same bed as last night.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a rooster. My hip was still aching and my underarms were at a stretch. A full night sleep seemed not enough for my body to recover. I woke up and sat at the edge of my bed then a vision of whatever happened to me last night clouded my mind. I tried to shake it off and eventually made my way to the front part of the house.
There was a tap with running water. I splashed some ice cold water in my face and I poured a little in my head as well, just so as to feel fresh. I had face wash and soap in my bag but did not bother to use them. As I was wiping my face with a towel, the house lady brought me some hot tea in a small cup made out of china clay. She smiled at me and told me to sit down and enjoy the milk tea. Upon seeing her, i was slightly hesitant and my heart started palpitating at a medium pace. However, I took the cup from her hands and sat on the high raised outer floor of the house. She sat nearby.
While I was sipping the tea I asked her if she was late for watering the plants in her kitchen garden. She did not reply to me and seemed rather confused.
I asked her for an explanation regarding what exactly it all was that I experienced last night and how did I end up at her house despite trekking for an entire day away from the village.
I tried to explain my confusing situation to her but she kept on denying having knowledge about anything at all. All she told me repeatedly was that I arrived last evening when it was close to being dark and I kept telling her that it was not true. After a while, I stopped bothering her. Instead, I told her that I had a severe headache so I wanted to lie down for some time and asked her to forgive me if I was rude to her in any way. She smiled but did not say a word. After the episode was over, I went straight in my room and crashed on the bed.
It was late in the afternoon. I wanted to drink some water so I went in the kitchen but found the water vessel to be empty. The running tap outside was the only water I could drink so I did not hesitate. The intensity of pain in my head kept growing to a point that I could take no more. So, I went outside and started splashing and rubbing my face with some cold water from the tap. As I was doing so, something sharp and pointy cut open the tip of my right hand’s middle finger. Upon investigating the periphery of the tap, it was strange not to find anything remotely capable of being so sharp.
I cleaned the first blood and then when I was splashing my face with some more water, I got cut for the second time. I immediately ran towards a small mirror that was hanging on the wooden pillar of the house, to see the thing in my head that was injuring my fingers and upon seeing that I had something pointy at the right part of my forehead, I nervously cried for help but in vain. It seemed to me as if I was developing a horn.
Soon a strong wind started blowing and a blanket of dark clouds covered the sky, and in an elapse of time, it started to rain with some heavy thunder and lightning. It rained continuously for hours with lightening so bright that I could clearly see objects at a far distance. Sad, broken and frustrated I waited for the rain to be over but it showed no sign of stopping. While my pain, both physical and mental, was getting too much to bear, a potentially adventurous afternoon had already turned dark.
I woke up the next morning with some relief. The house lady offered me some tea. At the very moment when she was offering me the tea, I ran my fingers on my forehead but did not find anything sharp and pointed. I told her I wish to wash my face first and then came out but before going to the running tap, I decided to take a look in the mirror. There was no horn or any sign of it. I checked my fingers and they were fine without a scar. I, however, noticed mild dark circles underneath my eyes.
My host lady came out with both of our tea cups. Upon seeing her, I immediately asked
“How long have I been at your house?”
“You’ve just arrived last evening”, she replied.
You’ve just arrived last evening(Aciis Khatiwada)
One day, I decided to leave England and go fulfil my dream. The name Nepal always gave me a sense of belongingness even though I had never been there. However, i had seen pictures of the snowcapped mountains, hills, the mighty rivers, wall falls, the village life, the people, the crowded cities, etc. on the internet and always had been intrigued by them.
I arrived in Kathmandu. The feeling of finally touching the country was surreal. I was there, the country that I always dreamt of going to. I decided to stay in the valley for couple of days and experience Kathmandu. While I was there, I stayed at a backpacker’s hostel in Thamel.
Kathmandu was like no place that I have ever been to, seen or heard. It wasn't completely modern; it wasn't completely primitive. Lifestyle was both expensive and cheap.
To me it felt as if there was a menu to choose from. I had the options to decide whether I wish to spend my days in an expensive hotel, a cozy resort or experience Kathmandu as a typical backpacker. In addition to that, people in the countryside offered you to stay in their homes, eat with them, sleep in their house, make merry, take part in local festivals and if you like, work in the fields with them, all of this for a cost of few pizzas in the western world.
People of that country never forget to greet you with smile, offer you tea, coffee, snacks, meals or even dinner, and they might do it for free. On top of that, you will find yourself among some of the majestic temples, shrines, palaces, etc. in the whole world. It felt like a country I should have visited a long time ago. However, Kathmandu had its fair share of bad reputation with pollution, traffic, and what not but it sure felt like the safest country in the world to visit, even for a girl.
After spending two days in the big bustle of the capital, I headed north the next day. I took a local bus from Kathmandu to Langtang that left around 4:30 in the morning and arrived at 2:00 in the afternoon. Upon reaching my first destination, and seeing nature at its best, I, naturally, had thirst for more. There were a flock of tourists, I assume, for the same reason as I was but the determination in me to do a solo trek was so great that I did not care whether they had just returned or were set to leave.
At that point of time, I had a few days of trekking to do until I reach the final destination of the trek, the widely known Langtang village.
You see, I always felt comfort in my own company. Back in the UK, and in its peak hustle and bustle, I always tried to avoid the crowd and preferred serenity. However, this was Nepal, a land completely unknown to me so, trekking alone felt like a risky affair, however, I gathered courage and decided not to go back from it. After a short rest, it was time to hike.
I had three hours to reach a village which would fall on the route and would be my stop for the night.
After hiking for around an hour, I stopped to take some air. I drank some water, took a very small but much deserved nap under a tree and then started walking again. As I was walking, I noticed that the path further ahead was split in two ways, one path was towards my right and the other on my left, and I decided to go left, unknown of where it might lead me.
After walking for two to three minutes, I saw some beautiful wild flowers at the side of the path, some red ones and some white ones, these flowers gave a beautiful feel. I continued walking as i was enjoying the thrill of being all alone in the nature. The map of the region in my backpack gave me assurance that all might just go well. As, I followed my heart and kept walking, I must admit that I was fearful of having an encounter with wild creatures, foxes, sloth bears, tigers, you name it but luckily I did not come across any.
At around 6:00, I reached a village and from my point of elevation I noticed that this was a thinly populated village as the houses stood quite far from one another. I too came to a sudden finding that this village had no supply of electricity.
As it was getting dark, I decided to ask shelter in the house that was near to me. This house served as the entry point of the village. Upon reaching the front side of the house, I noticed wood fire burning on a mud stove at a corner under a shed. I looked around to see if someone was there already but my search ended in a failure.
I saw a door which was shut, upon close inspection, found that this door was locked from outside. A big metal lock was hanging right in the middle of the door. At this time, I was caught between two thoughts, one was telling me to move ahead and find another house, and the other suggested me to wait for a few minutes to see if someone would arrive. I gazed at the burning wood fire and the vibes from it told me to stay. “Anyone wouldn’t light a big fire and just leave”, I said to myself.
After a wait of few minutes, a middle-age-looking woman walked from the front.
“Namaste, are you looking for shelter?”
“Yes, in fact I am. I want to spend the night in your house, if you allow me to”, I replied.
This woman put out the fire, smiled at me and welcomed me into her house.
Her house was like any other traditional Nepali village house. It had a thatched roof and raised eaves and was made up of bamboo, wood, mud bricks, and plastered with mud.
I asked her the whereabouts of her husband and she told me that he died while working as a construction worker in Kathmandu. He fell from a ten-storied under construction apartment.
Later, the house lady offered me a plate full of meal which contained some rice, lentils soup, freshly harvested and cooked cabbage, tomato achar and a glass of water. It was a wholesome meal and a very satisfying one too. Later, she showed me my room and off I went. I was very tired from the trek so I slept like a baby. The next morning, she brought me a glass full of water and offered me some homemade cookies. I drank the water first and then ate the cookies and I must tell you, those were heavenly tasty.
The early morning sun was in its full glory and my room was beaming. I, for one, was very excited about my day ahead.
I packed my bag and before I was all set to leave, I went to see the host lady, behind her house, in her kitchen garden, where she was busy watering the plants. There she’d grown cabbages, gingers, different varieties of chilies, coriander, tomatoes, and few others herbs. I paid her 1,000 Nepali rupees as a thank you for the food, tea and of course, the room. She greeted me with a smile and waved a friendly hand towards me.
“Please feel free to come back at any time”, she said to me in a most heartwarming manner.
I gave her a hug and said my goodbyes.
I moved ahead in my journey. After a full day of trekking and many stops on the way, I reached a village. It was close to getting dark and I had to call it quits for the day. I decided to approach the first house that lay on my path. As I entered inside the compound of the house, I saw wood fire burning under a shed at a corner. This door too had a big metal lock in the middle. How peculiar.
After few minutes of waiting, I heard a voice of a lady.
“Namaste, so, you’ve come back”
“Who’s there? And what do you mean by comeback”
“Don’t you remember me?”
This voice sounded familiar and suddenly a self-revelation nearly knocked me off my state of consciousness. I was at the same house that I left in the morning and did not seem to understand how it was possible as I clearly ventured ahead from the village, crossed a few rivers, thin forests and walked a completely different path.
I asked the host lady to show up and she would not respond. I decided to leave immediately. I took long and strong strides away from the house, without any plan for the night in my head; all I wished at that moment was to get away from this horrifying situation but no matter which path I take, how quickly I move, whether I run or jump, there was this same house at the end of all my escapes. It felt as if I was caught in some kind of a loop, a time loop or may be a place loop.
Tired, miserable and a failure in getting away, I, a broken girl, sat on a big stone that was stationed at the side of the road.
“Are you not tired and hungry?”
“I am but I want to get away from here”
“Why don’t you let me help you?”
“What is going on with me? And why can’t I see you?”
“How would I know?
But you should know, I am right in front of you, at all times”
I gave up on my quest of escaping from the place as I came to a firm realisation that it was worthless to try. So, I went inside the house and slept in the same bed as last night.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a rooster. My hip was still aching and my underarms were at a stretch. A full night sleep seemed not enough for my body to recover. I woke up and sat at the edge of my bed then a vision of whatever happened to me last night clouded my mind. I tried to shake it off and eventually made my way to the front part of the house.
There was a tap with running water. I splashed some ice cold water in my face and I poured a little in my head as well, just so as to feel fresh. I had face wash and soap in my bag but did not bother to use them. As I was wiping my face with a towel, the house lady brought me some hot tea in a small cup made out of china clay. She smiled at me and told me to sit down and enjoy the milk tea. Upon seeing her, i was slightly hesitant and my heart started palpitating at a medium pace. However, I took the cup from her hands and sat on the high raised outer floor of the house. She sat nearby.
While I was sipping the tea I asked her if she was late for watering the plants in her kitchen garden. She did not reply to me and seemed rather confused.
I asked her for an explanation regarding what exactly it all was that I experienced last night and how did I end up at her house despite trekking for an entire day away from the village.
I tried to explain my confusing situation to her but she kept on denying having knowledge about anything at all. All she told me repeatedly was that I arrived last evening when it was close to being dark and I kept telling her that it was not true. After a while, I stopped bothering her. Instead, I told her that I had a severe headache so I wanted to lie down for some time and asked her to forgive me if I was rude to her in any way. She smiled but did not say a word. After the episode was over, I went straight in my room and crashed on the bed.
It was late in the afternoon. I wanted to drink some water so I went in the kitchen but found the water vessel to be empty. The running tap outside was the only water I could drink so I did not hesitate. The intensity of pain in my head kept growing to a point that I could take no more. So, I went outside and started splashing and rubbing my face with some cold water from the tap. As I was doing so, something sharp and pointy cut open the tip of my right hand’s middle finger. Upon investigating the periphery of the tap, it was strange not to find anything remotely capable of being so sharp.
I cleaned the first blood and then when I was splashing my face with some more water, I got cut for the second time. I immediately ran towards a small mirror that was hanging on the wooden pillar of the house, to see the thing in my head that was injuring my fingers and upon seeing that I had something pointy at the right part of my forehead, I nervously cried for help but in vain. It seemed to me as if I was developing a horn.
Soon a strong wind started blowing and a blanket of dark clouds covered the sky, and in an elapse of time, it started to rain with some heavy thunder and lightning. It rained continuously for hours with lightening so bright that I could clearly see objects at a far distance. Sad, broken and frustrated I waited for the rain to be over but it showed no sign of stopping. While my pain, both physical and mental, was getting too much to bear, a potentially adventurous afternoon had already turned dark.
I woke up the next morning with some relief. The house lady offered me some tea. At the very moment when she was offering me the tea, I ran my fingers on my forehead but did not find anything sharp and pointed. I told her I wish to wash my face first and then came out but before going to the running tap, I decided to take a look in the mirror. There was no horn or any sign of it. I checked my fingers and they were fine without a scar. I, however, noticed mild dark circles underneath my eyes.
My host lady came out with both of our tea cups. Upon seeing her, I immediately asked
“How long have I been at your house?”
“You’ve just arrived last evening”, she replied.
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Aciis Khatiwada
08/11/2020Thank you for your comment. Please do follow my work and provide your valuable feedback.
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