The sky put on its veil of darkness, bringing an end to the day with a hint of mystery. The full moon was displayed with dazzling illumination; the opera of the crickets gave the ambience a touch of melancholy.
Stars decorated the veil of the sky like diamonds on black satin; the sound of water splashing on the waterfall in the distance gave the woods a peaceful impression.
Suddenly, a whistle shrilled, breaking the serenity of the place.
‘Next!’ Boomed the voice of a man and two girls moved forward, holding on to each other as though giving support to the other.
‘Follow the blinking red lights and don’t stray off course,’ said the man, not unkindly.
The two young ones stared at the path cloaked with darkness in front of them and gulped involuntarily. It was the seventh month in the lunar calendar and to Malaysians, it is the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Daunting and uninviting, this night walk in the jungle of Rembau, Negeri Sembilan is a part of the activities organized by the National Civics Bureau (BTN). April and Catherine had valiantly protested against the walk but to no avail; the organizers replied with, ‘the camp is a platform for you to face and control your fears.’
However, the organizers relented a little by allowing the participants to go in pairs. Having heard the screams of countless people before them, the two girls were in no haste to begin their walk.
‘Hurry!’ A voice behind them screeched, making them jump.
Gripping each other’s hand tightly, they proceeded cautiously. It was difficult to spot the tiny blinking light and mosquitoes were feeding happily on the exposed flesh of the two girls.
Very soon, they rounded a bend. The light emitted by the flashlights of the facilitators could now not be seen and they were engulfed totally by darkness.
Catherine whined. “April, my throat hurts…”
April cursed silently under her breath. Catherine’s tonsillitis has been worsening since they arrived at the camp. She rummaged in her backpack for a bottle of water. As April took it out, her peripheral vision detected something moving.
Something white moving, no, gliding in the trees behind them.
April’s blood ran cold. Beside her, Catherine’s mouth was opened in a silent scream. Her eyes were bulging and she was shivering uncontrollably.
It was Catherine’s fear and panic that brought the adrenaline surging to April’s muscles. In a swift moment she grabbed Catherine’s hand and they ran as fast as their stiff legs would carry them. Both girls were sobbing uncontrollably but did not stop even when they heard shouting from afar.
Finally, coughing nonstop, Catherine sat down at last. They had run relentlessly for more than five minutes, as if being chased by an axe-wielding madman, with the objective of getting as far away as possible from the creature.
April slumped beside her, panting loudly.
‘What was that?’
‘No idea. Let’s walk though. Gotta find the rest, fast.’
They continued their walk down the path with renewed spirit. However, much to their dismay, the red blinking lights seemed to have disappeared. The trees seemed to grow thicker there, and the sound of animals was ominously absent. Every sound they made was magnified ten times; the imposing darkness made chills go down their spines.
Out of a sudden, a terrifying howl brought their hearts to their mouths. The girls shrieked at the same time and, in unison, sprinted back up the path.
Unexpectedly, April slipped on a slimy object and took a tumble. Her knee landed on the sharp side of a jagged stone and a metallic smell made her dizzy. A sudden, sharp pain pierced her right calf, and April looked in time to see a black slimy snake, giving out a sibilant hiss, slithering away.
April’s scream drained the blood off Catherine’s face. She never would have believed that April, strong, tough April, would be capable of producing such a sound of mingling terror, fear and pain.
Writhing with agony, April could not do anything but whimper. A feeling of paralysis was spreading up her right leg and she was in terrible shock. All she could do was to moan for the help that would never come.
Catherine was lost in panic. She could not leave April alone in this state, no she would get lost trying to find help; yet staying with April would not bring help to them. The snake venom was rather poisonous, judging on the rapidly deteriorating consciousness of April.
She was losing much blood. The fangs must have punctured a vein, as dark red blood was oozing out copiously. Catherine knew she had to react quickly. It was a matter of life and death.
Pulling her hairpin out, she proceeded by making small cuts at the side of April’s snake bite. Next, she did the thing that felt right at that moment – she pressed her lips to the bite, and sucked the contaminated blood.
It tasted horrible. Like the smell of rotting flesh. Catherine spit the first mouthful out and returned for a second mouthful. The repetition was continued until April’s blood tasted normal without the repelling stench.
Taking a spare shirt from April’s backpack, a partial tourniquet was tied to reduce the blood flow at April’s leg. The result was instantaneous – the blood loss reduced dramatically.
However, Catherine began to feel dizzy. Perhaps it was due to the sheer exhaustion, maybe it was due to the intoxicated blood she accidentally swallowed in her haste to help her friend, her mind blanked out suddenly.
The branches swayed gently in the wind to the tempo of a cradle being swayed as the nightlife in the jungle remained in its active mode. Owls flew about finding prey for their chicks and rats ran about, dodging the flying birds that were looking for a meal for their nest.
It was a scene of peace and harmony - the way nature should be.
When the search party arrived half an hour later, they found a girl with snakebite from the vicious cobra breathing with quick, shallow breaths; weak but not quite ready to meet the Creator yet, and the body of a brave girl with blue, swollen lips, who gave her life to save that of her friend.
nice. =)
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