Firelight

On the shore they walked, sharing their experiences, laughing and smiling, talking and listening, lost in a wonderful world of their own. Both of them had found a friend, a friend they never really had, the desire of one’s life, a true friend. Singing and giggling, they realized that they had, walking straight ahead, reached somewhere very unfamiliar. So far, home was nowhere in sight. They were lost in a village.

“What do we do now?” said Anika worried.

“I don’t really know. Maybe ask for help?”

“But from whom?”

“From the people who live here of course!”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s atleast better than standing here hopelessly”

“You’re right,” said Anika as they both set off towards a broken down hut across the paddy field. They knocked the door with a frown on their faces. A little flame of hope lit up in their heart when a very old woman answered, “Yes?” in a very clumsy voice with her hands quivering.

“We’re lost. We were just roaming around and ended up here. We need a little help,” said Jessel’

“Come in. Come in. I’ll give you something to eat.”

Anika stepped in but it was Jessel who held her back. She said, “Are you sure you wanna go in?”

“Come on,” Anika said dragging Jessel inside.

They had tea. Anika wanted to spit out the tea without sugar, but gulped it in, just to be nice. Meanwhile, Jessel had a glance outside. All of a sudden, she realized that she was staring at the same tree she had seen in her nightmare! She whispered about it to Anika and they both slipped out when the woman was gone to the kitchen for some more tea.

The tree was splendid with its magnificent branches swinging. Its leaves were whispering to each other as if singing the chorus of their own praise, telling each other how royal they were. The birds were chirping proudly. But there was a dark side too. It seemed as if the tree had sucked pleasure from all around, making everyone else disgraceful. If there was any heaven in the whole universe, it was here. The rest of the world was full of unhappiness and suffering whether it was because of age or because of health.

A girl came out from behind the tree, saying, “Hell-o! I’m Dora. What are you both doing in a village? You look like city girls.”

“WE do?” asked Anika.

“Of course you do! Why? Aren’t you from the town?”

Jessel clapped Anika’s mouth shut, “Of course we are!”

“Liars.” muttered Dora.

“We just came here to meet that lady.” said Anika.

“You know her? All that is known is her name- Delle. Her background has always been a secret. No one really knows. Once, some lady asked her but she would not answer. The same night, the lady was found dead on the roof of her own house. All the suspicions are on Delle. So, no one actually dares to ask now.”

“Oh that’s strange!” said Anika horrified.

“How do you know about that?” asked Jessel. “You live here?”

“Not really. My grandma lives here. She is ill from the past few months. So, I’ve been visiting her quite regularly.”

"Oh!"

"What is that paper in your hands?"

"Just nothing" said Jessel. "Its just a poem"

"You wrote it?"

"Yeah"

"May I see it?"

"Sure" Jessel handed it to Dora.

"You don't mean that you wrote the ancient prophecy, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is the Ancient Prophecy of The Light of Fire. It was written about 500 BC. You could not have written it."

"And who told you that it was the Ancient Prophecy of The Light of Fire?"

"My grandmother. She says that it is a very old prophecy. It is written on a piece of paper, all of its three paragraphs. The one that is known by all is the first one. The prophecy should be sung in a secret tune at the right time so that it all becomes true."

"Really? I wrote the rest of the two stanzas my self. My mom told me the first one."

Anika was about to say something stupid like, "Really?" or "You didn't tell me that!" but Jessel pinched her right in time. Anika complained, "Ouch!"

"Sorry," said Jessel.

"You can't hide it from me. I know it's the real prophecy."

"MAYBE"

"Don't be silly!" said Dora, "I had a dream with a person or a nearly person with a very dirty and bloody skull telling me that if I visit this tree today, I'll meet someone who has the whole prophecy.

"Do you mean that skull? He came in my dream too."

"He did? And you know what, we can wait till midnight and release the creatures of fright!"

"What? You wanna see the whole world struggling for freedom?"

"Yep. How long can you imagine a world full of peace and no evil? Slowly, everyone will become lazy. What will be the thing you are running from? Hard work will fade away with no bad side But slowly, everyone will want more with no hard work at all. Anyway, what do you get by helping others? Do whatever you want. That's how you become satisfied."

"How wicked! Nothing like that is ever gonna happen," said Anika."Everyone will be satisfied and content if we spread happiness, there will be no slavery."

"Of course not! That can never happen! Won't it be fun to see every one struggling?"

"Didn't you see the last line. It says that if you make the wrong choice, you will not be excused."

"Exactly!" said Dora. "It says that if you give happiness and gladness, you will not be excused 'cause it is not the right choice. Not everyone understands that."

While the two were arguing about what is right and what is wrong, Jessel thought deeply about what had just happened, what was the prophecy all about, what did skull say, and the most important - The Sea. All of a sudden, everything seemed to become clear to her. She said, "Stop it both of you! Dora hand me the prophecy. I've figured out how to work it out. Its simple."

"Here," said Dora handing it over to her. "So you've decided to work with me, right?"

"Right."

"But Jessel, you can't do that! We can't just release the creatures of fright." said Anika with her heart broken.

"We can Anika." said Jessel with a wink. "Dora is right. Bringing happiness will do us no good, will it?"