A Single Breath – Part 8

Geet was moving ahead with silent feet. The forest was becoming more dense. Now it was going to be evening. She was very tired. But she could not find any way to get out of the forest. All the things of the day were already disturbing her. Everything was very strange. There was only one good thing that till now she had not found those wild men yet. Still she was scared.
Geet was thinking all these things that suddenly she stopped. All those people were sitting at front. Same as before around the burning fire. They all looked at the Geet. She got scared. As soon as Geet retreated, everyone stood up. They looked at each other.
“Ghost” a man shouted. “She’s a ghost ” everyone got scared.
Geet did not understand anything at first but then she saw the newspaper on the ground. Now she understood. Her picture was also printed in the news.
The shout made Geet angry first, but then everyone was misunderstanding her as a ghost, so this was a good chance to get away from them all. She got a plan. She started moving further slowly. Everyone was already very scared. Seeing a ghost coming towards them, everyone got sweaty.
“I have to go to the city: where is the way?” Geet asked with a slight change of voice. Her already exhausted condition was the perfect match to her ghost appearance.
Someone showed the way by shaking fingers.
“You all had troubled me a lot. Get out of here, or else I will kill everyone “
All ran away fearing her threat. Geet stopped her laugh with great difficulty. But she had to hurry. She ran in the direction told by the man. Soon she felt the jungle was becoming less dense and then, the road appeared.
This was her first win. She came to the road but still did not know how far the city was from there. Now she could not walk anymore. The sun had set and she was afraid too. Where to go, what to do in this jungle area, Geet cannot understand anything. She wanted to cry. Tired, she sat on a stone under a tree. “Oh God, please me” she prayed.
Then a truck passed by. The driver stopped the truck when he saw a girl crying, all alone.
“Madam ji, any trouble?” He asked. Geet was suddenly startled. Due to dark she couldn’t see his face properly.
“Don’t be afraid, Madam ji. Want to go somewhere?”
“Ci..city” she said. “Will you take me there?”
“Do you have money Madam ji?”
Geet nodded no but then she said, “I can give you as much as you demand once reaching home. I promise ”
The driver thought for a while then said, “Okay, sit in the back of the truck “
“Do you have water?” Geet asked as her throat was drying with thirst.
“The water is finished, Madam Ji, it is liquor, will you?” The driver said looking at the bottle. Geet panics. She quickly sat down in the back of the truck. Driver found a tap on the way. He filled the bottle with water and went back to give it to Geet. But Geet had fallen asleep due to fatigue. The driver smiled crooked looking at the sleeping Geet.