Into The Unknown

It was a warm spring of March that year.

The sky was a brilliant blue with a few white clouds floating by. Soft breezes caressed the faces of the people laying on the lush green grasses of a wide community park of the scenic Pheilom. It was an ancient place of historical significance.

On such a lovely day, the teachers and students of a local university were out on an educational excursion to the place. It was a pleasant afternoon as the dozens of college students gathered into groups and chatted and laughed amongst themselves.

Except for one person.

This particular person with an unknown intention walked away from the crowd and farther into a narrow path between two hillocks, towards who knows where. This person soon arrived at the edge of a cliff and sneakily looked down.

A deep thick forest laid underneath a depth of 15 feet looking quite formidable. Slightly frightened, the person immediately walked two or three steps back and exhaled.

"I could die. Better walked away fast." The person muttered.

But this person turned clumsily in a panic, and in her hurry one of her feet fumbled and got stuck beneath a weathered root rising above the ground in a circle. And before the person could find a balance on both her feet, the other foot stumbled onto a nearby rock and in a matter of seconds this person lost her footing and fell off the cliff.

And just like that, this careless person had fallen to her demise.

And there wasn't a soul who saw.

It was halfway midnight. The skies were transiting from black to dusky gold slowly, gradually. The faint chirps of birds could be heard outside. Apart from this, the whole world was still asleep in their comfortable homes.

However, at this time Tomba was completely awake. He sat in his worn out bed, rigid and straight. It couldn't be, he thought, it must be his minds playing tricks. Or he was still dreaming from having knocked out from drinking too much.

Yes, there have been instances of strange spirits sneaking into homes in the dead of the night, scaring and causing mischief and misfortunes in households. But he never thought his home and himself would soon be at the receiving end of such disaster. He couldn't believe it.

But lo and behold, right in front of him was someone or something clothed in strange pieces of cloth, lying on the cold mud of his shabby kitchen. Who is this? Or what is this?

He had been sleeping peacefully when all of a sudden he heard a loud thud and out of nowhere this strange person was lying on his floor from who knows where.

Tomba cautiously bend down and peek with wide fearful eyes at the thing laying below in the darkness of the room. He wanted to light his shabby little lamp to have a better look but he was too scared to risk it. What if the strange creature suddenly jumped up, claws and bit the life out of him?

He shudders and shakes his head quickly. No, can't take such a risk. He may be completely useless in life but he still likes to live no matter what.

So instead he decided to silently grasp the stick that was leaning at the foot of his bed. With the wooden stick in his right hand and his left hand fisted to calm his nerve and gather courage at the same time, Tomba stood up.

Silent and vigilant, he pushed the end of the stick towards the creature that lay a few feet away from him. He lightly tugged a couple of times but whatever it was, it remained motionless.

Time was already flying by and the first ray from the dawn lit sky was slipping in from the cracks of his worn out door. Tomba had been breathing hard from fear and anxiety for a while now. His muscles were tensed from remaining rigid for a long time too. So in the end, irritation and impatience won out over fear and Tomba hit the creature with all his might! Bang!

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

The creature yelped and leaped up from the pain.

Tomba immediately rushed to grab the faintly dimmed podon from his tiny bedside table and brought to light the curious creature that stood before him.

"What the heck was that??! Abok did you hit me awake??! I told you it was a holiday today??! Why did you wake me? I just had a nightmare too! Ashh!"

The strange creature or was it a person shouted.

Tomba stared wide eyed in disbelief. So it seems to be a human?! What is it saying? Although it was the same language, the way he speaks felt strange, well, or more so very rude.

The person squinted their eyes and looked around the dimly lit room until the confused pair of eyes finally landed on Tomba.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house? Wait, don't tell me you are a thief-" the strange person started but-

-Tomba interrupted shouting, "No, you are in my h-household y-you e-evil spirit! Don't say n-nonsense!!!" or he stuttered.

"What the heck are you saying??"

"No what are YOU saying?"

As the two people were confronting heatedly, the dawn lights finally filled the room and both onlookers' eyes widened in horror as they stared disbelieving at each other.

Tomba stared. It was a person. A person wearing really weird clothing, hair and all. A very weird appearance. The kind he had never seen before.

"W-who are y-you? W-what are y-you?"

"I am person! Can't your eyes see?" the person spat.

"I know t-that! B-but you are w-weird for one!" Tomba argued back unintelligently.

"No you are the weird one! Why you dressed like an ancient old man?"

"E-ehh?! No! I'm a perfectly healthy youth! I'll be seventeen by this Shajibu (April) hmph!" he harrumph.

"What? Wait, where is this?" the person narrowed his eyes and added, "What locality, uh, village is this?"

"Huh?? This is Chengmei of Kangleibak!" Tomba said finding confidence in himself at the other person's ignorance and helplessness.

"Never heard of it in my life..."

"How can you not know? It's the third most famous village town after the capital!"

"..Then what year? Month.. day.. is it today?"

"Hmm? Lamta gi thasi, thangja, tang-taret. (The first moonless night of March, Saturday, the seventh). You don't even know this? What's wrong with your brain? Tch. Tch tch." he said as he close his eyes, shook his head clicking his tongue and wondered if the person was mad or just downright dumb.

Silence followed. Tomba turned to look at the person. What he saw was a pale face with a horrified expression.

"It can't be? It can't be! No no no..." The person seems to be muttering.

Tomba felt something was off, "Umm, what's the matter-" but before he finished his sentence the person turned around, bolted the shabby door open and madly dashed off outside.

"Heyy!" Tomba was left shouting.

-

It can't be! Ahanlem shouted internally, running like a dog. Why? Because according to this person the time was entirely different from what she knew. It was supposed to be the first fullmoon night of March, Friday, the thirteenth. Not the moonless seventh night!

The sun was already high in the sky. Tomba was cooking in his small kitchen, a simple meal of rice and kangsoi like any other day. The only difference was, there was a strange person crouching in the corner of the room. The person was hiding his face with his arms rested on his knees, a depressing air surrounded him. He looks like a mushroom, Tomba snickered sneakily.

"You-!" the depressed person looked up suddenly.

"W-what?" Tomba almost knocked down his pot as he turned around startled.

"What's your name?"

"Um.. Tomba, Yumnam Tomba. Why?"

The person didn't answer and kept silently staring at him with an unreadable expression.

This person has a small cute face for a boy, Tomba observed. His hair was dark but almost reddish in the light. His features were delicate and pleasing. His eyes were beautifully bright and sharp. His complexion was a wheatish white and his frame seems frail and a little too feminine. And of course, clad in those strange attire it looks he came from some foreign place.

"Ah so, what about you?" Tomba said.

"What?"

"What's your name? How old are you? Where do you come from-"

"It's Ahanlem." The person interrupted again. "I'm 19 years old, kid."

Tomba was shocked, "No way! You are lying! You look like 15! I'm definitely older than you!"

Ahanlem walked over the earthen stove, sat and sniffed over the steaming pot. "I'm very hungry."

"I didn't make your share."

"Then give me your share."

"..."

"Also do you have any dried fish? I'm craving those."

"..."

Tomba can't believe it, the audacity of this stranger, a liar and with no manners. He glanced at the person chomping down his food like a starved dog. Ah, a glutton too.

Ahanlem washed her hands and mouth and said, "It taste bland."

A vein popped on Tomba's forehead.

"I'll cook next time." Ahanlem added.

"What do you mean next time? Are you gonna stay here?"

"Is there anyone living here beside you?"

"No..."

"Then it's settled. I'm staying. Because I have no place to go..." Ahanlem said his head looking down.

"Eh.. what about your home?"

"I can't return home. It's too far away from here."

"Then, how did you end up here?" Tomba said dumbfounded.

Ahanlem suddenly raised up his head and said, "In any case, I can't leave. So, I have to stay for a while. In return, I'll cook all the meals. And I can do some chores and gardening too."

After having said all these, the person laid on the straw mat and went to sleep.

"..."

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