BEAUTY OF INNOCENCE

Bowing down his master's order, he left the bungalow in search of Nandana Menike. He hurried through the short cuts to get to Nandana Menike's house, as the sky totally turned dark hinting out the signs of another heavy rain. Thundering and lightning increased with a few thunderbolts beyond the range of mountains. The deafening sound frightened every living being in the vicinity. He observed the level of water, which had risen considerably due to heavy rain. The muddy water flowed through the slope across the road seemed to be rather violent. Periyavar thought for a moment. He felt that it was quite risky to cross the road through that volume of water, which gushed from the hillock.

Again, there was a deafening sound from a thunderbolt and Periyavar was taken aback a few feet because of the shock. The only way out for his safety was to climb up the mountain and going the other way around other than crossing the volume of water. Yet, since it was rather difficult for him to climb up, he mustered courage to use the familiar route despite danger. There was a small concrete bridge which connected the other end from the slope. The pillars of it were underwater. He fumbled in the water to find the side fences of the bridge to cross it with the help of them. Finally, he got hold of them and in a life and death situation, he crossed the bridge. The water level was up to his waist, yet he was determined to fulfill his master's request and took up the challenge. From that point onwards, the route was more difficult. The heavy rains had left a deposit of mud on the ground. It was slippery and also not visible owing to the risen water level. Yet, Periyavar's motive was to see where Nandana Menike was and ensure her safety; not his self protection. He carefully stepped forward in the water. He could only precede a few steps as he unexpectedly slipped over and tried to keep the other foot to keep his balance as he had nothing around to reach for safety. He tried his best to reach the small hillock, which were a few yards away. Every step he took turned out to be a failure as the ground was terribly slippery. He fell into the gushing water and was carried away towards a culvert down there. He was not a swimmer either. Even if he could swim, there was little hope for life as the gushing water became more and more violent. Unfortunately, he disappeared in the muddy water. All of his effort ended up with filling his lungs with water.

Hearing Rover's unusual barking, Bernard went down to the garage in the first floor. It behaved rather mischievously as it wanted to go out. The moment Bernard opened the door of the kennel; Rover jumped out of it and ran away. He could not understand where his pet ran in such a hurry.

The rain water had spoilt the balcony and the room next to it, as the door, which was used to enter the balcony, had been kept open. Bernard could observe the rising water level and how it had submerged the lower part of his estate. His heart sank at the sight of erosion of the fertile soil of his estate. The muddy rain water flowed freely as there were no obstacles as earlier.

Understanding the difficulties Periyavar and Nandana Menike would face on their way back in the heavy rain, Bernard thought of accompanying them by his cab and left for Koinmenika's house suppressing thousand and one diverse thoughts in his mind.

The deserted earth had been dilapidated very badly due to the erosion caused by torrential rains. So were the roads. Bernard moved off the cab very carefully. The rain drops that hit so hard on the windscreen could not be wiped off easily by the wipers, and that prevented him from seeing the road clearly. With much difficulty, he reached up to the slope near Koinmenika's house stopped there as it was not possible to move beyond. That low area was under water and there wasn't enough space to turn the cab. He reversed the cab with great effort using forward gears as the ground was slippery. There wasn't even an umbrella in his possession. Disregarding the rain, he slowly walked up to Koinmenika's house, thinking that Kapilasena and Nandana Menike would be there. The roofing sheets of the recently built new house had been removed. He entered the house in which he could only see the wet wattle and daubed walls with no doors or windows. There was a broken mirror hung on the wall inside a room, from which he could see two reflections of his face.

The rain had washed away more than half of the walls and the rest remained in an unstable manner. They stood like ruins. There was a monitor on the mound near the Pottery's Wheel. Kapilasena had built a small hut covered by cadjan in which he had kept the pots molded from the Pottery's Wheel. There was nothing else other than a few broken pots inside it. Bernard crept into it and could barely protect from the pouring rain.

Bernard turned back guessing that Kapilasena and Nandana Menike would have gone back to the bungalow by another route.

He accidentally noticed a plastic doll, half buried in the pile of earth heaped up in the old house. One of its hands had risen pointing towards the sky, as if pleading to save its life. He picked it up in a state of agitation. Its legs were not to be seen. He thought of throwing it away, and again he decided he would take it to Nandana Menike and would give it to see her happy face. He knew how she patted, caressed and loved dolls.

He came back with a heavy heart. When he reached the bungalow, he could see Rover waiting for him at the gate disregarding the rain. He stopped the vehicle and let in the rear side. From the moment it got in, it started repeatedly groaning in an unusual manner, which Bernard couldn't recognize.

The pervading darkness shrouded the entire bungalow. The realization crept into his mind that lighting the lamps and other duties had to be executed by himself. He went to the first floor with the lit lamp and checked what Periyavar had prepared to eat. Bernard had no appetite, yet, his pet yawned a few times indicating its hunger. Though he gave it some food, it sniffed out and went away only drinking some water from the container set aside for it. Bernard closed the door and the windows of the kitchen and went up to the second floor. The dices of the chess board had been arranged for a game. He remembered how Nandana Menike liked to play chess with him. He picked up the queen placed by Nandana Menike with her touch, which made his heart fill with a sense of subtle pain. To give orders to prepare a bite, there was none at the bungalow. He had a couple of shots of Brandy which ran down burning his throat and at the same time brought a kind of solace to his sinking heart.