Eerie Silence

The human heart has hidden treasures, In secret kept, in silence sealed; The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures, Whose charms were broken if revealed. – Charlotte Bronte

 

Eerie is sinister, ghostly, preternatural, other-worldly, mysterious, weird, bizarre and freakish and much more. Silence is fatal, lethal and mortal. It is life-threatening.

 

A small village with less than fifteen houses, but now this village is an abandoned and deserted one.

Once it is a happy village. You can seethe beautiful unknown birds fluttering here and there, white and yellow and pink flowers amid green plants, the butterflies perching on them. The mornings were swelling with water and the moss was neatly glowing, fresh green leaves were coming up all over and the buds on overhanging trees have finally opened. Well, when we looked for more beauty, we hear birds singing loudly above the trees,

Children playing with loud noise on green grass and under the big trees, the sounds of the bells of cattle going to the fields and the sounds of woodpecker pecking with beak on the tree trunks, all this makes the village feel great. It is a great feel to live there. The earth is in full glory to make you happy to live there.

Why the silence is spread everywhere in the village now? No children are found playing or no cattle going to the fields. No people are living in the scattered houses there.

The nature has its beauty intact, nothing is changed. Only change is that there is no one to enjoy the beauty of the nature.

All the families are migrated to some safe places, because the village is not deemed safe to live. There is mysterious, weird, bizarre and fatal silence… eerie silence is spread everywhere in the village.

*****

“I know mother, but we have to leave now. All the people are left, now we are the only house left here.” Bharat said.

His mother is around sixty. She cannot move from bed. Somebody has to take care of her.

“I understand what you say, my son. But, you know, I cannot leave this village. I am born here and I have to die here. So don’t force me to come to a new place.” She said.

“Mother, try to understand the situation. No one is safe here. They are coming here.” Bharat said.

“What happens, my son? If they come, what they will do? They will kill me. I will die. But I am ready to die on the land I am born.”

“Mother… They are very cruel. The death will be very cruel in their hands.” Bharat continued.

“I know everything. They are devils. They are enemies. They are killers. They are savage. They are inhuman. Whatever you say, I am not afraid of them. I don’t leave this house. This is the house where I am born. All my childhood days are linked with this house. This is the house I am married and started living with your father. Now, everybody has left the village and if you want, you can leave like others. But I cannot leave this house or this village.”

Mother’s words put Bharat in confusion. He is thinking about the future. Who will be ready to face the death? Safety is what everyone likes. But his mother does not understand the seriousness of the situation.

The enemies are entering the villages nearby and killing the people. They are taking the food and marching towards other villages. They will enter this village at any time.

Bharat’s wife is also in dilemma. The predicament is unnatural.

Bharat loves his mother more than his life. Bharat’s wife is just one who follows Bharat’s words without fail.

“You go to your mother’s house. I cannot leave my mother helpless here.” Bharat said with his wife.

She looked at Bharat. She is at doubt that is he speaking like this. She cannot leave her husband in danger and save her life.

“I cannot go leaving you alone in this dangerous situation. If dying is the destiny, we all will die.”
Bharat’s wife said with firm voice.

*****

Eerie silence is broken. Everywhere gunshots are heard in the village. They are very cruel. They are not leaving any living thing.

They are shooting at dogs. They are shooting at chicken. They are shooting at scattered lonely cattle. They are so mad that they are searching even birds to shoot. They are searching each and every house to shoot someone or something.

Finally they entered the house, where to their great surprise there are three persons intact. They cannot understand why these three members did not leave the village when everyone has left.

“Why you did not leave the village, like all others?” One soldier asked.

“I love my mother.” Bharat said.

“I love my husband.” Bharat’s wife said.

“I love this place I am born and grownup. I will die here only.” Bharat’s mother said.

The soldier has four more friends. He looked at them.

“sentiments” one among them said.

“self-indulgent feelings..nostalgia.” some other said.

“emotions” some other said.

“Sister, we are hungry. We need food.” Some other said looking at Bharat’s wife.

She went in to kitchen to prepare food.

Bharat brought buttermilk in pots and gave them. They are drinking buttermilk as the relatives visited to that house.

“We are not monsters. We are also human beings. Talk freely, mother.” Someone said looking at the old woman.

She looked first time in to his face.

“You look like my elder son, who is dead few months back by the mortars coming from your country’s side. We all think that you are killers. If someone in your country is dead from the weapons of our soldiers, they think that we are savage and cruel killers. Is killing an answer for the problem, whatever it may be?”

The soldier heard and thinking seriously. Some are soft and some are hard as response is harder.

Eerie silence is there. No one answered.

Bharat’s wife served food. They all ate and the hunger is calm.

“Mother, We are made as machines, we forgot that we are human. We are just guns and bullets to carry on the  orders of our commander.” One gunman said.

Other soldiers are stood silent like loaded guns. They looked at the three, mother, son and daughter-in-law.

Guns fired atonce. All the three mother, son and daughter-in-law are in the pool of blood. and one gunman took their photo in his mobile phone.

Then the soldiers marched out of that house on their mission.

Eerie silence is spread again in that village, more fatal and deadly than the death.

__END__