The Chime Of Th Bell- Chapter 13

(My narration)

NOTE- There are some memories whose recollection never cease to bring a smile on our face. On the other hand, we also have some memories which we dare not to recollect. I never understood why my mother always said she does not remember anything every time I asked her about ‘The Exorcist’. But recent expedition in Proveglia island made it all very clear.

The human brain is so designed that it is capable of completely easing a part of its memory that it finds very unpleasant. The description I will be giving is kind of fuzzy as I don’t clearly remember what had happened, how I had spent seven hours in that pit of death. It was clearly a terrifying experience whose memories I would never like to recollect again. It took me a long time to recover from that trauma.

When I gained consciousness there was darkness everywhere. The ground I was lying on seemed to be abnormally rough. Where was I, I wondered. The last thing I remembered was Sam calling. Sam! Where is Sam?

I immediately got on my feet as I realized my situation. I had been lying on a heap of skeletons! It was hard to gain composure. I don’t know how long I stood there in the darkness. I had a torch but I was too afraid to switch it on. I was not yet sure I had the nerves to face whatever was surrounding me. I don’t know if it was my imagination but I could hear the sound of fire burning. At that moment I had the fear that if I didn’t get out of there, the fire would engulf me.

Right, when I was imagining myself being burnt alive I felt something glide over my feet. The contact of the cold silky scales against my boots made my blood run cold. It was followed by a low ‘hiss’. I dared not to move. I stood still holding my breath preparing myself for any sudden attack as the skinny reptile kept sliding past my shoes. Dying out of snake bite is more dignified than being burnt alive, I thought to myself.

When the snake had finally glided away and I was still standing there alive, supposedly unbitten, I decided to give life another short. Finally fumbling through my funny pouch in the dark I pulled out my torch. I flicked it on and looked around.

I have had a lot of experience working with bones for so many years. I had even spent nights in museums amongst ancient skeletons but nothing compared to that terrible sight. I will not describe what I saw(Even after all this time, I still find recollection the sight very disturbing) but I will give you a piece of info- there was no way to climb up.

There was a scorpion sticking out of the eye socket of a skull and as the light fell on it, it moved out and started climbing down towards me. The last thing I wanted was it to end as a Scorpion’s night. My immediate defensive reflex was throwing my pocket knife at it.

I missed. The thing slipped into some other hollow leaving me armless. The knife was stuck on the wall. With a lot of hesitation, I approached it.

So Jayee you are stuck in a hole full of skeletons and cold-blooded reptiles with no one to pull you out. You better pull yourself together and think of a way to get out of this bony mess.

I tried to pull out the knife but it was stuck. The intensity with which I had thrown it really showed how scared I was. One hand was not enough. I held the flashlight between my teeth as I used the other hand. Then I had to place a foot on the wall and pull against it. When the blade finally came out I fell back on the ground. A lump of soil around it also fell off including the scorpion. I immediately jumped on my feet before it disappeared again.

I looked at the new mess I had just created. Pulling out the knife must have had disturbed the base of the pit causing a mini-landslide bringing down some more bones and a lot of soil. But the best part was it had formed some kind of a climbable shape. Somehow using my knife I climbed out of the pit of death. It was not easy though as everything I tried to hold on to was fragile resulting me to slip back to level zero over and over again. To be a little more precise there was nothing much to hold on to except some bones sticking out of the soil which being old were obviously fragile. The fact that I had no previous experience of rock climbing made matters even worse. It was probably hours of failed attempts after which I finally set my foot on the solid ground.

I wanted to collapse but something told me if I collapse there I would never be waking up again. The darkness was no less intense here. Nothing was visible, not even the bell tower. Where would I go in the darkness? I felt so lost.

The sky was foggy, not many stars were visible. The words of the survival guide echoed my mind out of nowhere: “If you are lost keep walking; in an island, you will eventually hit the water.”

So I was walking in the direction where I could hear the ocean. My mind had totally lost the capacity to think. I was imagining witches and goblins all around me.

After some time I was near the shore. I could feel the sound of waves crashing on the shore and eventually kissing my feet before returning back into its origin. Some little drops of light were visible far from the distant land. Not a soul was to be found there. One thing I was sure of was that it is not the side we had moored. The sound of the waves somewhat calmed my nerves. I sat there waiting for the sun to rise and give me directions.