The wild adventure

A story by Rachna Chhabria about friends who loved telling tall tales

It was a full moon night. The moon cast a luminescent glow over the tree under which sat Ravi, Ajit, Sanjeev and Akshay, in a circle, in their grandmother’s house, in the village. The four cousins had arrived in the evening. They were all called phekus, as they were fond of exaggerating. It was their favourite thing to do. They told everyone such wild stories that no one believed them even when they spoke the truth.

“You know what happened today?” Ajit’s eyes were wide as he started narrating his story. “In the afternoon, I was alone in the cafeteria. I ordered a vegetable burger. Before my eyes the burger became as large as a bath tub and pulled me inside. Though I screamed for help, no one heard me. As I was hungry, I ate a little of the burger. Seeing my plight, the lettuce leaves pushed me out of the burger with immense difficulty.”

The other three listened with rapt attention.

“I had a tough time this morning,” Ravi said. “I was having my mango smoothie, a bit of it sloshed out and soon there was a flood of mango smoothie in the room, with me swimming in it. As I am a fabulous swimmer, I swam to the door and the moment I opened it, all the smoothie gushed out of my room and filled our house.”

“You two had such silly and babyish experiences,” Sanjeev shook his head, earning scowls from his cousins. “I had a tough time today. I had gone for my morning jog in the park. Suddenly, it became cloudy, and as I continued jogging, the park became empty. Soon a large four-headed dog stood before me. Breathing heavily the dog snarled, baring its teeth. Every time it growled deeply, more dogs appeared, until I was surrounded by the dogs. I couldn’t move left or right, front or back. I felt as though someone had stuck my feet to the ground with an extra powerful glue. I could only scream as most of my body was paralysed. Growling deeply, the dogs approached me from all sides.”

Just then the clock struck midnight. The bewitching hour. The boys waited for Sanjeev to continue.

They heard heavy breathing. Turning around, they were all shocked. A four-headed dog stood behind them. The boys quickly stood up and exchanged puzzled looks.

As realisation dawned on them that this scenario was right out of Sanjeev’s story, they stared at him accusingly. It was as though his story had come to life. Sanjeev too had the same realization. He looked pale and nervous. Sweat beaded his face, as he stared fearfully at the dog.

The dog snarled menacingly at them, baring its sharp teeth. Every time it growled, more dogs appeared. Now they were surrounded from all sides by the dogs. They tried to make a dash for it, but realised to their dismay, that they were rooted to the spot, unable to move an arm or a leg.

They could only scream “help me”, louder and louder each time. But since it was so late in the night, everyone was fast asleep, so no one heard them.

The dogs snarled at them.

Suddenly Akshay had a brainwave.

“I haven’t yet told you all my story,” he said.

The others watched him in puzzlement wondering what he was up to.

“This morning when I went to do my workout in the park, I saw Sanjeev surrounded by four-headed dogs. Sanjeev stood helpless and was trembling like a leaf in a strong wind. He could only scream for help, but no one came to his rescue. The dogs kept increasing and increasing in number. I wanted to help him and get him out of this situation. I summoned all my strength and blew hard at the dogs. I did this continuously. Poof. One by one they disappeared. Until not a single dog was left. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you.” Turning to the dogs, Akshay gathered all his strength and blew hard, not once but several times, until all the dogs disappeared.

As the air cleared of the dogs’ breath, the boys could move their limbs. With a sigh of relief Akshay sat down on the ground. His friends flopped down to the ground beside him.

Staring at each other they shook their heads, as though saying never again. That was the end of their tall and wild stories. They didn’t want to be trapped in one of their own wild adventures, as every time they may not be lucky enough to escape.