Becoming Human

Act III - Hostile Environment

Some strange kind of sharp noise hits Maáh's ears. It was as if some metal was being crushed. Suddenly, Maáh feels as if some thing was wrapping around his whole body. Stunned with fright, he does not even dare to open his eyes.

To his amazement, the grass and ground felt softer than they previously did. Just when he was getting accustomed to old things, some new things trespassed his life circle boundary. He was asking himself the very question at that moment that we ask ourselves everyday, that is, "Should I trust and accept these new changes like I did with the previous ones?" Two questions might strike your mind at this point. First - how did Maáh learn to speak? And second – Why is he facing troubles already? The answers to these questions are very simple. Some of you might even have guessed them by now. Firstly, talking to yourself doesn't require a language. It requires understanding. Language is for communication between atleast two beings. Secondly, we all face problems at every single step of our life. It's the explanation of those problems that either makes it look bigger or makes it look smaller than it actually is, or very rarely, equal to its true value.

Anyways, the human body had started to take its toll on tiny Maáh. Hunger struck back. He became desperate, again! And to add to body's response to hunger, some kind of smell had snuck into his nose.

Slightly opens his eyes, as Maáh's eyes face towards a strange opening in the column of tree trunks. But there was a strange thing about those tree trunks. There was no bend in them. Without moving his body, Maáh moves his eyes alone to spectate and observe the whole area around him. Half of the area was lit and the other half was dull. "what is this place?", "where am I?" Thoughts began to pop up in his mind. Suddenly, his eyes catch the sight of a tall figure moving slowly towards Maáh. Maáh's slightly opened eyes began to widen and pupil starts to dilate. Heart rate increases and so does the breathing rate and depth. He tried to give a loud shriek but the weak body didn't help him at all. He tried to move but there wasn't enough energy in him to do so. Hands begin to tremble. Body starts shaking.

"Are you awake, kid?", a mild tone hits Maáh's ears. Shadowy mysterious figure continues to approach and ultimately reaches the bright area of the room. Light coming through the opening falls on the figure. Maáh spectates a tall creature with strange wrappings around his body and hair on his face. He didn't know what to say since he didn't understand a single word. "Are you hungry?", the creature continued to speak.

The creature as you already guessed was Hijar. Hijar was able to understand that the kid before him is unable to understand him. So, instead of asking him to food, he brought the food near to him and made hand gestures indicating what before Maáh lies is food and is meant to eaten.

Maáh was too weak to run, so just succumbed to the creature and just reached for one of the things presented before him with his tiny trembling hands. As he starts to eat in lying position. Hijar moves his head slightly towards the tiny kid and makes a hmm sound, puts his hands on his knees and with a quick jerk stands up. This sudden movement scared Maáh who gave a sudden and quick tremble. After all, that was all he could do in his present state. Hijar smiles at Maáh and flings his arms to his back and starts moving towards the darkness. A loud bang was heard and there was nothing more that Maáh could hear. The weakling who had stopped chewing starts chewing on his food slowly.