THE HARBINGER OF NOR'WESTER

The Frightening Foreshadows

Vaibhav laid his open palms on the cold desk, reading today's newspaper. The two representatives from the Siliguri mortuary carried away Saikat's comrade for final rites according to the city register since no family came to claim the body.

"Vaibhav!?", Biraj entered the room veering off the representative, who was coming out, "you haven't bathed!?"

"I've, thankyou", Vaibhav said in an irritated tone, "my tea!?"

Biraj came closer and produced a cup. Then he sipped his own and said, "Chaitali will be joining us...!"

"Sir...?", one of the representatives interrupted, looking toward Vaibhav, holding out a file.

Vaibhav took the file and opened it, to be greeted by a photo of a corpse. The frame capturing his face up to his mid-torso. He appeared to be a hermit, with his hair matted to a messy bun and ash smeared all over his body, probably for warmth.

"A trekker found him", said the representative, "we later retrieved the body, it could mean nothing, but we've preserved the body. Just in case you decide...."

"I know him....!", Chaitali peeked from behind and said not in a nice tone.

Vaibhav and Biraj turned to her. Chaitali looked back at confused.

"Well? Who is he?", Vaibhav prompted.

"He was...", Chaitali began to cringe at her, as if trying hard to access a sadness that should be inside her, but she pretty much spoke plainly, "he came on a pilgrimage to Mayatalav once in three years. I was young, he was the first to introduce me to candy.....!"

"Well, why was he frozen dead....?", Vaibhav shouted in a quick response.

"Dr. Roy!", Biraj shot him back, stepping forward to grab his hand.

Vaibhav suddenly got quiet, keenly looking at the photo, and turned the pages, as he staggered under Biraj's grip.

"...subdermal lesions!", Vaibhav said as Biraj made him stand in a corner.

"I understand this is getting scarier, but can you like be sensitive....", Biraj said through gritted teeth, "and there is a stab wound on that list....!"

"There are also lesions on his chest, flowing blood in incredibly susceptible to electric fields. She did this, she stabbed him..."

"And what then brought down the thunder, like a roar of the lion.....!", Biraj swallowed his disbelief as he spoke.

"Exactly!", Vaibhav continued, "she stabbed him and the crackling thunder made his blood travel upwards inside his body, for a moment, but the pressure was too much. If the stab didn't kill him, this did....!"

Biraj took a sip of tea, waiting for Vaibhav to speak more.

"You heard Master da...", said Vaibhav, "I'm not the one trying to figure her out, she's watching me. Whoever she is, she's very close...!"

"You know I can hear you both, right?", Chaitali chuckled from behind, "now who is 'she'....?"

Biraj and Vaibhav looked at each other before Vaibhav told him. Chaitali squinted her eyes, as Biraj told her of the supernatural storm, again trying to access an emotion simply not there.

"You two are the only ones who saw her bringing down....the sky! She was wrapped in black, so no idea who she is......."

"She is probably an ancient yogi...", Biraj began.

"One who can control rains...!", Vaibhav added.

"Some know about her...", Biraj said, "like Naitik Bose, warned us not to get in her way....."

"Should I play a part in this?", Chaitali rotated her arms, "cosmically, I mean. Because law and......"

"The cosmic law is everyone does their part!', Vaibhav picked up a ziplock bag full of loose mud. He absent-mindedly emptied it on the desk and began to run his hands over it, "everyone does their part.....
The English confiscate these lands in an effort to colonise....
The zamindars bought them back,
Driven by the passion that these lands belonged to them all along....
Maybe there lived a person, more magnificent than the rich,
Who played their part in the story.....
The untold tales of common people,
A lot of stories to tell about the best and none of the ordinary....."

"Really!", Chaitali snapped making Biraj chuckle, "does your grand philosophical insight help with solving our.....Harbinger.....problem!?"

Vaibhav stopped his musing and immediately went to the wall. He drew a bunch of folded papers from the heap of files and laid it out on his desk.

"Vaibhav, please don't go into the zone!", Biraj put down his cup and nodded at Chaitali. Then came forward to Vaibhav's desk to look at a map dated 1864 on his desk, ".....harbinger, what are you trying to bring upon us......!?"

"Vaibhav, these maps are hundred years old", Chaitali made an obvious observation, "and is someone going to talk about the court proceedings!"

"Chaitali!", Biraj intervened, "I think despite what happens with the..... harbinger....it holds no meaning if the naxals not convicted in court tomorrow! the society will thrive nonetheless and the law must prevail...."

"These are frightening foreshadows", Vaibhav said as he traced his fingers over the map, "this map was the first of its kind plotting elevation points. Master da told, she used to go on every forest expedition....", Vaibhav stopped tracing his fingers, "the coming storm, I know what the harbinger is up to!"

"Well, what is she foreshadowing?", Biraj asked, "what is she the harbinger of?"

"I think....", began Vaibhav, "I think she is the harbinger of nor'wester!"