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Darkness —
Mona's ears strained to hear anything... any trace of humanity. His legs ached. A hand tugged at his shirt and a small voice piped up.
"How far do we have to go? I'm tired!"
He turned to see the face of his younger brother Sona, who seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Shh...don't cry. Remember, big boys don't cry. Here... suck on this toffee while I try to find our way out." Mona tried to hide his fear from his younger brother. No, I can't cry, he scolded himself. I'm thirteen, for God's sake. He heard a strange sound and jumped. Were those voices? Did I hear a match?
Sona spoke up. "Brother — "
Mona put a finger to his little brother's lips. "Shh. Let me listen."
Maybe it's the crickets.
Suddenly, the right side of the forest lit up. The brothers looked at each other with eyes full of hope. They knew what a light in the dark forest meant. Sona took Mona's hand and led the way.
In a clearing, the boys found a small group of people sitting around a fire talking.
"Hey — " Sona started.
In the blink of an eye, the group disappeared, like an invisible magician's vanishing act. Only a man in red-and-white-striped pyjamas sat in the clearing, blinking.
Apprehensive, Sona approached him, Mona in tow. But before he could open his mouth, the man in red and white started to talk very fast. "Who are you? What do you want? If those people are sending kids to spy on us, let me tell you I haven't done anything since that incident last year." With that, he burst into tears. "Where are you, my beautiful Freya? They didn't even let me see you for one last time before they made me leave, those bastards."
Sona and Mona were surprised. They had never seen a grown man cry like this before. In an instant, Sona climbed on the man's lap and started to wipe the tears with his little red handkerchief.
Mona narrowed his eyes. "Isn't that mom's handkerchief? That's very naughty of you, Sona."
Sona decided to ignore Mona as he tried to soothe the man. "Don't cry. Ask Mona. He'll tell you big boys don't cry. See, I know that too. Now dry your eyes. It'll be okay."
Once the man had calmed down, Mona stepped forward. "I am Mona, and he is my brother Sona. We've run away from home to go to God at the top of the mountain. I've heard he can make everything right."
The man started rolling on the ground, laughing, tears streaming down his face in relief. "Sam! Fred! Sanatan! It's alright! They are not one of those bastards. They have come to see the old man living on the mountain, just like us."
Four or five heads popped out of the trees, as a few more people scurried to sit beside the fire.
A woman with a beard sneezed as she waved her hand in the air. "A-tish-oo! Oof. I nearly caught a cold hiding in the bushes. "
