" There is a very thin line between being curious and adventurous. Sometimes too much curiosity can spoil the fun of an adventure."
What happened when a fun day out turned into a nightmare. How nine carefree teenagers unknowingly involved themselve...
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Beside the brook: 16th July Saturday: 3:00 am:
"You don't love me....right?"
Manik's tone startled Nandini. She looked at him perplexed. Manik's face was red in furry.
"How does it come? I love you, you know that but that doesn't mean I will ignore the gravity of this situation. We are in peril and we should concentrate on how we can be safe from this. Your immaturity can get us in danger again."
Nandini tried to pacify her mercurial boyfriend. Manik tightened his grip on her wrist. She felt pain still chose to be quiet.
"Okay, that means you too think that I...only I am responsible for your and our friends' suffering? I put you all in this danger by my immaturity. So, why don't you leave me? Why are you putting yourself in danger by being with this immature guy? LEAVE... and stay happy."
By saying this Manik sat with a jerk leaving Nandini flabbergasted. With a perplexed mind, Nandini also got up and sat grabbing her knees near to her chest. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Manik didn't pay any heed and walked to the brook. He sat on a boulder and took some water into his palm and dabbed his wet palm on the bruise. His face contorted with a pang of pain.
"Come...let me see your wound. You need to rest. I won't stop you to do anything. If you want to reduce your stress like this I am ready. Come....this moist cold breeze may harm you."
Manik didn't realise when Nandini came and stood behind him. But her words made him more vexed. Without turning back he gritted out,
"I told you to stay away from me. I can be harmful to you. Can't you hear me?"
"Manik..why are you overreacting? Okay, I am sorry. Now, please come and sit over there."
By saying this Nandini touched his shoulder but Manik jerked it off and as a result, she lost her balance and her feet slipped on the slippery mossy boulder and with a helpless scream, Nandini fell into the brook water. The cold water immediately froze her blood. She doesn't know swimming and now she couldn't even move her limbs due to the numbness. She helplessly tossed in the undertow of the water and gasped for breathing. The current of the water was slowly engulfing her tiny frame. For a while, Manik stunned and helplessly looked here and there for any rope-like thing that he can throw towards Nandini to grab. But he realised that he didn't have that time for that. In the bonfire light, Manik saw Nandini's head in the water was tossing like a ball and slowly started to disappear in the darkness. At the drop of a hat, he jumped into the stream. The brook seemed narrow and tamed from its upper surface but its undertow could challenge any swimmer like Manik who is known as the Michael Phelps in their S.P.A.C.E.College. For a fraction of a second, he also collapsed but immediately gained his dominance and started stroking her hands and legs to afloat as well as to reach Nandini. His body frequently banged to the river bed boulder but he didn't feel any pain as his mind was numb. He frantically propelled towards Nandini because he feared that he might lose her faint view in darkness. After a scuffle with the wild water, he was almost near to her and stretched his hand in hope that Nandini would grab it. However, he didn't get any response from her and being a trained swimmer he sensed that Nandini lost her conscience. He knew that in this condition she can be drowned without any resistance. He was still some centimetre away from her faint body. All of a sudden Nandini got stuck to a dry bough submerged into the water. This allowed Manik to have some time and he immediately scuffled to reach her. Reaching to her he freed her body from the bough and grabbed her from the waist. He halted for a second grabbing the dry bough and gasped to gain his breath. After that, he tried to approach the bank by holding the tree branch and gradually touched it. He lifted Nandini's unconscious body and placed it on the surface and got out of the water. He too was exhausted and lay beside Nandini for a moment but immediately got up with a fright. He placed his head on her chest and tried to feel her heartbeat.
"Nandini, wake up....wake up, Nandini...!"
He started patting her cheeks trying to bring her sense back. He brought his fingers near her nostrils and realized that she is not breathing either.
"Nandini....come on...you are not so weak. You are fine...I am here with you...come on get up damn it...!"
He blabbered and started pumping her stomach and occasionally felt her heartbeat but Nandini remained motionless.
"Come on...stop scaring me. You know...your Manik doesn't fear anything...Come on....breathe...!''
He pressed her nose and placed his lips on her open mouth and blew air into it. Simultaneously, he kept on pressing her stomach. After a couple of efforts, Nandini gasped sharply and started spewing water. She was coughing and gasping. Manik started rubbing her feet.
"Relax...you are okay...try to breathe normally...You are saved...I am here..."
He continuously hosed out trying to make her normal. After throwing out lots of water from her stomach, Nandini again lay on the ground with her trembling limbs. She didn't have any strength left to even sit. Manik was rubbing her palms and frequently feeling her pulse.
Nandini whispered meekly. Suddenly Manik enveloped Nandini into his chest. She was taken aback but too weak to react rather she closed her eyes and loosened her body in submission and reliance. She felt like after a storm, a silver line has shone in the cloudy sky. Manik was compressing her upper torso to his chest too intensely that seemed he wants to hide her into his soul. Nandini felt breathless after a moment and tried to let out her discomfort when Manik said in a raspy tone,
"Nandini, I was almost going to lose you again. God knows why I can't control my anger. Abhi was right. My anger always lands us up in trouble. But this time I was about to lose you twice. I can never forgive myself. Maybe everyone is right; I am not good enough for you. You deserve much better than me. But I can't live without you either. I will die if you won't be there in my life."
Nandini could feel his quivering body on her. She felt the warmth of his tears on her cold skin. He dug his face more to her neck to suppress the emotional outburst.
"You are right; you are not good enough for me."
Nandini's words stiffened his body. Slowly he withdrew himself and looked at her in surprise. Nandini's face was emotionless.
"You always put me into trouble with your anger. But you forgot that every time you only come to save me from that trouble. You remember; how you ragged me in college on my first day? I was so pissed off that I decided to take a transfer certificate but then you again came to me and started troubling me. Not because you wanted me to leave but to fight back. I punched you and you smiled because you were happy that I gained my self-confidence again. You trouble me by not listening to me but I know how you listen to my every unsaid word. You said right, you are not good for me but you are the best for me. No one can love me the way you do and I am not shy to say that I don't consider myself so deserving to have you. I can't live without you either. If Manik is there then Nandini is there. Manan is there. Otherwise, nothing is there.
Uttering so much Nandini paused to gather her breath again. Manik's eyes were gleaming with tears. He smiled and said,
"Sometimes I wonder what I did actually to......"
Nandini completed the line,
"...deserve me. Well, you did just one thing. You loved me to the moon and back and I fell for that..."
She gave a coy smile. In a fraction of a second, Manik engulfed her lips into his and poured all his love into that toe-curling kiss. Nandini too dug her fingers in his hair and welcomed that passion. Their bodies were wet but those were burning with desire. After some time, Manik felt her breathlessness and unwillingly left her swollen lips. They both gazed at each other for a while.
"Nandini, you are shivering. You are all wet. If you don't change then you might fall ill."
Nandini looked at her minutely for the first time after this accident and realised that she is fully drenched. She felt that she is feeling cold. She looked back to Manik. His bare upper body was also shivering due to the cold breeze.
"Change? But how? Our all clothes got drenched."
Nandini became sceptical.
"Not all clothes. My shirt is there. It is still dry. We have to go back to that spot. It has a bonfire. We will get some warmth and you can wear my shirt too."
Manik came up with a solution.
"But what about you? You are also wet."
Nandini sounded concerned.
"I will manage with your hotness. I have already started imagining how you will look only in my shirt. I am sure you won't look cute at all as always...rather....."
"Ma..nik.."
Nandini chided and slapped his bicep to stop him. In reply, he giggled as always.
