A Man’s Dream

The Dead Jungle

Once upon a time there lived a man named Harish Choudhary. He was an ordinary man. He was 27 years old and was a bachelor. He loved Tuna with mayo. One day a man asked him, “Can I please buy this house for a month? After a month I’ll give you a Lakh, ok? But I will give you an advance of Rs. 10,000 now.” Harish didn’t have a word to say. He had never got so much money in his life ever. “By the way if I was wondering if these weren’t true?” he thought.

Harish was very happy but he decided to keep an eye on the man. He asked his name. “I am Meono Ching Chang Chu”. Lol! What a funny name. Harish burst out laughing but MCCC was not impressed at all. From that day onward Harish named him Mocchu. He gave Harish advance money that he promised. Harish signed the legal papers of his house and gave it to Mocchu.

The money Harish got was in Indian currency but when he tried to buy something with it the shopkeeper said that the money was fake. He understood that he was fooled.

Harish was very sad. He ran to the nearest village for living and shade. The village he decided to live in was named the Hart Village. Harish heard a lot about this village on the internet and also in the print media. But the only problem was the wild animals and the flash floods that occurred regularly.

The people of Hart Village were clever people. Harish knew that the village was always filled with tourists. He didn’t reach the Hart Village yet.  He needed to cross a jungle named the Dead Jungle. Thousands of people had died while crossing it. “But why?” Harish wondered. He was a bit scared. What if there was a black mamba or a lion or a tiger. Thinking about them made him almost faint. He was not sure if he could reach the Hart Village. He felt there was no chance. He had to die then. But suddenly his sleeping spirit woke up and decided to walk through the jungle. His spirit was a like a scared cat as he was still frightened.

His whole family was of lionhearts. They didn’t get scared of anything. His pitaji was the bravest of all in Harish’s family. Nobody was able to defeat his pitaji, not even black mamba, which is the deadliest and poisonous snake in the whole world.

Harish started his journey. “Why do they call it the Dead Forest! I don’t see a single thing that’s so deadly in this forest.” Suddenly he heard a sound which seemed like a tiger’s roar but deadlier than it. It was even deadlier than a lion’s. “Then what is it,” he wondered.

The stream

He ran as fast as he could and came near a stream which he didn’t know of. He saw a deadly creature and this time he really fainted and fell into the stream. He floated in the stream for about two hours before he woke up and found himself alive. He couldn’t believe his luck. He was hungry and he understood that he took the wrong way.

After walking continuously for a day, he reached a very small village. Luckily, he bought all the money from his home but they were lost after he fell into the stream. He was thinking of his house and money and he crashed with a tree and had muzzy sight and lost his senses completely.

After two days he woke up and found himself in a strange place at somebody’s house.

“Where am I?” Harish thought still feeling tired. “Was I hit with a tree?” he said to himself.

“Hello! Are you fine now Sir?” said an unknown voice.

Harish saw an old man who appeared to be over ninety years old. The man asked him to tell his full story. After hearing the story the old man felt bad for Harish. Harish saw a lot of servants of the man. He thought that the old man must be a very famous person.

Yes, Harish was correct. He was Monet who was one of the greatest writers in the world. Harish was very proud to be staying with a legend. Harish was also a writer and he had published 2 books till then. The best was ‘Coming from the Sky’. Monet comforted him. Monet was a kind and generous man. He loved sharing things with everyone. Then, one of Monet’s assistant spoke in an abstract language.

Harish stayed with Monet for five days and once again started his journey towards Hart Village. Monet gave him a map. It was 45 km from Monet’s house. When Harish saw the date, he was shocked. It was 19th April 1899. He needed to reach Hart Village by 10th April. He was already late.

How can I cross this stream?

Next day he woke up at 6 am. He took 4 tunas as food for his journey. He wasn’t happy to leave Monet but he had to reach the Hart Village. He continued to walk through the dead forest. No noise was made, and he reached the stream again. He thought in his mind, “How can I cross this stream? I have nothing with me that will help me to cross it! Oh no! How can I continue?”

Then he suddenly saw that dangerous creature again and threw his arms and shouted “ohh nooooooooo….”

As his hands hit some hard surface Harish woke up and found himself lying on the bed. “This was only a nightmare. Phew!” Harish said thinking of his dreadful nightmare. Harish was used to a lot of nightmares but this one was the deadliest. Harish was throwing his arms in his sleep. His uncle saw his activities enthusiastically.

 More to read

The Gift of a Rainy Day

The Day it Rained Strawberries!

A Dinosaur Called Golu

The Room Next Door

About the Author

Akash Nag ( 5 Posts)

Akash Nag is a student of Garden High School, Kolkata. He swears by cricket but loves swimming and watching football as well. When in a good mood, Akash loves to draw the world of his dreams.
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