The Forest's Cry: Dharma Awakening
On the eve of their arrival at the great city of Mithila,
Vishvanmitra the sage, Rama and Lakshmana stop for their final night’s rest. A small
fire is made in little time. It burns with the branches and leaves cracking
beneath, releasing warmth into the air as the embers dance up into the sky.
Rama is content as he watches the fire, and listens while Vishvanmitra and
Lakshmana discuss the next day’s travels. Their time together burns into Rama
as he thinks back on the events since they left his father and home. There is
a soft hypnotic pleasure within him as he watches the flame slowly burn out. More
contemplation reaches him as he becomes anxious of the days to come, and the
conclusion of his adventure. The fire he so enjoyed watching slowly releases
its last ember up into the sky and Rama becomes deeply saddened. With his soul
still spinning, he quietly rises and moves into the forest for meditation in
private. Lakshmana and the sage sleep quietly.
…
Lakshmana rises quickly and looks around the camp. Closing
his eyes, he listens intently, trying to find a horrible scream that came from the
think forest. Trying to find another sound of similarity, his ears ring again; another distant and distorted scream echos in his head. He drops to the forest floor with
mute silence. He notices the fire died out several hours ago, and that his
brother Rama is nowhere to be seen. Vishvamitra sleeps silently near the dead fire.
After a short time of searching the area surrounding the camp, Lakshmana finds Rama meditation on a large rock in a small clearing in the
forest. The sky is slightly visible above him, and the light of the stars and
moon softly fall where Rama sits. Lakshmana sees this sight and becomes overrun
with peace, feeling as if a godly grace touches him from the sight of his
brother, just as the moon’s light envelops Rama. Content in that moment,
Lakshmana takes his position at the base of the rock and sits to guard his
brother. The memory of the scream he heard, just shortly, melts away.
...
Again, a disturbing sound echoes in Lakshmana’s head and he
stands up abruptly. Knowing without a doubt he heard a horrid scream, he draws
his bow. Rama does not stir, and that is what Lakshmana wants: his brother to
stay in meditation. Once again Lakshmana quietly walks into the forest towards
the noise. He continues until another disembodied scream echoes through the
forest, this time much louder. His blood freezes, and the warm night air
becomes chilled. He begins running towards the scream.
When he arrives, a horrible image greets him: a small
village burns. Trails of blood lead from the houses off into another part of
the dense forest. A blackened corpse lies on the ground between two of the village's huts.
It moves slightly, trying to crawl its way into the forest. Lakshmana rushes to
the person, hoping to save them. The moment Lakshmana reaches for his hand the
arm decays away into ash. Lifting its head slightly, the body looks at him with dark, colorless eyes. Blood drips from them in the place of tears. The body tries to speak, but
instead falls motionless into the arms of Lakshmana. The body dissolves into
cold ash. Horrified Lakshmana stands up and begins searching for other
survivors. Everything is dead. He heads into the forest, following the blood-stained
trail.
Another agonizing scream reaches Lakshmana. He pushes
himself faster to reach the cries. As he runs he notices a white figure on his
right flank. While still running with haste he turns towards the figure and
fires a bolt from his bow. The shot misses only slightly in front of the
creature. He stops as he becomes deeply horrified from what he sees. A slow-moving
pack of Pretas are accompanying him to the sound of the scream. Their small
white distorted bodies move closely to the ground. What were once greedy people are reincarnated into these small, disgusting shells. Their eyes were
blackened, mouths sown shut, and their slim arms, legs, and neck protrude out
from a swollen abdomen, also sown shut. They moan terrible noises as they all
turn to look at him, yet they continue like cattle towards the location of the
screams.
Lakshmana shakes away his disbelief, reminding himself that
if these Pretas are here, then there must be something equally as horrible
further ahead. Again, he starts towards the sounds, sprinting with all his
might. The urge to stop these terrible acts being inflicted on humans resonates throughout his being.
When he finally arrives, he sees a pile of burnt and
bloodied corpses lying in a giant pile in the middle of a clearing. Blood
trails from all directions lead to the bodies. There are several figures
heaving the bodies each direction, some depositing the corpses while others
drag and carry them away towards a large burning fire. Near the fire are limbs
and bones scattered around more dark figures. His body trembles as he watches
the daemons devour innocent people.
Rama appears behind Lakshmana, urging him to leave the
terrible sight. Rama tells him that there is nothing they can do to save the
villagers anymore, for if it was their Dharma, then it was long past. Reluctant Lakshmana and Rama leave heading back to the sage. They return to their campsite silently. As
they sit, Lakshmana prays deeply to Vishnu to judge and restore the balance of
karma to the villagers, Rakshasa and Preta he witnessed that night. As he does
Rama feels a flood of emotions and images rush into his mind of the events that
unfolded that night. He hears his brother's voice praying to Vishnu, although not
aloud. Rama’s eyes open to see the sage and the sun rise. As they leave, Rama
and Lakshmana say nothing about the events of the night to either themselves
nor the sage. A fiery passion for retribution and balance burns inside Rama as
he feels Lakshmana’s prayers continue while they walk to the city of Mithila.
Authors note's:
The
enjoyment of dark twists and partial insights to events and story’s is
something I thoroughly enjoy. That is, story’s that do not tell you everything,
but leave speculations and bits of information about itself up to the reader to
contemplate, deduce, and speculate. I draw my passion for this from the many
hours I have spent enjoying horror movies, games and readings: some of my
favorite readings come from dark fairy tales of my German ancestry, and the
modern urban myths know as creepy pasta’s. Slenderman is one of those dark stories
that grabbed a hold of my interests and fears very deeply.
Also, there is a certain pleasure
for me to tell about minor characters or those who are not within the main
spotlight of stories; such as Lakshmana, Karna, or Balarama. Most of my stories
within this portfolio and this blog that are derived from my readings will
include such renditions. Main character spin-offs are things I despise, not
because they are bad, but rather because there are so many other characters and
options for one to imagine and create that are in the background of major
stories.
The Forest’s Cry: Dharma Awakening is the conclusion to week two’s story
planning, although additions and amendments will surely be added to this and
all pieces.
Source:
The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Pose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: R. K. Narayan
Published by Penguin Group, New York, New York. 1973. Print (and Web).
