On no school days, it was only natural to sit on our vantage point in Chaltlang, point to some hill in the distance and just set out for it. There were many times these chosen destinations were much farther off than we assumed and night would fall on us while we're in the middle of the woods. We were never afraid, I remember walking through the woods with my friends with only the moonlight gleaming through the leaves, our only fear the scolding we would surely receive when we get home...
But there's this one time I and everyone else I was with got scared out of our wits. And it all happened on this hill -
It was during the school holidays, we were sitting around, listless kids trying to come up with something fun to do. Suddenly this boy, his name was Lallawmawma, piped up -'I know what to do! Let's go to Muthi tlang!' he said. There were a few questions, 'Isn't it too far?,' 'We don't even know the way..' and most importantly 'What's there to do?.' Lallawmawma quickly put everyone's qualms to rest by proclaiming that he knew the way (even though he'd never been there), that the distance was more or less equal to our favorite swimming hole, and that the reason we should go there was because cinnamons grew there in abundance. Cinnamons! That wonderful, magical root and the best loved of all childhood treats. And when he said that we could dig up all the cinnamons we wanted to eat, plus more if we wanted to smoke them and we could bring along some old newspapers, no one needed further convincing.
We jumped up, appointed him king and leader for the day, put on our sandals and headed off in the direction of the hill. We faithfully followed in our hero's footsteps all the way up to Durtlang but when he started cutting through people's vegetable gardens, murmurs of doubt started to rise. But despite this we made him lead us far enough away from civilization that we could see houses no more and by then the sun was out in full force and we were all hot and thirsty.
And when we met two farmers and our fearless leader stopped to ask them the way to Muthi, we dethroned him immediately. We did find the rest of the way easily enough because there was only one tiny path in the forest to follow from there on anyway.
When we got to the forest, all the disappointments of Lallawmawma's failed leadership was forgotten. It was beautiful! A virgin forest, thick with trees, and the defamed king was right about the cinnamons. Except that they were either bitter or tasteless. I remember someone saying the plants were too young..We kept digging but we gave up after a while and just busied ourselves with the climbing of trees and the singing of songs and other such joyful activities.
When we got to the forest, all the disappointments of Lallawmawma's failed leadership was forgotten. It was beautiful! A virgin forest, thick with trees, and the defamed king was right about the cinnamons. Except that they were either bitter or tasteless. I remember someone saying the plants were too young..We kept digging but we gave up after a while and just busied ourselves with the climbing of trees and the singing of songs and other such joyful activities.
Then what happened next was the weirdest thing ever! I was sitting on the branch of a tree with a friend, and the others were frolicking on the ground, some still digging, some singing at the top of their voices, me and my friend lustily joining in from our lofty perch..when suddenly, it grew really really dark. Almost like the darkness of an approaching thunderstorm but at an extra speed. It seemed like very thick, dark clouds were rolling in at the speed of a plane.
We were all a little scared, but calm still because we thought it was just going to rain. Then suddenly there came this sudden gust of wind blowing through the forest. It was total chaos, the wind was so loud, there were leaves being blown about everywhere, the girls were crying at the top of their voices. The wind was so strong the tree we were sitting on went crashing down, but it was not a violent crash, and luckily it was not a tall tree and the earth was really soft so we were unhurt. I was really worried about my younger sister so I immediately ran looking for her, everyone else was also running around in panic it was not easy finding her.
Then as suddenly as it started, it all stopped, everything went quiet, the wind was gone, and the sun was shining in through the trees again. It seemed to me like it all started in the blink of an eye and stopped in the exact same way and lasted only for a few minutes.
But it was eerily quiet after it was over, no birds chirping, no soft breeze rustling through the trees. I saw my sister, grabbed her hand and held on tightly. For some reason I was filled with terror, and apparently everyone else was too because no one wanted to stay anymore. Just as we were walking out of the wooded area, we saw a flock of these big geese-like birds flying out of the forest overhead. They were blackish/greyish in color and scary looking as hell. After that, we pretty much fled from that evil scene of darkness.
When me and my sister told my mom that night about the wind, and how the tree went down, and how the forest shook and how it all stopped so suddenly, she only laughed. I think she thought we just had overactive imaginations and we were blowing everything up. I was disappointed that she didn't seem to think anything was strange. I got a little sense of satisfaction when we got to the birds part and she said "That's weird!" But then she said the birds were probably 'Kawlhawk' and that they were was a common sight in the villages.
I don't know anything about Kawlhawks (what are they called in English?) because I've never seen one. And even if I saw one now it wouldn't mean anything because my memory of the birds that day is all hazy, and I remember no specifics except their size and color.
Sometimes when I meet some of the friends I was with that day we still bring up that incident and wonder. Did we indeed experience something out of the ordinary, or was it merely that our impressionable young minds misunderstood a regular weather phenomenon? Or was it the force of some paranormal activity? I guess we'll never know...
But you know, I guess the real horror story in life is the ravages of time. Two of those children I was with that day have been dead for over 10 years now, our fearless leader is now a raging drug addict and can no longer be considered sane, and will never again lead a troop of hopeful children to any magical place. And the rest of us? We may be alive but none of us can be made happy with just a few sweet puffs of cinnamon cigarettes anymore...
Well that's it. What do you think? What happened that day?
15 comments:
Kan bo i ti dawn a maw ka tia... :-P Hmanah Vaivakawn-ah kan bo zan tawh a sin. I was around 3-4 :-P Thakthing zukruk kha chu a tui em a lawm. :-P Ramhnuai kal kha ka hrat thrin bawk, sairawkherh nen.. mahse sairawkherh hian pakhatmah ka la perh thla lo :-D Silai erawh chuan ka kapthla nual toh, but not anymore.. :-) no more hunting... Paranormal chiah chu a ni dawn em ni?? Nopa'n lai hi chuan thil hi hmuh uchuak a awl a sin. Ka nopa'n deuh lai chuan ka mumang leh a tak hi ka thliar hrang thiamlo thrin a.. buaithlak thei khawp mai, dawt ka sawi phah fo.. :-P
Keipoh sairawkherh hi intihthiam viau ka tum thin nain engmah ka perh thla thei lo, mahse silai kah chu ka thiam, engmah chu ka kapthla lo nain ka target chu ka fu thei khawp mai :)
Naupan lai a thilmak kan tih kan len hnu a a lo mak lo kan tih hi kan puitling a kan fin zawk vang ni lovin, kan natural intuition kan lose vangin engmah kan awih duh tawh loh vang chauh niin ka hre tlats :)
Dawt phuahchawp pawh ni se ngaihnawm ve hrim hrim alawm.
Muthi ram saw ka la kal lo reng reng nia!!!
Thakthing zuk chu lei a thip duh an ti.
Lallawmawma chu CC i nau kha mi?
Thlipui rawn thawh a tum zet a, a thulh leh hlauh anih chu..
Naupan laia ramhnuai kal kha chu nuam ve thin mai mai
" a few puffs of cinnamon can no onger make us happy"....makes me miss childhood, i like the concluding part, the rest..err...zanah muttheihloh ka hlau eee
Varte - hehe It's always fun discussing the 'silly' stories. People's responses always amuse me. Sometimes you tell the truth and they shake their heads in disbelief, sometimes you tell them outrageous lies and they drink in every word :P Yep, Lallawmawma = CC's brother.
Jay-me - haha Alejandro sawi ang vel khi ani a chuvang chuan tui deuhin I lo mu dawn nia. A next ah muthilh theih lohna chi ka rawn post ang :)
Hmanah keini pawh luidung kan zawhnaah ka tanchhawl tawh a lawm, ril a tam duh khawp mai. Sangha leh Kaikuang kan man te kha kan hemhmin a Vai tuichawi Motorah kan chuang haw ve ringawt tawh. Reminds me of the past days.
Every group of friends need a "Lallawmawma", one who is cocky enough to attempt something he hasn't done before, and drags his friends along too. They make sure you have a great (or not so great) story to tell later.
And paranormal? Are you sure there weren't any UFOs or aliens involved? hehe.. (NOI)
Duhawma - a tui awm chutia sangha leh kaikuang hemhmin chu..tiang vel ang chi kha lawm nuam ber mai chu!
Blake - I agree totally! Life would be so much more boring without these characters. Regarding UFO's - I wish! I wanted to add an extra para about how an alien spacecraft landed after all the wind and abducted us :)
eng emoni hi chu a awm chiang alom...hmaaaann ah, class 9 ka nih laiin tanhril ah ka cousin te inah kan riak dun a, an in awm na chu a fal angreng a, chuan zanah 9, 9:30 bawr vel ah a khumah comics vel kan chhiar mai mai laiin thawklehkhat ah hnai vak lo, hla vak si lo atang hian mipa or hmeichhe aw, kan hre hrang lo, ring mangkheng hian MANGANG tih hriat reng reng au ri kan han hre mai kha chuh!!!!..hemi ka ziah lai pawh hian ka hmul thi hi a la ding deuh thei..khati khawp a mi mangang au ri ring lutuk kha ka pian a hnu lamah ka la hre ngai lo..a tuk ah midang ho kan zawh lah khan tuman an hre ve deer si lo, nuam lo ve duh khawp mai..tun hnu a kan sawi chhuah leh chang pawh hian a chhan awm, enge tih kan la hre thei lo re re..khati khawp a mihring mangang au ri hriat kha chu...paranormal thil lampang hi hmuh chu ka la hmu chiah lo a, mahse ka tawng, hre ve toh, vawi 2, 3 vel chu..eh, 1 kan hmu leh toh si, ka thianpa 1 nen, mahse sawi lo mai ang...:)
Anonymous - keipawh engemaw kan hriatthiam leh explain theih bak thil hi chu a awm thin tih hi ka ring nghet. Han sawi leh teh I thil dawn dang te chu please, keipawh hemi zawh hian a dang rawn post ka tum ania, story dang./
Ka dawih teh mai ania awww.. tiang vel hi a ngaihnawm rual2 in, ka dawih bawka, hriatloh tawp hi pawi tihloh chang ka nei :D
Kan biakin nen kan inhnaih bawka, vawi khat chu camping an neih laiin, mi kawchhunga ramhuai an hnawtchhuak ri hi kan hre pha peka, zan rei ni tawh bawk nen, chutah current an awmlo zui. Ka mu lo mai2 ania aww...
naaaah, tunah chuan sawi rih lo mai ang..nakin ah min fuihpawrh chuan ka sawi mahna,eh.. se vawi 1 chu ka hmu ve toh ani...tun hnu thlng a ngaihtuah hian ala mak chu ka ti ve thloottt!!!mak+hlauhawm!!!
Ku - ramhuai lut tih vel hi chu ka hre duh lo bur. Mahse hetiang ang ka rawn ziah ang chi story hi chu ngaihthlak nuam tawk vel chiah :D
Anonymous - khatia I sawi deuh zuai zuai tawh si mi I ti hre chak alawm1 I rawn sawi ngei chu ngai ang plizz
Khawmhma chu common name a awm lova, mahse a scientific name chu Rhus Javanica a ni e.
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