The Ominous Hour
Days and years would pass unnoticed,
as one may forget or recall.
At the ordained hour, right in time,
The lethal sword of destiny shall fall.
Swinging between the thrill of receiving his mysterious messages and the agony of his absence, I wandered like a crazed nomad. For that one glimpse of those tender eyes, that single moment of proximity to the solace of my heart. I ranged precarious heights of mountains, delved the depths of dark caverns, passed long stretches of vast valleys across torrents of gushing rivers; I peeped through rabbit holes and craters on earth for who knows where our paths would meet once more.
Another of my bizarre quests found me in a dense wilderness, surrounded by the woody scent of ancient trees and the green smell of fresh foliage growing in the dark. Moonlight touched not the gloomy forest floor for intense clusters of trees fended off the lunar rays, as though the moon were banished from its wild provinces by the forest spirit. But rustling of dried leaves, distant hisses, roars and screeches spoke of uncanny presence of the creatures of darkness around me. Cold smoothness of slithers and tingly crawls upon my limbs prevented me from standing there unmoved; I fled.
Unruly growths around me made not my flight easy. Stubborn trunks of dead old trees stood in the way as my feet tangled in the twisted creepers that spread across the treacherous floor of the untamed territory. Blind bats fluttered across my face as they flew in all directions, startled by the unusual commotion raised by my flight. Scrambling through the confounding dark labyrinth for long, I saw the moon through the thinning foliage at last.
Following the lunar crescent as a beacon, I hurried towards the edge of the forest. Just as I neared a clearing outside the wilderness, my feet stumbled upon something in the dark that sent me sprawling on a bed of tall grasses. Struggling to get back on my feet, I beheld a dark figure sprawled on the thistle bushes, raising itself on its four limbs. Hardly had my eyes attuned to the pale light of the moon when the horrid face of the crone I had stumbled upon, turned to me. Her loathsome face distorted with pain and unspeakable rage, she pounced on me, seething like a wild beast. Staggering on her two crooked feet she pulled me up to her stinking uncouth body and drew her horrible face close to mine. Her enormous red veined eyes looked into my horror-struck face intently for a while; her lips curved into a hideous grin. Wagging her vicious tongue around her cracked dry lips, she pointed her knotty long nailed fingers at my eyes and bespake a deadly curse-
‘Listen well, what I will have bade;
a retribution for the mistake you have made.
Mark each word of what I said.
If I wished, you could be dead,
But I shall doom you to a luck much worse,
so malicious shall be my curse.
The evil will wait till you fall in love,
And then it will wreck havoc.
In agony and pain, shall your love wait,
And then, you’ll meet your terrible fate.
When you and your beloved be together as one,
You shall turn to ashes and he to stone.’
Trending Now
