Meaning of Sign

A Chapter by Lively

They didn’t have any idea where to go. So they decided to go to an old cave at the hill opposite to the village. Clubs has enquired about the paper and it was found to be made thousands of years ago from trees found especially on that hill. This hill was the highest of all. They sat there and put on their thinking caps.

Clubs: I have brought the map you asked for.

Spade: Thanks.

Diamond: What kind of map?

Spade: Map of Solitaire.

Diamond: You still think that the sign is path to our destination.

Hearty (in a low pitched voice): He did correct.

Diamond: Oh! And why do you think so?

Hearty (pointing to the stars in the sky): See that guys.

Spade: See the ground.

Diamond: Wow!

Hearty: It’s so lovely!

Spade: Hearty! See if the map denotes any such place.

Hearty: It’s a village on central hill.

Spade: We will set out tomorrow for there.

[The reflection of their starlight on ground made a word “Deck”. Deck was a very cool place in Solitaire, fully covered with snow and having broken buildings. It was a dead place with gravely silence.]

At around midnight a soft whistling sound was heard. Diamond went out to see what happened.

Diamond: Who’s there?

Meanwhile, Hearty came out to enquire what happened.

Hearty: What’s going on?

Diamond (directing his hang towards the forest): I heard some voice over there.

Hearty (scared): It may an animal.

Diamond: It was something else.

WHAT WAS THAT?

Next day everybody was preparing for going. But then arose a problem. Diamond was nowhere to be seen. His tent was vacant although his bags, food and all the materials were present. Where had he gone leaving his camp?

Spade: Where is Diamond?

Clubs He may have gone for morning walk or for some other work.

Spade: It is said that a poor man runs in the morning to earn his daily bread and the rich one to digest his daily bread. But it’s not the time for a walk, its 10:00 am.

Hearty: I may be…

Spade: What?

Hearty tells him the whole story of the last night.

Spade: You mean an animal has killed him.

Hearty: No, it was something else. I could feel that devilish thing. It can’t be an animal.

Spade: I think you are a little tired. Your love dreams are converting to horror.

Hearty: No. It’s not that.

Spade: Let’s not talk about it and go and search for him.

Hearty and Clubs you go towards the valley and I am going to forest. We will meet here at noon.

[They disperse. Hearty and Clubs calls out “DIAMOND”…]

In the valley, the river was overflowing with the waters from glacier. While walking in the sand on its bank, Hearty: Diamond! Diamond!

Clubs: We should not shout much here. And be a little concerned, it’s a very dangerous place.

Soon Hearty slipped her leg.

Hearty (keeping her hand out of water): Help me, please.

Clubs (scared): Hold on. I am pulling.

But then, a stone came and hit her head and she fell unconscious. Clubs hold loosened and she was flown away. There was a waterfall at some distance……

Clubs now needed to go down on the ground, but it was quite dangerous. It took her 20-25 min. to reach the ground. She now started searching for Hearty! It continued for next half hour, until she felt the need of Spade now.

She ran toward the camp. But it was still around an hour left for noon. So she decided to search for Spade and ask him to help.

Clubs (in the forest): Spade! Spade!

Spade heard this sound and started running towards it.

He felt that she was somewhere near. He turned to a tree and then a BooooooooooooooooSH.

Leaves fell on the ground as if a rain of leaves.

He ran here and there and even called her name, but in vain. He was running towards camp when he fell in a deep pit. He fell unconscious.

When they all opened their eyes, they were away, far away but near, near to the DECK. They had forgotten how they felt unconscious and reached here.

Diamond was in a village on north of hill, Hearty in a village in south, Spade in east and Clubs in west. They all were in Churches, on the foot of Jesus Christ. The only good thing about the situation was that they were alive. Everybody knew that he or she was alive but they didn’t know if their friends were living. They didn’t have any clue of each other. They were now in a situation when can’t see the wood for the trees. They could not understand what is going on. But it was just a beginning……………

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