Shuttered Secrets

Mira has a bandanna tied firmly to her hair. The wind that rustles the few free strands doesn’t bother her much. She sits upright, camera poised in her hands, ready for the perfect shot. She feels the car slow down, and she quickly snaps the picture she has been trying to capture for the past hour or so.

“Yes!” She exclaims as the forest keeps rolling by.

“What?” Karan asks from behind the steering wheel. “Caught a deer on the road in broad daylight or what?” He asks playfully.

She nudges his shoulder playfully, “Stop it!”

She leans back in her seat, her camera resting in her lap with a hand over it for any sudden need. The warm wind teases her hair, carrying the faint scent of damp leaves and woodsmoke. The gentle sunlight of the late afternoon basks them in its warmth.

“It was another tree, wasn’t it?” Karan asks again, a small smile on his lips and a playful tone which almost sounds resigned.

“The trees here are beautiful. And you know it. Some of them are so old! Their trunks could be as wide as our car!” Mira sighed deeply, letting the scent of damp earth fill her lungs. She’d spent years craving this—mossy forests, wildflowers at every turn, the kind of peace you could never find in the city. Her parents never understood her obsession. She could almost hear her mother saying, ‘Photography? Nature? But you’ll be all alone out there.’

“At this rate, you will probably run out of battery even before we check in”, Karan says while taking off his shades. His face shone brightly beneath the sunlight. Mira ruffles his head with one hand. They both laugh. She then puts her head outside the window, taking a deep breath. The road is empty, with lush forest on both sides. There is an abundance of wildflowers growing along the road. She easily identifies a few Foxgloves dancing freely with the wind. She is instantly tempted to wipe out her camera and eternally capture their beauty with a simple snap of her fingers. However, she realizes that the photos would be better if she got down from the car and snapped them. Maybe when we reach the village.

She sighed and leaned back in her seat, taking in as much of the scenery as she could. The fields they passed were freshly sown, but there was a strange stillness to them—as if the earth was holding its breath, waiting for the rain. Karan looks at her and smiles. He gently takes hold of her right hand with his left and places a soft kiss on its back. Mira smiles and squeezes his hand in return. There was a huge debate on whether Mira should take up this assignment as it included her travelling to such a secluded place alone. Looking at her crestfallen face, Karan had instantly reassured her parents by himself coming on the wild retreat with her. Mira and Karan met in college. Karan, being her senior, had already passed out and was working as a solicitor with a corporate giant. He was in the plans of joining another firm and hence had decided to leave his current employer and enjoy a few days of bliss with Mira before they both went back to their daily hustle.

“Is that a Stonehenge?” Mira asked, leaning slightly out of her seat and pointing a finger outside of Karan’s window.

“What? I am pretty sure there is only one in the world.” Karan replies jokingly but still looks out the window where Mira is pointing.

Mira waits for Karan to say something, but he stays silent for a beat too long. His grip on the wheel tightens slightly before he shrugs, his sunglasses concealing his expression once again. The structure was deep in the forest on a hill, its jagged tips barely visible through the dense foliage. Something about it felt.... wrong. Out of place. Mira stared at it longer than she intended, a faint chill crawling down her spine. It was probably just her imagination.

By the time they reach their destination, the sun is low on the horizon, painting the sky with hues of amber and rose. As they pulled into the village, the sun sank lower, its golden light glinting off the car’s hood. Mira leaned her head on Karan’s shoulder, her fingers laced with his. The road had been long, but right now, with the forest around them and the warmth of his hand in hers, she felt perfectly content.

As they near the village, a breeze picked up, cooler than before, but nothing out of the ordinary. She rubbed her arms out of habit. Just tiredness. That’s all. Maybe the long drive was making her a little jumpy. Nothing was weird here—just her imagination running wild again.

As if on cue, Karan stops the car near a small tea stall. A small settlement of houses are slightly visible in the distance. The tea stall is a small run down place. A scanty roof of hay and coconut leaves, barely staying together on four pillars of wood. Mira sits down on one of the two old plastic stools still rubbing her hands together for some warmth. There a few locals sitting around a banyan tree, chatting and joking amongst each other. She walks past them and hears a man saying, “The cows don’t eat like they used to. Strange, how they just... stop.”

Karan walks towards the owner, a raggedy old man, his face as wrinkled as the branch of the old oak tree they saw on their way here. Karan leans on the counter, “Two cups of tea, please. Madam over there has been feeling the chill since we arrived.” He says, pointing towards Mira with the shake of his head. The owner smiles slightly.

“It is not that chilly.” He says while looking at Mira.

Mira scowls at Karan as he winks at her. Shaking her head she turns to the old guy, “Can I click a picture of you while you brew the tea. I am a photographer. I want to capture such moments”

“Sure.”

She nudges Karan out of the way and starts clicking a few pictures.

Karan sits down on the stool and turns on his mobile phone.

“You won’t get any reception over here baba.” The owner says. “There is no mobile tower nearby, we go the main city a few kms away to call or deliver messages.”

“Well that sucks,” Karan puts his mobile away and leans back while taking off his sunglasses.

Mira chuckles, “Now who is not used to being away from the city?”

The old man looks at Karan and continues making the tea. He serves it in two earthen glasses. Mira instantly grabs one and lets the warmth seep into her skin. The tea is amazing. The ginger in it has a strong aroma, prepared without any milk, it soothes all of Mira’s senses. She leisurely sips at it, taking her own sweet time. She notices as the old man pulls out a talisman from his undershirt. It is a symbol she doesn’t know. A ward against the evil maybe or a good luck charm.

“Kaka, on our way here, I saw a Stonehenge like structure in the forest. Is it near here somewhere? Can I visit? I would love to know the history of it.” She asks while sipping the tea.

“Yes Kaka, tell her. Soon enough she will know about this village more than you do.” Karan comments as he puts his half finished cup down.

He chuckles and says, “Ah, that old thing? Been there forever. Not much to see, really.”

“You will be staying in the village? I thought you must be going towards the town. That is where the tourists usually go.” He asks.

“We wanted to study the local history, what best place to do that if not the actual village?” Mira says. The old man nods.

“New visitors, eh? Always nice to have fresh faces around here. The village is peaceful—you’ll like it. If you need anything, just ask around. We take care of our own here.”

Karan walks up to the counter, paying for the tea.

The old man looks up at him, “You remind me of someone... from long ago.”

Karan laughs it off but looks unsettled for just a moment before quickly changing the topic. They both then say their farewell to the old man and get into the car.

Mira hums a tune slightly to herself. “You didn’t like the tea?” She asks him, remembering the half full cup.

He pauses for a moment, looking a bit distracted and then casually replies, “I am not a fan of the ginger.”

Mira hummed softly, the warm taste of tea still lingering on her tongue. Karan, however, hadn’t said much since they got back in the car. He was watching the road a little too intently, his fingers tapping absently against the wheel. Behind them, the tea stall owner watched their car disappear down the road. Then, slowly, he tucked the talisman back beneath his shirt.