Athena sat on a flat rock, meditating. The tight bonds of rope aroung her body didn’t really bother her at all. She was contented to just sit there and think of nothing but peace.
On the other hand, Gary and George were fighting over a drumstick. They were squabbling about who should deserve that drumstick better.
“I found this wild chicken!” Gary yelled.
“Well, I shot it!” George barked at him fiercely.
“If it weren’t for me, you would be eating that nasty trout again!”
“What’s the use of finding it if you can’t kill it?”
“And what’s the use of a gun if you can’t find anything to shoot?”
Henry, who was drinking his coffee, sat quietly as he watched his friends continue bickering at each other.
“Well, at least I plucked and cleaned the chicken!” Gary growled.
“Well, I cooked it!” George insisted.
“No way! I set up the fire!”
“And who brought the wood?”
“And who brought the matches?”
“Henry,” Athena opened her eyes in the midst of all the racket, “would you be so kind as to let George have your drumstick? I’m sure it’s still untouched.”
Henry nodded. He picked up the drumstick on his plate, poked George and passed the drumstick to him. George looked at it and noticed Athena smiling and nodding at him behind Henry. He let go of Gary and accepted the drumstick. Henry grinned and went back to sipping his coffee. Athena went back to her meditation.
“I wonder when we are going to get out of this bloody forest. It’s been weeks since we left home for this trip,” Gary complained as he munched triumphantly on his drumstick. His red hair shone under the light of the fire.
“That’s because you lost the map!” George said dourly. “You’re all thumbs, Gary. You can’t even hold a pencil right, let alone an important thing as a map!”
“I did not lose the map! I stuffed it into your bag as soon as I finished reading it! You lost it! And another thing,” Gary protested before George could rebut him back again, “you didn’t bring a compass along. That was your job. So there!”
“Well, I never! You suggested this trip in the first place! You bragged about knowing this place like the back of your hand! Now look what you’ve led us to!”
“Me? Me?! Why, I…”
Henry shushed them and jerked his head towards the meditating Athena. Gary and George ceased their quarrelling and turned their backs towards each other. Secretly, from the corner of their eyes, they stared at Athena sitting on the rock with her eyes closed, deep in her thoughts, clad in her usual robes. A very unlikely thing to wear during a camping trip, but neither of the men mind.
Having finished their dinner, the men took out their sleeping bags and tucked themselves in. only Athena remained at her spot. Gary did call her to go to bed, but seeing that she didn’t react, he left her alone and turned over, falling asleep instantly.
Athena continued meditating. The peace and tranquility of the forest was music to her ears. Apart from the occasional forest bugs, the men’s snoring and the crackling of fire, everything was fine. Her mother was right; if there is peace in the mind, there’s peace everywhere.
Suddenly there was a jingling of bells. Athena opened her eyes abruptly, shocked at what she heard. There wasn’t a decent sound in the forest for weeks and now there it was, right in front of her! Maybe somebody has come to help them at last. Maybe someone has heard wind of their disappearance and sent the rescue team to help them. Athena relieved herself of her sitting position and got off the rock. Henry heard her and woke up.
“Sorry to wake you up, Henry,” Athena apologized.
Henry shook his head, and then gazed at her with questioning eyes.
“I hear bells. Do you hear it?”
Henry raised his head a little. The jingling caught his ear. He nodded.
“It could be the rescue team. It could be anybody. Do wake the others up. I have a feeling we’ll be saved.”
Henry got up in a thrice and shook Gary and George awake. Athena stood a few feet away from them, waiting.
“What is it? What is it? If that’s you, Gary, I’ll…” George mumbled sleepily, annoyed at the sudden shaking.
“Wake up, George. Wake up, Gary. I hear bells. There might be help coming to us. Let’s go and see who it is,” Athena urged.
At the word ‘help’, Gary and George were wide awake almost immediately. They didn’t care if their hair were ruffled; they’re dying to see another person in the forest that might provide some sort of rescue. They ran towards the sound of the jingling which was music to their ears, leaving Athena and Henry behind.
Moments later, they found themselves standing in front of a jeep. It was a classic one, the type which was used by soldiers during the war, the one without the roof. On the rear-view mirror was a crystal bell hanging from a silver string, jingling and jangling, pointing forward.
Athena and Henry caught up. They saw the jeep and the bell, but there was no one else in sight. Gary and George called out a few times but nobody answered. Nobody appeared out of nowhere and said, “Yes, you called?” or “Hey, that’s my jeep!” There wasn’t even a sound of a footstep.
“No one’s here, only the jeep,” Gary concluded. “Guess we have to ride ourselves back to town. A car for free, imagine that! He he he!”
“No, Gary, please!” Athena begged, quite horrified. “It’s not right to steal someone else’s car. It might belong to someone!”
“Well, we’ve called several times but no one showed up. How can you be sure that person needs it? He probably didn’t give a damn about this baby and dumped it here. It’s pretty old, you know.”
“Maybe they left it there for a while and went to the men’s room or something. It’s just not right.”
“Well, right or not, Athena, this sucker left the keys in the car. How stupid can that person be if he really cared about the car?”
“I don’t know…” Athena was still worried.
“Come on, Athena. We’re just borrowing the jeep,” George, for once, defended Gary. “Once we get to town, we’ll find the owner and give it back to him, plus apology. Whaddaya say?”
“Well…”
“You want to go home to your peaceful lifestyle again, don’t you?”
“Y…Yes, I must say…”
“Then hop in!” Gary grinned. He turned the key in the ignition and it started immediately. “Let’s get out of this dump!”
Athena finally let herself into the car. Henry was the only one who had a driving license, so he sat in the driver’s seat. Athena sat beside him and the rest sat at the back. As soon as everyone got on the jeep, before Henry laid his hands on the steering wheel, the jeep suddenly swerved and went down the road, going towards the direction of where the bell was pointing.
“What’s going on?! Henry, is this what you learn in driving school?!” Gary shrieked as he held on tight to the seat. Henry put his hands up and shook his head in protest, indicating that he didn’t dupe the car or anything.
“Oh heavens! This car has a mind of its own! It’s taking us deep into the forest!” Athena screamed in panic. The men were also in panic. Henry tried to step on the brakes but it didn’t work either.
“Look! The tank is empty!” Gary exclaimed, pointing at the tank meter. “But the jeep’s still running! It really has a mind of its own!”
Athena clasped her hands and prayed. Henry held tight on the steering wheel. Gary and George grabbed on each other. None of them knew what to do.
A desperate cry for help was the last thing they could say before they were carried deeper and deeper into the thick forest.
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