The Black Mask

First Draft

Chapter 1 – The friends get to play – finally

The sun had come out after three days of rain. The puddles of water were still there, but the kids knew well that they would dry up very soon. The rain had made the kids sit at home during the holidays. They did not like it at all.

Krishna and Rama had been waiting for the rain to stop. Now that it had, they wanted to go out and play.

“What do we play?”, Krishna asked Rama. They had only been speaking on the phone for the last few days.

Krishna’s mother also wanted him to go out and play. He had spent a lot of time with the mobile while it was raining outside. His mother had no choice either. Krishna had been reading one book a day.

“Our favourite game of course!” Rama said from the other end of the phone. He was as excited as any kid would be.

Rama’s mother was not very different from Krishna’s. She was waiting for her son to go out and play. The kids always came back home hungry after playing outside. They ate well and slept early.

“I will come to your place at four ‘o clock then”, Krishna spoke and hung up the phone. It was a few minutes to three ‘o clock.

They had been very good friends for the last five years. They had met when they were in Grade 3. Krishna had joined Rama’s school after his father had been transferred to Bengaluru from Mysuru. Now the boys went to the same school, while the fathers worked in the same office. Neither of them had ever come first in class, but had never failed. Their parents never had to tell them to study. They knew what they had to do.

Their everyday routine was simple – School from nine to three, an hour’s rest with a snack, homework and study, play, come back home, family time and then sleep by nine. Saturday and Sunday were always free for the kids. Two hours of home and studies and then they could do whatever they liked. Since they lived a few houses away from each other, Krishna and Rama were usually the first kids to arrive at the little playground near the old Banyan tree.

The two friends loved cricket. Each of them had a bat and took turns getting a ball to play. They always went early so that they could practice and warm up before their friends arrived.

Rama sat on the bed in his room and stared at the clock. He was waiting for four ‘o clock. The ground was not too far from their homes. It took them less than five minutes to walk to it.

Krishna did the same too. He wondered why he said four o’ clock when they could meet right then. He called Rama again.

“Why not play right now?” he asked.

“Why not! I will get the bat, you get the ball”, he replied as he ran back to his room to pick up the bat.

          Chapter 2 – They play

“Wow! The weather is just so good after the rain,” Krishna looked at Rama with a smile.

“I agree,” Rama tossed the ball to his friend.

They walked towards the Banyan tree. When it was just the two of them playing, they always played near the tree. The batter would play close to the tree so that if he missed, he would not have to run all the way to get the ball back.

They want to the spot they always went to.

“Look at that hole below the tree!”. It did not disturb Krishna, but Rama was a little scared.

“What if the ball goes into the hole?” Rama wondered. Krishna smiled and said,” Let’s get another ball.”

Rama smiled too. They usually had a few extra balls.

The two boys started the warm up routine. A few jumps, a few squats and stretches and they were ready in a few minutes.

Krishna took the bat and Rama the ball. Both loved bowling more than batting, but Krishna always let Rama bowl first.

“I have tried something new in the last few days when it was raining,” Rama said as he spun the ball in his hand.

“Spin?”

“Something like that,” Rama laughed loudly.

They took their positions.

They were both thirteen years and a few months old. Krishna was tall for his age, almost five feet and five inches. Rama was a little under five feet tall. There was still another five or six years to grow. Nobody could tell how tall each of them would become.

Krishna’s parents knew very well that their son would never be fair. Maybe that is why they named him Krishna. He would become a handsome man; his parents were sure. The best part of Krishna were his eyes. It was as if he was always smiling. His legs were lean and had strong legs. When he ran, people could easily make out his long strides and more often than not, he would beat most of his friends in a race.

On the other hand, Rama was stocky – not too fat, not too lean. His full name was Ramakrishna. When Krishna and he became friends, everybody else including his parents started calling him Rama, to avoid the confusion. He was really fair in complexion.

“Let us get some practice before the rest of them come,” Krishna said as he lifted the bat over his head and made a circle in the air with it. Rama was ready too.

“Check this out,” he whispered to himself as he started running in to bowl.

The ball landed near his leg and spun to Krishna’s right. He swung his bat hard and missed.

“What was that?” he looked surprised. He had not expected the ball to spin so much.

Rama smiled.

“Did you learn to do that in just three days? The rain break was good then,” Krishna was smiling too.

“Yes Krishna. I saw a video of Shane Warne on YouTube on the day it began to rain. They zoomed in on the fingers and showed how he did it. I tried a few times and the ball spun well.”

They were both smiling.

“Go get the ball now. I have one more thing to show you,” Rama said as he walked back.

Krishna turned to see where the ball had gone. Just as he turned, he saw the ball slip into the hole that had appeared after the rain.

“Oh no!” he shouted and ran towards the ball. The ground was still not completely dry.

“Be careful,” Rama shouted as he saw his friend almost slip and fall.

Krishna ran towards the ball, to try and stop it from going into the hole. He was very close to it and the ball was slowly rolling down. He ran a little faster and slipped. He slid forward.

The ball and Krishna both disappeared into the hole.

Chapter 3 – The cave

The hole seemed deep. Very deep. In fact, it seemed like a tunnel. Krishna had been playing near the Banyan tree for the last few years. Never did he expect that there could be a tunnel under it.

The sides were smooth. There was a little water all over. It was surely rain water. He remembered the water slides he had been to at the water park during his summer holidays. This one was much longer. He did not have a watch, but he guessed he had been sliding down the tunnel for almost two minutes.

After what felt like a very long time, he saw some light at the end of the tunnel. He tried to slow down, but the wet surface only made him go down faster. In a few seconds, he was out of the tunnel and in the air. He looked around and saw it was a cave. He was scared. He was now falling down.

There was a huge splash as he fell into the little lake inside the cave. Luckily, the water was not very deep. He quickly swam up and reached the bank of the lake. It was hard – stone. He thanked God that he had not landed on the stone. The tunnel was a little high. He could have broken a few bones if the lake had not been there.

Krishna got out of the water and stood up. He was wet. But he felt strange. It was not scary anymore.

He looked back at the water. His eyes opened wide. The water was green. Was it full of algae? Was he infected? Some water had surely gone into his nose and ears. What if it contained some deadly bacteria or virus? He had so many questions. He wanted to know the answers.

Krishna looked around. The cave was huge. The surface was very smooth. It shined in the little light that came from the tunnel. That little circle of the surface, where the light from the tunnel fell, it looked like a mirror. He could see his own reflection there.

He was still not scared.

Usually, such caves were full of bats. This one looked empty. It was very silent. Krishna wondered if Rama would come looking for him. Was he brave enough to follow Krishna into the hole? Had Rama seen Krishna fall into the hole?

“Rama does not know you are here,” a voice said.

Krishna looked around. He could not see anybody. Where was this voice coming from how did it know he was thinking of Rama?

“Calm down,” it said. Krishna was not sure if he really heard the voice or it was his mind that was playing games with him. He turned around to try and find out where the voice was coming from.

“Look up.” He heard it again.

He looked up. There was nothing but the smooth wall of the cave.

“Behind you.”

He turned around and looked up.

There was a little light at the very top of the cave. It looked like there was a small place there.

“How do I get there? The walls are so smooth and I don’t see any ladder or stairs,” Krishna asked the voice.

“If you are here Krishna, I am sure you know how to come see me,” the voice said. This time there was an echo. There was really somebody up there.

“But how?”

“You need to think. Think hard. What is the only way to come see me?” the voice asked.

“I need to float up. Does not look like there is any other choice.”

“Then do it,” the voice replied.

“You must be mad. I am not a bird and I don’t have wings,” he laughed.

“Trust me, you can Krishna. Close your eyes and ask your body to float up to me,” the voice told him.

“I don’t believe you. I am sure I hit my head near the tree. This must be a dream,” Krishna thought.

“It is not a dream young man. Close your eyes and tell your body to come to me, up here.”

This time Krishna was not surprised. The voice, or whoever was behind the voice, could read his mind.

“Ok, let me try,” he thought again.

“Very good.”

Krishna closed his eyes and did what the voice told him to do. He opened his eyes. His feet were still on the ground. He had not moved up an inch.

“You need to concentrate harder Krishna. It is not as easy as you think,” the voice reminded him.

Krishna tried harder. He closed his eyes and thought of himself floating. He felt he was in the air. He opened his eyes. He was almost one feet off the ground. The moment he opened his eyes, other thoughts came into his mind and he fell down.

“You are a quick learner,” the voice sounded happy.

Krishna now understood. He had to focus only on the floating to not fall down again.

“Can I do it with my eyes open?” he asked.

“Of course. You only need to focus,” the voice replied.

Krishna tried. He rose up into the air. One  feet, then two, then three.

He kept going up and after a few seconds, he could see the light. It was a lamp. Beside the lamp, sat an old man. His beard was white and his hair was tied in a bun. Krishna felt the old man had not shaved for a really long time.

“Just as you came up, you can come forward Krishna,” the old man said. Krishna could see that the old man had a smile on his face. He smiled too. He could float.

He glided forward and reached the little opening on top of the cave. His feet touched the floor. It was warm – the lamp maybe.

“Welcome Krishna,” the old man smiled.

“Thank you, Sir,” Krishna smiled back.

“I know you have plenty of questions. I will answer each one of them. Don’t worry,” the smile was still there.

Krishna sat down on a little rock. There were only two rocks there, he noticed. The old man sat on one and it looked like the other was for him.

“Sit down Krishna. What I am about to tell you, will change your life. Remember one thing. If you ever tell anybody what happened here, you will forget everything yourself. My name is Dhruva, but people used to call me Maharshi. I had a very close friend, long long ago. His name was Balarama. His brother had the same name as yours,”