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| Sunday, 1 May 2005 |
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Telling tales A nightmare by Imali Weerasinghe It was an eerie night. Except for the howling wind, the place was surprisingly quiet. Though there were little groups of people scattered here and there, their whispers faded in the thick darkness before it reached his ears. The mystic moon beams created ghost-like shadows with the rhythmic movement of the coconut leaves. The cruel clouds covered the moon from time to time, drowning them in pitch darkness. The electricity pylons were broken.
His wife and child were lying on the floor next to him. But they were dead. To Dilip even the people around him appeared like ghosts in the dim moon light. Soft sobs that broke from time to time were the only evidence of life. He was very lucky. At least he had found the corpses of his beloved ones. Most of the others had not. Corpses Around 8 o'clock, the lady of the house came to the open verandah with some candles. She lit them around the low wall of the verandah. From the candle light, Dilip saw the other bodies which were kept beside his wife's. They were all covered with cloth. He didn't even have a rug to close the bodies of his family. Their bodies were still covered with mud. He sighed, to which the lady turned to look at him. She was terrified for a moment. Dilip tried to smile and point towards the body of his infant. The lady recovered, and left him without a word. Midnight A few minutes later, Dilip felt a consoling hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw a young man of his age. He was holding some linen and a basin. He lit a candle and gave it to Dilip indicating the tap. Dilip fetched some water in the basin. The young man tore the linen so that they could sponge out the mud from the dead bodies. There was not enough linen. Once his wife was cleaned, the young man covered the body with the remaining piece. Dilip fetched another basin of water for the baby. He squatted next to his wife and put the baby's corpse in the basin and tried to wash the mud away. He gently cleaned the baby holding its head high as if it was still breathing. Dilip was engrossed in his thoughts and barely heard the foot steps of the young man who came to help him fade into the crowd. All of a sudden, he felt lonely and miserable. He started crying. He could recall the laughter of the toddler, over his sobs. He held the dead child close to his heart and showered it with kisses. He tried a lullaby or two but couldn't remember the words. The young man returned with a warm cup of coffee. He took the baby from Dilip who was still holding it and gently laid it beside the mother. Dilip held the warm cup of coffee greedily with both his hands. Though he was hungry, he couldn't drink it. The young man didn't utter a word. They remained silent till the coffee got cold and Dilip replaced the cup on floor. Then the young man, got up and said, "Come with me. I'll show you the well. Wash your face and you'll feel better." Dilip followed him like a robot. The washing and the hot meal were refreshing as promised. He could feel the blood flow to his finger tips again. The people, still unaware of what happened, were trying to figure out, what had happened. There was no electricity or access to any media. The telephones were out and no one had a mobile phone. Even Dilip's phone was washed away. People were clueless as to what happened and the others were not aware of what had happened. They shared each others adventurous experiences and passed the night. Dilip walked up to a coconut tree and sat under it. Morning He recalled how happy they were when they left home. They were going out for the Christmas holidays. After many discussions, they had settled on going to the coastline. Dilip checked into a hotel close to the sea with his family the day before. That morning they had an early breakfast and went for a swim. He was happily swimming in the placid waters while his wife and the child were making a sand castle on the beach, when all of a sudden a high tide carried him inland over his wife and the child. He tried to hold onto something while he was being swept away in the gushing water. The cries of help, laments and screams subsided in the roar of water and the sound of collapsing buildings. Luckily Dilip managed to hang on to a tree and go up on it. From there he saw many men, women, their belongings, vehicles and garbage floating in the devilish water. The tree he was holding was swinging with the current of the wave. He clung to it like a monkey. Once the water, went inland it collected more people and material and jetted back to the sea. The tree Dilip was holding, almost uprooted itself. He prayed. When the water level was low, he jumped down and ran towards the beach looking for his family. He fell once or twice in the water as the debris hit his shivering legs. He noticed a piece of his wife's T-shirt under a collapsed wall before reaching the beach. He removed the pieces of the broken wall in a frenzy only to find his wife's corpse. She was gripping their child who also lay behind. Dilip knelt there unable to stand. A man came to him and asked him to go inland as another wave might come. Dilip hardly heard him and all he wanted was to die in the next wave. The man took the child and shouted again Mahattaya come this way. Carry your wife. You might lose her in the next wave." Dilip sprang up. Carried his wife and followed the man. When they came to this destination the man offered him a sarong and left again in search of other bodies. By ten in the morning all the women and the children in the village also gathered there as this place was much higher than sea level. Dilip tried in vain to contact his relations or friends. The telephone lines were not working. Nowhere there any vehicles. The road was blocked with debris. He was left with no choice but to be with the rest till a rescue team came. After trying and failing all options of finding a way to get back home, Dilip returned to his dead wife and child with the dusk. Since then, till the lady of the house found him, he had been sitting there. Next morning While he was recalling the day's events Dilip dozed off from time to time. He woke up with nightmares of tidal waves and gushing waters. But he was both mentally and physically weak, and finally he fell asleep under the tree. But he woke again. Not to a nightmare this time. But to the gentle voice and the comforting hand of his friend. They had come to fetch him - and - the bodies. Dilip didn't utter a word. But his pain, relief and joy were evident in his watery eyes.
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Dilip was shocked and numb in this unfamiliar place. His spirits were
so low that he made no attempt to talk to the people around. They
themselves were shattered and paid no attention to the stranger. Dilip
felt lonely and abandoned. He wanted to cry, loud. But he just could not
find his voice or tears. 
