Hound of BUSkervilles

Dark nights without knights are the ones in the real world. The hooting owl, flapping bats, sound of cricket, and the chilling wind enjoying their paradise. Sleeping long grass swung with wind, kissing and hugging each other. When clouds in the dark sky played hide and seek with moon, light faded and cleared, and came in again.

Through the fallen dry leafs ran two legs. Blood dripped off them; they ran as hard as they could. Nothing could stop him, he ran faster, and accidently stamped on the root of the big tree. His hands held the trunk of the tree, helping him steady himself. He hid behind the trunk. He was panting. As he rubbed off sweat from forehead, he felt piercing in the hands. Thorns stood out in his palms. He pulled it out. “aah.. Shit” he groaned. Catching his breath and shaking his hand in pain, he peeped out. It was dark! He couldn’t see anything. He looked all around. There was something haunting, or someone haunting. His heart was beating faster. His throat was dry he wanted water! As he struggled for breath, he sensed fear. A fear ripped his life off his body.

As the cloud once again blanketed the moon, he heard sniffing and licking. He knew something was licking his blood drops on the dry leafs. He peeped out again, this time only to see two radium eyes scanning all around. As the moon came out he saw white fangs coming out, it groaned to nowhere breaking silence. “I should escape!” he thought and tried climbing the tree he stood beneath, only to scream aloud, due to the pain from the thorns that stuck. He fell to the ground, he was in tears. He struggled to get up. In the moonlight, he saw the fangs approaching him. It was barking, as it sprinted through the dry leafs and then through the sleeping grasses. He stood up and ran, turning, assuring self that he is at a safe distance.

His speed was not enough to out-speed the hound. Yet he managed not to be caught. His speed reduced and it was then that he understood he was running uphill. Clutching his blood dripping fist, he drew all his energy hoping to make it quick to the other side of the hill. He stopped as he reached the peak. It was s dead end. There was no other side of this hill. He panted heavily now. He turned to see the approaching hound. He knew there it was an end, the ultimate one.

He picked up a stone and threw down onto the hound. It didn’t bother him much. He cried, his tears rolled down his sweating cheeks.

They both had the bread toast together at a bakery, his friend, a friend to animals too, threw a piece of bread to a large dog. He was arrogant enough to kick the thrown piece in to drain and comment, “These have enough blood and meat coming from hotels and butchers. Don’t bother to feed them.” And kicked the large dog who made a requesting cry. The dog had followed him and then chased him up to the hill after that. As the hound sprinted up, his blood stained fangs became clear to him. They wanted more, they were thirsty. He stepped back, he knew another step he would be down on the rocks, and if he didn’t he would be sucked out and eaten away by this furious hound. He was crying, and hound was grunting. He was ready to leap.

He cried out aloud and a flashlight blinded his vision and the fangs went down his throat, making him scream louder.

I gained senses as I was kicked and pushed by my roommates, his flashlight focusing on my face. I was panting, panting hard. “What the F*** was it?”He asked. The other friend got up and put on the lights. It was 1:30 in the midnight. I saw that I was sweating my t-shirt was wet. He offered me water, which I gulped as if I had not seen water. “Pain in the a**” they commented, and put off the lights. I sat silently watching the moon through the window. I wondered “where did the hound came chasing me?”

It was another hectic day, and we stood in heavily packed bus returning from the class. My sleepy eyes fell on the bus that stood parallel to ours. It had a huge hound drawn on it a hound jumping on to the wordings ‘Green Hound travels’. “Please not tonight! We need to sleep” my friend murmured into my ears.