The Prodigal Son (Complete)

Chapter 8

"Hey Rahul! Next week, free hai?"
Sidharth asked as Rahul entered his cabin.
"Nahi yaar, you forgot, I am going to Durgapur for my cousin's wedding."
"Opps. "
"What did you do?"
"Trekking and hiking plans."
"How could you yaar? I had told you I would be gone. And you had the invitation too. It's Rinky."

Sidharth bit his tongue.
"Sorry dude! You know what, I will buy her a nice.. diamond bracelet."
"Sid.. yaar.."
"Rahul, you know I am.. awkward in weddings. You go and enjoy it."
"And you will enjoy the steep slopes of mountains. Not fair. By the way, who gave you this idea?"
"Barun."
"Like seriously!"

"C'mon! It's not like he asked me to go. He showed me the brochures. His friends had been there. It's exquisite."
"Exquisite means dangerous. Are you sure you want to go now?"
Sidharth rubbed his temples and went on to lean on the table.
"I need a break."
"What happened? Basundhara?"
"I saw her with a guy. She looked happy."
"Are you jealous?"
"No man! I am happy for her. But when I talked about getting separated, she started making a scene. I don't understand what she wants? Why can she leave and have a life?"
"Sidharth, she loves you."
"But I don't. I tried to make the relationship work. Trust me. I feel bad that I hurt her. But nahi ho raha mujh se. I can't continue like this."

"I don't have anything for you on this. Basundhara loves you madly. You on the other hand have no feelings for her. You don't want to hurt her but you can't change yourself. You want her to leave you and start afresh while she wants to stay married to you. There's nothing I can or anyone can do. You have to sort it out. Just be a little sensitive."
"Should I really thank you for the advice or kill you for that?"
Rahul smiled, "Oh you should say sorry for leaving me like this! Anyways stay safe and return soon. And please stay away from women."
"Can't promise, but I will try my best. Chal see ya. And buy a diamond bracelet for Rinky and tell her I gave it. Bye..love you bro!"

Five men climbed on the rocky path, one after the other. They stopped at a point and looked around. It was windy and raining cats and dogs.
One of them, a girl said,
"The weather is getting worse with time. We need to reach the camp as soon as possible."
One of the guys asked,"Why didn't our guide tell us anything? Why did he let us go? "
Another girl asked, "The real question should be where is he?"
Second guy said, "He must be with the other team. We are lost."
Sidharth said, "Instead of working your mouth, why don't you move your legs? Then we can reach somewhere."
The first guy, "Sidharth, we all are tired, drenched in rain, cold and scared. We don't know where we are going."

"I know. I am tired too. But trust me, we need to get to a stable land. Rains like this mean danger."
They all looked at him. While everyone's face looked flustered and scared, he was the only one with calm composure. He had faced lots of situations in the business world. And he knew panicking would not help but would cause only downfall. One needed to stay calm to think clearly. There's always a way out in every worst situation.
"Look, we need to travel on that side. I had seen the trail on the Google map before. I think we can reach a road if we take this path. Let's keep walking. I know it is not easy in this condition, but we have to. We don't have much choices. Just stay together and walk carefully."

The rain had increased its pace. Looking a foot ahead was getting impossible. Sidharth was walking ahead, helping others to move slowly but steadily.
The first girl screamed, "Look, that's the road, we are almost there."
"Yes, Sidharth, you were right. Let's keep walking."
Sidharth stopped and as if he was trying to hear something.
"What happened? Why did you stop?"
"Shh.. listen.. "
And just then they could see the part of the slope breaking apart with a loud rumble and the soil underneath slipping away along with them.