I sat back, snuggled in bed, shivering with cold and fever.
The expedition had given me the pains and flu, I expected not.
I opened my long closed backpack, I had taken along...
The scribblings on the wall seemed to force me more to decode the symbols than my health allowed...
The moment I opened the zip, I sneezed.
A bad omen, I recalled, but no it was just my flu I tried hard to convince myself...
Taking out the stones, crushed flowers, photo frames, and the photo album I had taken along, I realised that despite being crushed, cold weather had preserved the charm of the flowers...
I looked down at the floor... this time the blood-marked floral symbols had not disappeared.
I didn't know how to react to that.
I opened my laptop and started typing the inscription on stones to know what they meant.
Strangely they didn't turn out to be words, but letters this time...
Great! My journey had left me Even more clueless, led me afar not only from the "look closer" message but also disrupted my health, the old woman I remembered, as I looked at her photo.
Three children, the younger version of the graveyard man, others I still had to decode...
Something clinked in the photo frame, I shook it I heard more sound I pounded on it, it gave way, broke and our came an old currency bill...
I instantly googled it up...it was from the era of the second world war, in Germany.
I wondered how old those photos were...but if the guy was dad's mate, probably someone had put the money later.
I calculated the amount, it was close to ten thousand in today's value...woah! Could I sell or auction it?
I kept them aside and opened my photo album... I saw a mom holding one of those children in her lap.
Strange, nothing made sense... people born in different decades had posed together in the photo in their childhood!!!
I looked for any postings or morphings, but none, the photo was original...
The letters decoded were
W, T, A, M, R, E...
I realised as I couldn't collect all the stones, it was pointless trying to comprehend the scribblings and try to make any word out of them.
Consoling myself I realised that even If I had them all, covering all alphabet, there was no way I could make a word.
I had no clues, no place to put those missing letters ...
Everything felt like a big jigsaw puzzle to me.
That evening I decisively went back to the graveyard again...
It was the only place which had led me to a few clues...
Ritualistically, I lit a candle, put the semi-crushed flowers next to the graveyard, and looked around...
Luckily the night wasn't moonless, the moon shone bright on the grave and I looked at what had cut my thumb the last time.
The pocket watch!
It was there, but opened or broken I couldn't make out...
Should I pick it up again? It had reached back the grave, I was confused, but thinking less, I took it and looked closer.
It seemed harshly opened.
Rusty back with holes, cells wouldn't fit in it, then why, but... yes the stones would!
I cheered up at the thought of part of the solved mystery...
I rushed back home, fumbling through the stones I tried fitting in...
Out of 7, only 4 did fit... Maybe I had left the correct ones back...
I checked the sense they made
WA ___ ____ ____ME
I was good at puzzles, twenty minutes later I decoded it as WAR TIME....
If this was what it meant, I had other letters of the puzzle but why didn't they fit it then???
I looked at the newspaper article I had seen regarding the Tehran war, then searched the current state of affairs there...
The war had stopped, with many casualties and deaths, and the peace had been declared again...
I thought for a moment, was this my cue to head toward my next destination?
Maybe it would open things up,
I felt a sudden urge that I had to act fast...
The scribblings had stopped floating around me since the time I had come back from mom's hometown...
Good or bad, I felt more lonely and surprisingly missed them...
I took a day off, deciding cautiously all the places I had to visit in this expedition...
Dad's place of death, the refugee camp, rest as thought of writing, I remembered, one place had led me to next, maybe this time too, it would...
Next, deciding on the things to take along, I carefully packed the photo album, pocket watches, stones, some fitted, some lying free, torch, and Medine box, maybe I could help some casualty victims too, after a bit of thinking, I took the money bills, torch, match stick, my ID proof and food...
I was all set was the expedition...
That night I decided rest was important, who knew how much adventure awaited me...
I dreamt of the graveyard man...he was standing next to the lady in Mom's hometown...
He was crying and handing her over the money bills...
I woke up the anxiety, looked around and found nothing, felt confused...
I brewed myself a cup of coffee and as I reminded my dream, I realised I had to meet that woman...
Should I cancel the trip to Tehran???
Should I revisit Shimla???
I was confused, I took my backpack in my lap and thought of all the possibilities...
My first reaction was to add more stuff in the bag... Maybe I could visit both places together...
Knowing nothing I pondered, for how long would this search and trip and tripping over clues continue...
I felt dejected, I wished my parents were alive...
Thinking of these my heart pained and tears flowed ....
Two days later, after a long journey, I found myself on the grounds of Tehran...
The place was full of pollution...recent explosions had definitely left their mark on people, soil, and climate too.
I looked around, everywhere injured roamed, looking for hospital vans... Dead bodies, most of them, unrecognisable, lay on the ground in piles...
The sight was gruesome...
I reflexively took out my anxiety medication before the attack seized me.
I tried to haste away from the place, but the scenario seemed similar almost everywhere.
I reached Dad's training camp...
It was evening, I enquired about him, addressing the man on the deal, mentioning his batch and year of death...
After scrolling through his old book of records, the man shook his head.
Dad's name was missing, I told him to look again...he had served here for five years before his death!!!
He wasn't even on the list of men in the regiment...
I insisted that I had received Dad's demise news from this camp only!!!
After thinking for a while, the man told me to come back in the evening...
This time I had made my arrangements, I checked in the hotel I had booked and decided to spend the night resting...
Sleep evaded me....was I starting to get my sleep apnea again?? I couldn't have it worsening now...
I took out my medication box, and I realised I hadn't eaten a thing...
I ordered a full platter of sausages and eggs with coffee and realised, I had to keep my expeditions in control, I would be unable to pay my bills, I was exhausting my financial reserves...
It had been a while since I had shown my face at work...I had to be back there too...I munched on, as I thought it all, carefully took my medication and lay down...
I dreamt of the graveyard man again that night...
My dad too ... He was standing behind that man, and then I heard a gunshot...
I woke up, was it in the dream or reality, I wondered as I reminded myself I was at a place where war had ended soon...
The next morning, as I headed towards the camp, I saw the old woman in the distance...
Was I hallucinating???
She had been in Shimla, how come.....
She was heading towards me, I stopped...
Without any greetings, she forwarded her hand towards me and said," My bills"...
I quickly recapped my dream and handed her the money bills...
She gave me a piece of paper and told me to open it later ...
Without any word, I kept it in my bag....
She went away, even though I didn't wish to ask her any questions...
Everything was absurd, anything could confront me...
As I reached the camp, I looked around and sat in the chair ...
I patiently waited for the man to come, and I realised I had reached quite early.
In the meantime, I took out the letter, from the bag...
It was Dad's handwriting!!!
" I am at a safe place"
That's all it read...
I rushed out of the camp and retraced my path...
Maybe my dad was alive...
I had to find that woman...she wasn't an illusion, I kept chanting... I decided my sole mission now was to find that woman...
Why had she pursued me???
I couldn't leave the place without any answers...
Thought of Dad being alive was something that kept me going through for years before I got his news of death...
Maybe that's why he wasn't in records, maybe he wasn't serving here...
Thoughts rushed as blood gushed and my cheeks flushed ...
I saw drops of blood staining the ground.... though blood was everywhere, this was fresh...I realised it was dripping from my nose...
Anxiety, stress, altitude whatever it was, I instinctively sat down on the floor, and as the bleeding increased, my vision blurred ...
I lay down, trying to control the blood flow... and clenched onto something I remember not, cloth-like, picking up and pressing it next to my nose, I soon went unconscious.....
Continued in the next chapter...