It was a hot summer afternoon in a small Indian village. The kind of heat that made people stay indoors. Only a few dared to go outside—mostly farmers and workers who had no choice. A man, who was a farmer by profession, set out to his farm to make a fence around it.
His farm was quite far off from his home, but he had to go to protect his crops from cattle. He somehow made it to the farm and got the work done. The sun was still shining bright as he headed back. On the way, he felt a cool breeze coming from the village lake.
The cool breeze felt so good that he sat under a tree to rest. He thought he’d wait there until the heat went down. He started to feel sleepy after eating his lunch. His eyes were slowly closing… when suddenly, he heard a loud splash in the lake.
He saw an old man drowning, shouting for help. He was awakened and then jumped into the lake to save him. He quickly caught hold of him and dragged him towards the shore.
The old man had swallowed some water in the process and started to spit it out. When he felt relaxed, he thanked the man. The man then gave him water to drink. He asked the old man how he fell into the lake. The old man said the ground was slippery and he slipped in by mistake.
The old man offered him some coins for his help. The man was hesitant to take them, but upon request from the old man, he accepted them and the old man left.
The man was soaked in water and decided to stay there till his clothes dried up. He sat under the tree and felt something creeping in his pockets. Upon investigation, he was horrified to find many blood sucking insects in his pocket, which were tearing through his pants and skin, and entering his body.
Then he looked down and saw his legs covered in blood. He was very shocked and scared. He jumped into the lake without even thinking. But when he tried to get out, he couldn’t. Something was grabbing his legs.
He was running out of breath but somehow looked back.
What he saw shocked him—it was the same old man! His face looked scary. His body was big and swollen, like it had been in the water for days!
The man got scared and tried hard to break free.
He ran out of breath, and water rushed down his throat. He felt helpless and then- he suddenly awakened from his sleep. The sun had set, and the man was confused about what he had seen– it was just a dream!
His clothes were dry, and he was still wearing them. There were no coins in his pocket, and his legs looked completely fine.
As soon as he took a few steps, he was urged to turn back and shockingly, he saw the same old man sitting on the branch of the tree. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. In that moment of pure shock, he took his last breath.
