The Claw

Chapter 1 - The Night Is So Boring!

Mr. Batra2022/01/18 20:41
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With the sun dipping below the horizon, my tent was filled with dim lights of crimson hue. It was about time. The day had been tedious, and the night seemed to offer little hope. Neither I nor Uncle Bao wanted to overstay our welcome.

 

Life as a wildlife photographer had never been easy. Yes, I had had my fair share of adventures. “But is it worth risking my life?” The question popped up in my mind once again. It had never been a high-paying job, but it was the only way I could escape the fast pace of the city; something I had never been fond of. A nine-to-five job could never offer me what the woods could; solitude. Death seemed more beckoning than living a monotonous life. I brushed these fleeting thoughts aside; I did not want an answer.

 

“Master Batra?” I heard Uncle Bao calling from the outside. Uncle Bao had his reasons for accompanying me. He had been serving my family for decades; having once assisted my estranged father in his exploits, he had started to act like a father figure to me after Dad’s death. My biological Dad was never there for any of my firsts. I despised him. Apart from the once-in-a-blue-moon visits, it was Mom who had raised me all alone. I wanted him to be my confidante after Mom’s death, but he did not want anything to do with me. He did use to send me some monthly “child support”, albeit my resentment, but that is the only memory I have of him. It was Uncle Bao who was making my life bearable, and the only reason I was refraining from killing myself. Uncle Bao treated me like his own son. He too had had a family once, but most of them had died during the US invasion on the Ho Chin Minh trail, the very place where we were trekking.

 

I opened up the zip of the tent and ended up staring directly into his eyes. He was cross that I had kept him waiting in the cold. “Perhaps he is too tired after our busy day?” I wondered. “Sorry for interrupting your important work, Master Batra”, he taunted, emphasizing the word ‘important’. “Sorry to have kept you waiting, Uncle”. “Let’s light up the bonfire and make dinner, shall we?”, he asked, ignoring my less-than-heartfelt apology. I nodded in approval.

 

Despite numerous efforts, I could not sleep. Insomnia was not a stranger to me, and it had returned over the past few days, even though I was in the very place which offered me solace. I stared into the glimmering lights of the fireflies, wondering about how my life and the life of the people around me had changed. Uncle Bao was growing old; I had seen him add and cut things out from his bucket list. The day before leaving for our journey, he had requested me to cheer him during his karaoke performance as his penchant for it had grown in the recent past. Reliving the night, despite it being a very recent incident, made me nostalgic, and with a grieving heart, I opened my phone, which unsurprisingly didn’t have a signal, to look at some of my saved pictures. The only fond memories I had of my childhood were with Uncle Bao or my mom; Dad was obviously absent.