Read Online Murmur of the Lonely Brook by Debashis Dey - Free Book Online

phones.
    After awhile, she said in a low voice, “We should never joke about them!”
    Ria was scared and sat close to Nisha. “Let’s go to bed,” she said clutching her shawl.
    “Don’t worry, I am here with you.”
    She started cleaning the plates and, looking at Diwakar, said, “The fish was real good.”
    Shevak gave a long puff and threw the bidi inside the bukhari. Parvati frowned; as for her, fire was a god too. And this was an insult to her god. But she preferred to stay silent.
    “We had much bigger fish during our time. The river was wide and we could catch as many as we wanted. Now you get big fish only at the trout farm in Sangla. But who will pay so much?” Shevak shrugged.
    Parvati got up. She did not approve of discussing fish when there were three ghosts roaming freely outside. She left for the bedroom. But before she left, she lit an incense stick and placed it near the door. This was to conceal the fish smell. She also decided to keep Devta’s photo under her pillow in order to ward off any unwanted visitors.
    Shevak was upset with Parvati cooking rice so many times. He knew he could not afford to buy it with his meager earnings. He kept quiet during dinner but now he needed to speak his mind.
    “Why do you cook rice every other day?” He looked at her frowning.
    “It was for the fish. One cannot eat fish with pancakes.”
    “Today it was fish, yesterday it was meat and tomorrow it will be something else. You fool! You always find some dumb reason to spend my hard earned money!” He fumed, paused, and then said, “If you ask me to get rice again, I will kick you out of the house.”
    Parvati kept silent, as she was afraid that he would start throwing things at her and might even beat her up if he got into a mad fit.
    “You better ask your dead father to get a full sack for the donkey he dumped on me,” Shevak fumed.
    Parvati felt relieved as he stretched on his bed and pulled the blanket over him. She turned away as a few tears escaped from her eyes and soaked into her pillow.
    Ria was scared of the ghosts and asked Nisha to switch off the lights as she hid under the blanket. In bed, Ria moved closer to Nisha and pulled the blanket up over her head. She put one arm across her. Outside, there was an eerie silence. She could not sleep.
    “Will you tell me a story, Nisha?”
    “I don’t know many stories.”
    “Tell me something about your village.”
    “It’s a small village, like all the others. There isn’t much to tell.”
    “You had a dog. Tell me about him.”
    Nisha brightened with the thought of Sheru. “Sheru was a brave dog. Once when he was young a leopard came at night to attack our cattle. Sheru was scared but climbed a young poplar tree and started barking. Being young, his bark was faint and it took us a while to hear it before we went out. We saw him clinging to a branch while the leopard clawed on the trunk with his huge paws.” Nisha paused.
    “What happened then?”
    “My father and uncles ran out and chased the leopard away. By morning, everyone knew the story and Sheru had visitors.”
    “Did Sheru bite people?”
    “Never! Sheru loved people and especially children. He always stayed close to my brother, even on long walks.”
    Ria wondered if they should get a dog. It was not a bad idea but aama would never allow it. A dog had a conflict with her religious views for reasons best known to her. Maybe when Ria married she would ask her husband to keep one. A dog fit her vision of life at the end of the road. A small house far away from the village where there would be a courtyard with apple trees, a swing below a tree with pink blossoms, and a dog following her wherever she went.
    And then they heard the gongs and cymbals again. His job done, the Devta must be going back. In the other room, Parvati folded her hands and prayed to God. She hoped that the evil spirits would be sent far away across the peaks. She decided to call the Lama in a few days to recite