Trouble

Early in the morning, Ayan woke up with the alarm tone of his smartphone ringing beside the bed. Turning the alarm off, he gathered his clothes and had a quick lukewarm shower. He pulled on a random set of clothes, wore them, stuffed a long black waterproof changing robe into a cloth bag, and prepared to go out.

As he went towards the door, Aunt Tsering spotted him and inquired in a surprised tone, "Up so early today? And where are you off to?"

"Oh! I forgot to mention yesterday," Ayan replied in a calm tone. "Dawa and the other friends planned a football game this morning at our usual place. So, I might be late for lunch."

Aunt Tsering stared into his eyes and asked, "You're not doing something dangerous again without telling me, are you?"

Ayan shook his head and hurriedly replied, "No, no, Dawa and other friends will also be there. You can ask them if you don't believe me."

"I believe you, alright," she said in a soft tone, "But first, take some fruits with you if you're in a hurry," she started washing some bananas and apples and handed them to him.

He quickly stuffed those fruits in the cloth bag and ran off to the meeting place.

"Damn. I feel bad lying to her," he muttered under his breath.

Most of the teenage boys had already gathered when Ayan reached the place. After waiting a few more minutes, the last few children also reached, their breaths exaggerated from running.

Dawa broke a random stick from the trees and started drawing a map on the ground.

"This is the map of their trekking trail," he explained, pointing with the stick. "Here, there are two routes ultimately leading to the same place. One is short but has a steeper climb, used by the villagers. Another is this longer trail with much gentler slopes that foreigners are taking."

He tapped a point on the map, "No matter which route you take, you have to cross this stream which meets with the river downhill. The villager's usual route has a better bridge but the foreigner's trail has an ancient, makeshift wooden bridge, with few planks. Our plan is simple: she will accidentally fall into the stream and Ayan will save her before she reaches the river."

Dawa's voice became more intense as he continued, "For this, we need to make sure of a few things: no foreigner including her dies or gets severely injured, and Ayan saves her without exposing his identity."

The cross-eyed boy grinned, "That's a great idea. Imagine her face when she finds out later that she was rescued by one of the village boys that she loathes."

Ayan felt this idea was not as horrible as he imagined them to be. Still, he felt doubtful and asked, "What if something goes wrong? I still feel this is risky."

Dawa shot him a reassuring look, "We know you swim like a fish in the river. There's still a long distance till the stream meets the river. You can definitely rescue her with your abilities."

The discussion continued on how to make the fall look like an accident. One boy maliciously suggested weakening the bridge planks by cutting, but others felt it was too dangerous for other adventurers.

Another child chided, "What if we place a banana peel in her way?"

Cross-eyed rebuked, "Do you think she's stupid like you who cannot see a banana peel in front of her?"

The discussion continued, with the boy's eyes lighting up with mischief as they came up with a plan.

------

Dawa looked at his wristwatch and announced, "It's almost time. We will play football as usual and watch them leave."

Soon, the foreigners appeared, walking into the forest trail in a single file, led by the stern-looking man with a military air about him. Finally, the blonde woman appeared at the end of the group, encouraging slow-movers as if responsible for leading the stragglers.

After the group vanished from their vision, the boys gathered again.

"The plan's changed now," Dawa spoke, "Since she is the last one, we will weaken the bridge after others have passed through it."

The other boys exchanged tense glances and nodded.

"We'll take the quicker route and observe them from far," Dawa ordered.

After they reached the age-old makeshift bridge, Dawa signaled Ayan. "Ayan, go below the stream to the place where the stream and the river meet. Stay alert!."

Other children started hiding in higher places under the cover of trees and bushes, watching the foreigners approach the bridge.

The military-like trek leader came near the bridge first. He cautiously inspected it, checking the strength of the bridge. Suddenly, he looked at the place where Dawa was concealed under the cover of leaves and bushes. Dawa stopped his breath and stood still. Thankfully, the leader immediately looked away after a few seconds and started crossing the bridge. The others followed.

Dawa sighed with relief as it started raining soon but Dawa signaled his friends to stay put and endure it.

After half an hour, a child came running up to Dawa. "She's coming! There are only two people ahead of her."

Dawa nodded, and they both went back to hiding.

After a few minutes, they could see a couple passing through the bridge in a leisurely manner. Dawa gave the signal to others and they started using sharp local tools to cut the planks from below, ensuring no sign of cut seen from above. The rain started increasing in intensity much to the displeasure of the village boys, soaking their clothes. but they finished their task swiftly.

Observing their handiwork, Dawa allowed them to return, much to their liking. Only the cross-eyed boy and Dawa stayed, waiting for the blonde woman.

In the distance, they saw a plump woman in rainwear huffing and puffing, walking very slowly. Looking closely, she wasn't their target. Both of them looked into each other's eyes abruptly and became alarmed.

"Remember," Dawa maliciously spoke, "if anything unexpected happens. We will put all the blame on Ayan as discussed."

The nervous cross-eyed boy nodded before slipping away to inform the other children.

Soon, he saw the blonde woman walking behind the plump woman, reprimanding and supporting her. Eventually, they reached the bridge, where the plump woman hesitated looking at the ancient bridge.

"Did we come the wrong way? That bridge's too old. Can it even hold us?" she asked, her voice filled with doubt.

"No. We are on the correct path. They would have put some signal if the bridge was dangerous," the blonde woman said confidently though she herself was uncertain. She checked the bridge, tapping it with her hand, testing the sturdiness.

Dawa was watching them from afar with bated breath hoping that the blonde women would cross first. Indeed, the blonde woman did go a few steps onto the bridge, but surprisingly nothing happened. To his dismay, she came back and nudged the plump women to cross it first, instead of crossing the bridge.

Gaining confidence after watching the blonde woman, the plump woman took deep breaths. Then, she slowly and steadily crossed the bridge reaching the other side.

After that, blonde women started crossing the bridge.

Dawa became stunned after watching all this. His heart sank.'The plan failed,' he thought.

But, all of a sudden, wind and rain started getting wild and the plank failed. The blonde woman fell into the raging stream below.

"AAAhhhh" x 2

Two piercing screams echoed throughout the forest from both of these women. The plump woman froze on the other side, not knowing what to do, her face pale.

The blonde woman desperately struggled in the water, barely managing to throw her bag onto the shore, trying to swim herself to safety. But, the fierce current induced by the intense rain swept her towards the river.

The plump woman finally regained her senses and started screaming, "Help! Help!"

Instead of helping, Dawa started running towards his home, fear gripping his heart.

'Oh shit! This current is too strong. She'll quickly reach the river at this rate. I hope Ayan can intercept her midway otherwise she's done for.'

Meanwhile downstream, after finishing his fruits, Ayan sat on a large rock, wearing black rainwear, he watched upstream from time to time, alert for any sign of trouble. Hearing the scream, Ayan immediately jumped to his feet. After he saw someone struggling upstream, he didn't hesitate. He plunged into the torrent, resisting the fierce current and attempting to grab her.

But, unexpectedly, a tree snapped and fell into the water, preventing Ayan from catching the blonde woman. Without a second thought, he went along the flow towards the woman who had already reached the river before grabbing hold of her. With a sudden burst of strength, he finally brought her to the shore.

Ayan fidgeted, panting heavily since she was unconscious. His thoughts started moving quickly as he remembered the first aid for drowning he watched online. He tried giving her chest compressions, she slowly sputtered the water from her mouth. He gave her a few rescue breaths awkwardly and relaxed when she finally started breathing.

At that moment, he heard a few rustling sounds coming from the nearby forest. He tensed, observing carefully. After confirming that the sound was from a person, he jumped and rapidly vanished into the woods.

Soon, the trek leader appeared and quickly checked the vitals of the blonde woman. He became relieved after noticing that she was breathing. He gently put her around his shoulders and moved rapidly towards the village.

Ayan returned home, drenched and exhausted. He told his Aunt Tsering that the game was canceled due to the rain. Looking at his soaking-wet body, she didn't have any suspicion. She softly said, "Go change your clothes quickly. Otherwise, you might catch a cold."

Ayan silently nodded and went to change his clothes, the event of the day weighing on his mind.

-----

The blonde woman opened her, laying on an unknown bed, surrounded by fellow adventurists. She darted her eyes around and asked in a soft tone, "Where is that guy who saved me?"

"Sonia, what are you saying?" another fair-looking woman, Amelia spoke. "Our dear leader was the one who saved you." The leader signaled her to stop, went towards Sonia, and inquired, "Do you remember anything about the one who saved you?"

Sonia thought for a few minutes and said, "As I was losing consciousness, a tall male silhouette grabbed me in the river water and that's all I remember." The leader became thoughtful upon hearing her words.

Amelia rebuked, "Don't tell me, leader. You believe in her nonsense. Within that raging storm, who could've swum across it saving a drowning lady? She might have gotten muddled up due to her injuries."

The leader became silent and ignored her.

"AH!"

Sonia wanted to stand up and rebuke her but she experienced a jolted pain from her right elbow. A male doctor inspected her elbow and declared, "She's sprained her elbow. I'm afraid, I can only bandage her. This village has no supplies for plasters and other treatments."

"Oh! Come on! What sort of god-forsaken place is this?" Amelia expressed her frustration.

The leader assured, "I'll arrange for a vehicle to take her to the nearest town hospital for treatment."

--------

Sonia was sleeping soundly in her tent. Ayan appeared near her in disguise, completely hiding his face. He slowly opened her bandages, and assessed the severity of the injuries, examining the elbow joint, its range of motion, and overall alignment like a professional chiropractor. She grunted in response but didn't wake up. He used gentle manipulations and adjustments, slowly adjusting the alignment of surrounding areas which slowly heated her hand and then.

"Snap", a sound echoed through the silent tent in the night. Noticing her eyes, twitching, he decided to immediately escape when she suddenly opened her eyes and shrieked.

"AH!"

Leader and a few other adventurists immediately entered her tent. Amelia asked, "Now, what happened, Sonia?"

Sonia slowly calmed down and said, "He.. He came."

Amelia quickly interjected, "Who can come inside, Sonia? I barely even left the tent for 5 minutes seeing you fast asleep."

"What was his appearance like?", the leader inquired.

"I just saw a tall, muscular drenched in black rainwear from head to toe except for his eyes. He was definitely the man who saved me before." Sonia replied.

The leader pressed on, "What did he do?"

Sonia thought for a few seconds and explained gesturing with her hands, "He opened my bandage, massaged the area around the elbow and he abruptly turned it with a "snap" sound….."

She looked at her right elbow incredulously and continued, "And my elbow got healed."

The leader quickly went to observe her elbow and clarified, "This looks like the work of a chiropractor. But, it's a bit amateurish though, since he left several red marks on your skin. A professional chiropractor will not make such a beginner's mistake."

Amelia quipped in a teasing manner, "So, this phantom guy's even a doctor on top of great swimming ability."

The leader interjected, "Okay, we'll take a few days's rest and go for rock climbing since your hand has been healed."

Sonia quickly retorted, "But, leader how can you believe that she can heal her sprained elbow in a few days? Why don't we delay a bit?"

The leader spoke sternly, "Now, we cannot delay any longer. These incidents have already disturbed our schedule. We'll have to skip a few activities to make it in time?"

Amelia became dejected, "But, leader that's not fair."

The leader hurriedly escaped before she started bursting with her silly arguments.