Saving branch

Zain kept on running, without looking back, or slowing down. She had heard long wailings and loud cries behind her, but they abruptly stopped all of a sudden. All of these things made her more frightened. Spooky sounds of swaying ghosts filled the air, making her almost lose her mind. As she ran, she started to feel the floor under her feet cracking. Before she could take another swift step, the floor right under her burst open. The next moment, she found herself falling endlessly from what appeared to be a very great height. She was still falling when she passed out.

The day had fast approached. Zain was awoken by the loud rumbling and rushing sounds of rushing water. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself submerged in, and lying down on her back, inside a shallow stream of water. She jerked up to her feet at once, all soggy and wetted. She was inside a cave. The cave was partially illuminated by the bright white light of the approaching daylight, which reflected through the translucent curtain of a very high waterfall, sealing the entrance of the cave. She looked up and saw the height she had fallen from the previous night. She was stunned by the great height wondering how she had survived the fall without any fractured or dislocated bone. A normal person other than her, wouldn't have been able to stay alive after falling from such an incredible height. A normal person would probably be splattered to a paste. She wondered how a cave existed beneath the temple, and she had never known about it. She came closer to the wall waterfall. The water fell with a very strong gush. strong enough to flush away with it, anything that came in contact with it. She looked around her to see if she would see any other way out, but there wasn't any. The only thing that she could see far within, was darkness. As she observed the environment, something high up on the rocky ceiling of the cave, caught her attention. She became frozen in terror of the strange creatures she saw swiveling above her. Now she was fully aware of the leathery sounds made by the wings of these weird bats, and their high-pitched squeaks. She could feel it now that she was in a very dangerous place. These were no regular blood bats, they had long pin-like homodont dentitions, that projected out of their mouths. Their eyes glimmered like red glittery pearls. Zain realized that staying inside the cave would be more hazardous than being flushed out by the cascade. She had no other option than to throw herself into the waterfall, as it flushed her down at once. She fell from a great height and splashed into the fast-flowing water. She was having a hard time catching her breath, as she was being carried away by the water. The water drifted so fast and unsteady. Zain spotted another danger ahead. The water was heading to the mouth of another waterfall. This one was more intense than the previous one. She struggled so badly to avoid it, kicking and stroking hard, but the water kept on moving her forward, towards harm's way. Zain was relentlessly wriggling herself, trying hard to escape this one. A few meters away was she now, her strokes and kicks started slowing down, and she started getting exhausted. She had no energy left in the tank, so she was forced to surrender to the pattern of the water. No doubt, she had swallowed a large quantity of water. She was slowly fading already, floating away like a lifeless object, gradually gulping down as much quantity of the water, as she could endure. Her eyelids were closing slowly, she was only a few meters away from the mouth. Within that last second remaining for her to finally shut those eyelids, she saw hanging out ahead of her, a thin long branch. Zain became energized once more, by the site of a branch. To her, this wasn't an ordinary branch, this was a saving branch, a branch of hope. She caught hold of the branch and clutched it tightly. She dangled at the mouth, still holding the long branch with a tight grip. The water was doing its best to flush her down, but she wouldn't let go of the branch. She pulled and pulled, till the water was just at her hip level. She could see the Busan forest from where she was. She pulled harder and faster now, grunting loudly as she did. Finally, she was out. She managed to find her way through the forest, to the mountainside, and then to the town.

When Zain reached home, she sneaked in through her lab door, which was behind the house. She silently climbed upstairs to her room, where she changed her wet clothes into her night dress. She didn't want her father to find out about her absence the previous night. She proceeded in opening all the window curtains, and cleaning up the dining as if she had just woken up. Normally, she wakes up earlier than every other person in the house. She heard a screeching sound from upstairs, the sound of the door of her father's room. He was coming downstairs to the living room where she was.

"Okay Zain, you've got this. Just act normal," she whispered to herself.

She didn't want him to know what happened at the temple, because she knew he would worry himself so much if he finds out about the incident.

"Good morning Papa," she greeted, leading him to a chair close by.

"Good morning daughter," replied her father, "You're up so early," he added.

"Yeah... I... just want to make sure the house is spick and span," replied Zain.

She tried to maintain her normal self, although realizing that what she just said was quite absurd, and obviously unlike her.

"Pardon?" he muttered.

"Oh, what I was trying to say is that I want to keep the house tidy," she said shortly.

"Yeah right. Just go on with your tidying," he replied.

She let out a sigh of relief, followed by an audible yawn, just to be natural.

"You sound like you're stressed out, you're sure you had enough sleep?" he asked, with his intonation revealing his craving curiosity and concern.

"I did Papa, I slept like a baby," answered Zain, "What about you Papa, how was your sleep?" she asked.

Her father seemed not to be paying much attention to what she said. He looked like he was trying to remember something.

"That reminds me," said Munt Porter, her father, slowly nodding his head, "Where were you yesterday?" he asked.

Zain's heart skipped and banged hard, as she heard this question.

"I ugh... I was studying at the temple library," she managed.

"Studying?" asked her father, with a look of disbelief.

"Yeah. Remember the research I told you about, that I was doing, the cellular regeneration stuff?" said Zain. She spoke so fast.

"I know Zain, but you spent quite much of the time stu..." Zain cut in immediately, interrupting him.

"Right Papa, you took the words right out of my mouth," she said.

"You see, I really needed to cover up a few books before coming home, and I even managed to acquire a couple of clues on the subject. I was deeply carried away by my studying, and when I finally regained my physical awareness, I found out that time had already flown fast and far. To cut it all short, when I arrived home, Leo and you were already asleep, so I didn't think it was necessary to wake either of you two," explained Zain.

"You mean you slept under this roof last night?" asked her father.

"Yeah. Why?" forging a puzzled look.

"But I searched the entire house for you, I even waited for you in your room," said her father, "You weren't here last night," he added.

She began thinking fast now, for any suitable excuse but was finding it hard to formulate any at the moment. She started questioning herself, whether or not she should just confess it all to her father. Right as she was about to confess, a brilliant idea struck her mind now. She remembered that she locked the door to her laboratory from within before leaving for the temple, and there was no other way he would have entered there.

" That's rude Papa. Are you trying to say that I'm a liar?" she said.

"Hay... No, that's not what I meant. It's just that... I searched everywhere," said her father.

"Well maybe not everywhere," she said.

"I was too tired to climb upstairs, so I slept in the lab," she added.

"Oh that explains it, the lab was closed so I couldn't search inside. You shouldn't have slept there," said her father.

Zain smiled. She had succeeded in outsmarting her father. She went to the lab and glued the broken idol that she knocked down in the temple. She had to return it that morning to the temple, unnoticed. She imagined how noisy and rowdy the temple would be after people might have come and found it that scattered.