Exposed

The village was buzzing with activity as the adolescent boys enjoyed their vacation, thinking about their future, uncertain of their path. Many were looking for jobs since they couldn't afford to move to the town for high school, hoping to risk it and go to the town if the job was enough to pay for high school, rent, and food. A few lucky ones were busy preparing for the entrance exams, hoping to get admitted to their chosen high schools in nearby cities and towns. Others, not willing to take risks, started learning their family crafts and agricultural methods, to make a living like their parents, planning to spend their lives in the village.

Dawa and his group of boys also started to think about their future schooling and careers and for some reason, they did not continue their plan to expose Ayan. Dawa's father was a local tourist guide so he had an ambition of becoming even better, a mountaineering guide. He was currently looking for ways to get a scholarship to secure high school. The village was alive with the discussion of parents selling chickens, cows, and farmlands to fund their children while few dared to get loans for their children's future.

But, Ayan was different from them. Instead of worrying about his future studies/careers, He was enjoying his free time on a makeshift treehouse he had built on the hill with internet signals. He was gathering various interesting facts on the internet, especially weird ones. Some of his searches include:

🔍Rocks that mature, migrate, and even reproduce over time Kawakeb rocks

🔍Musical Stones of Skiddaw, England

🔍Divine Lotus flower that blooms only once a year, just for one night

🔍Photograph thoughts mind-bending mystery of Ted Serios

🔍Mysteries of Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet

🔍The man who doesn't eat or drink but survives

🔍Unlocking hidden aura mysteries with Kirlian photography

🔍Controversial scientist who claimed to harness Life Energy

He was looking at these weird mysteries and controversies as if searching for something more substantial—something that could truly satisfy him. He stumbled upon many sites on the internet where people discussed real-life encounters with the mystical, even giving evidence. But, wherever someone offered some evidence, they were all mysteriously deleted, and the original author started avoiding the topic.

Ayan became very joyful instead of worrying knowing this. He had discovered the existence of some secret organization/operation powerful enough to monitor and control the spread of information across several social sites.

"The battery is almost out. Some large operation is going on to remove evidence of the mystical. That means, they definitely know a lot more about such stuff. I need to somehow get in touch with such people," Ayan thought as he packed his stuff.

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It appeared as if the villagers had forgotten about the mysterious incident with the blonde foreigner. However, one person continued to investigate the incident, the leader of the adventure team. Whenever the leader indirectly talked about any person in the village with special abilities, the adults denied it tactfully while teenage children avoided the topic claiming Dawa as the strongest and smartest of them in the village as if they practiced the answer beforehand. Even smaller children evaded their answer conveying no person with special abilities in the village.

"Interesting", the leader thought with a big smile on his face.

As he looked more into this, the leader was surprised to find that almost everyone in the village knows about this, yet somehow they unanimously deny it. Instead of trying an easier way like secretly bribing a villager or a small child, he decided to talk to this popular guy, Dawa Sherpa, whose father Pemba Sherpa was the local tourist guide helping them.

He went to talk with Pemba about arranging an outdoor sports event tomorrow for the tourists. Amidst the talk, he casually added, "I heard your son and the adolescent boys in the village are good with sports, why don't you invite them all for some fun."

Pemba didn't expect the leader to invite village children, considering how annoyed they were at them in the beginning. He warned, "Sir, it's not a good idea to invite them. They're just a bunch of troublemakers. They broke several windows, ruined the agricultural fields, and scared animals in their antics for the fun and games."

The leader patted his shoulders and told him, "Don't worry, Pemba. Just invite them. Even the mischievous children learn to behave one day as they grow up."

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The next morning, all the adolescent children in the village except Ayan were happily joining the foreigners in playing frisbees, volleyball, tug-of-war, and the popular local games: football and cricket. They even enjoyed the sumptuous breakfast and lunch together. The village boys were initially very bewildered, about why they were invited despite their bad impression at the beginning but as they got together playing and eating, they became more joyful, enjoying this special treatment which was in contrast with how they behaved in the past.

The leader of the team was keenly observing every adolescent boy during the games, even striking conversations with some of them during breaks. These adolescent boys won more games than the adventurer's elite team preparing to climb the highest peak. Although Dawa was more athletic and performed better than others, there was nothing special about him. Still, the leader found an opportunity to talk with Dawa in private.

Dawa looked nervous as he stood in front of the stern-faced, military-like leader, wondering what this man wanted to discuss with him. The silence between them continued uncomfortably, and Dawa's mind raced, conjuring up all sorts of bad scenarios. His palms were growing sweaty.

After 5 minutes of uncomfortable silence, the leader suddenly turned to him, and asked in a piercing tone, "Why did you weaken the bridge?"

Dawa froze for a few seconds, caught off guard by the direct accusation. He quickly recovered his composure as he assumed this man might just be probing him for answers without real evidence. Trying to maintain a calm appearance, Dawa denied his involvement, "I don't know which bridge you are talking about. If you're asking about the recent bridge incident with that lady, I haven't even touched that bridge for a long time."

Pressing on, the leader asked, "Then, why were you there when the bridge collapsed?"

Dawa tried to evade the question, expressing in a lamenting tone, "(Sigh) Unfortunately, I was not there at that moment. Otherwise, I would have done everything to help that lady."

The leader locked eyes with Dawa, who stared back without showing any fear. After what felt like an eternity, the leader spoke decisively, "You and I both know that you were hiding in the leaves and bushes near the old bridge. You saw me inspecting the bridge to ensure that it was stable enough for all of us to pass. There's no way the bridge would give in without someone tampering with it."

Dawa became more nervous and scared, struggling to think how to find a way out when the leader spoke again.

"If you didn't touch the bridge, then it must be your friends who were meddling with the bridge. I'm sure several of them were hiding beside you on that day, but I specifically looked at you and I didn't even bother knowing about the others. Do you know why?"

Dawa felt a growing sense of alarm. He had a strange feeling as if this man could detect whether his words were true or lie, but he quickly dismissed it appearing calm.

"I have a sort of unusual ability," the leader said, his voice steady. "I can easily detect strong ill intent around me. When I passed through that bridge, I detected strong ill intent in your direction allowing me to detect you. That ill intent is the reason why you didn't consider helping that lady even though you were present at that moment."

Hearing that, Dawa became angry and rebuked, "That's all bullshit. I was with my friends playing ball at that time. We stayed in the cover of big trees due to the heavy rain and we went home after the rain got a bit low. You can easily ask any other village children present at that time if you don't believe me. There's no need for this ill-intent bullshit to frame me. And why would I even have ill intent against a lady I haven't talked to or had any dealings with?"

The leader's response was calm and deliberate. "You have not spoken with her, but she has humiliated you—quite badly at that. Yes, you didn't have any business with her but you went and talked with the other tourists exposing your qualities, and building a good impression. After watching this, what did the lady do? She thrashed you with her words so blatantly, exposing that you were after their money and all the impressions you had built up from these talks just went down the drain."

The boy became furious as he heard these words. "What right did that bitch have to speak ill of me? When did I ever ask for the money? I was just trying to make a good impression."

The leader continued unflinching, "Yes, you didn't ask for money. You only wanted goodwill, hoping there would be a kind soul to sponsor your higher education not just high school. Because you're an ambitious guy and your dream is to become a mountaineering guide. As you learned more about what it takes, you realized that even a high school education isn't enough. To secure even a low-level job, you'd need at least a diploma or an intermediate course in mountaineering. And if you want better prospects, you'll need a Bachelor's degree in Mountaineering."

(Sigh)

The leader paused and said, "And, it all comes down to money. Instead of roping a kind soul, you encountered the lady who, without understanding your circumstances, admonished you, and ruined your chances of securing any scholarship opportunities from this group, shattering your dream."

Realizing his predicament, Dawa despaired, fell onto his feet, and punched the ground in anger.

To his surprise, the leader said, "What if I want to sponsor your dreams?"

Dawa slowly looked up at this leader who had a faint smile on his face.

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The games were over before the afternoon. The village boys started returning home, talking excitedly about various tidbits of the day. All the boys had smiles on their faces—except Dawa who was spaced out. Noticing his unusual silence, one of the boys asked, "What happened Dawa? why do you look so sullen?"

Snapped out of his reverie, Dawa replied with a smile on his face, "Nothing much. I just felt a bit tired. Maybe I exerted myself too much today."

The cross-eyed boy spoke in a fawning manner, "You were the most active and involved in all these games. You were the shining star in these games, leading us to victory so many times. It's only natural to feel exhausted. You really deserve a break after all that effort. Take care of yourself."

Many of them were echoing similar voices while others were scoffing internally at this blatant sycophancy.

Eventually, the boys went off on their own but Dawa started walking towards Ayan's house. When he arrived, Aunt Tsering informed him that Ayan had gone out, pointing to a nearby tall hill.

Watching the hill's height, Dawa muttered in frustration, "Damn, Ayan. You just had to pick today to climb a tall hill."

Gritting his teeth, he started climbing this tall hill. After two hours of hard climb, he finally reached the top, only to realize that he couldn't see Ayan anywhere around him. After 15 minutes of rest, he started moving around shouting, "AYAN!". The sound echoed off the surrounding hills until he heard someone responding, "I'm here."

Rejoiced by this response, he quickly moved tracing that voice, to find himself amidst a group of thick and tall trees but Ayan was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to call out again, something fell off the tree landing beside him. He found it was a ladder made up of rope with wood as steps. He heard Ayan shouting, "Anchor the loops of the rope at the end into the nails and come up with it."

He looked up, spotting a series of planks in the middle of four trees forming a structure. Glancing down at the ladder, he noticed two circular rope loops at the end and the nails on the base of the thick tree. With a sigh, he anchored them and started climbing up, his earlier irritation fading as curiosity about this tree house took over.