Nemesis

“They live beyond the clouds, on the top of the mountain, but to go there is madness Agnes,” warned our village chieftain.

But much as I respected him, I could not afford to pay any heed to his words right now. I was the only one in our little village in the valley who knew how dangerous and truly evil the beings living on those mountains were, and hence, the only one who was foolhardy enough to attempt to destroy them.

Ever since the day I was born, all I had heard was paeans being sung to thank them for their ‘blessings’. They were worshiped as Gods, the deliverers of happiness, and I had blindly started believing in them, in praying to them too….till the day I realized how dangerous they were.

I set out on my quest early in the morning, before my large family woke up in our small hut and I became a slave to their wishes and needs, their whims and fancies, again. The sun was just coming up as I reached the foot of the mountain, and looked up. The cover of impenetrable clouds still shielded them from my eyes, but I knew they were up there, planning to destroy our dreams, and demolish our lives.

I started climbing up, slowly at first, and as I gained confidence, and the adrenaline took over in earnest, faster, grabbing a ledge here, inserting a toe in a foothold there, jumping where I had to, kissing the rocks to gently slide along a path when I needed to.

I will not say that the journey was easy. Many a times did I almost slip, or lose my grip, and many a times did I scrape my knees against the merciless rocks. But I kept going up and up. Stopping or turning back was not an option. I had spent months gathering up courage to go on this foolish quest, and I would not allow my fears and insecurities to stop doing what was right.

I was IN the clouds now, climbing just by instinct. But I did not fall, for losing was not an option I recognized.

And then, before I knew it, I was above the clouds, and at the top of the mountain. I breathed a silent sigh of relief then, for my mission was far from over, and then, took a good look around me.

Photo prompt courtesy Sue Vincent

I could have spent the entire day mesmerized by the beauty of my glorious surroundings, with the sun just visible on the distant horizon, so small that one could fit it into a cup of water. But these soft sentiments would have to wait, I had some killing to do before that.

I crept up the side of the mountain, my body hugging the ground, slithering along the rocks like a snake, just as silent, just as deadly. And then I saw them.

They were sleeping blissfully, some in the open, others in the shade of some caves.

Sleeping blissfully, after ensuring that I would never get a peaceful night’s sleep again.

Rage engulfed me as I recalled the countless days of horrors and nights of terror that had befallen me because of them.

They had made me suffer for so long, and now they would know what true suffering really was. Now, they would realize that actions have consequences.

“Clerical error,” they’d called it when I had filed a written complaint with their Customer Service team.

They’d ruined my life with their ‘clerical error’. But now, it was payback time.

Let’s see what they’ll call what I was about to do to them…all of them.

‘Clerical error’!

I had specifically asked for one baby, so how on earth could these bloody storks deliver quadruplets to my home….and think they could get away with it!

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Written in response to the Thursday Photo Prompt – Valley at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. Click on the link to read many more interesting stories inspired by Sue’s gorgeous photograph.

 

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