My heart skipped a beat... The roar of the rain drops falling over my umbrella suddenly became more profound as the inner ribs struggled to keep the canopy from breaking apart. Here I was amidst this heavy rain clutching my fluttering umbrella with the grip of a father holding his kid's hand while crossing a busy monday morning road. I remembered my childhood. An alcoholic father, a tired but lovely mother, kids at school shouting, "Shorty ! Shorty !" . I was very shy and never spoke much, but everything changed the day I met her, and the ride thereafter has never been the same. "KAAABOOOM”!!! The deafening roar of thunder broke my short interlude with past and brought me right back in the woods which stood as if they were too tired of this heavy rain and thunder. I stared hard at the footprints. In the mud there were two deep holes. I bent a little and brought myself closer to get a better look but the rain was so heavy now that I could barely see anything except the faint outline of the path that was lit by fireflies. They looked like tiny stars zooming randomly in the starry night. There was no sign of the old man anywhere. I wondered if the old man was a forest spirit which guides passer's by in need, and then disappears at will. Suddenly I heard someone screaming. " Help! help! help! " "Someone is crying for help," I thought. "But where is this scream coming from?" I tried very hard to listen against the howling wind and the heavy rain, but it was very tough. My mother used to say that rain is the burden that clouds cannot carry any longer. But right now I felt as if that entire burden was falling over my shoulders, and I was getting buried under its weight. After much effort I figured out that the cry for help was coming from further ahead the route which the old men has advised. I couldn't wait here any longer, I had to go and help whoever was there. I gathered all my energy and started running towards the direction from where the scream was coming. The old man and the footprints were still in my mind but I was more focused on this scream now. After a few turns, the scream became louder and sharper and I realised that it was a girl's voice. I ran a little more towards it and after a while found myself standing next to swamp, about ten feet wide and the girl was buried in it, waist down. "Help me, or I will die here," she screamed as she saw me. It was true, the heavy rain and the mud has created a deep swamp right in the middle of the path, but in this weather when you could barely see, it was even harder to figure out where you are putting your foot. "Hold still," I shouted. "Don’t move or you will sink faster". "Please help me!" She started crying. I tried to find something that could be used to get her out. She was stuck in the centre of the swamp, so it was nearly impossible for me to grab her hand and pull her out. My mind started racing and my heart beating faster and faster with every passing minute. "If this girl dies here tonight in front of my eyes, I am going straight to hell," I cursed the weather again. Suddenly it hit me."The umbrella! Yes!" I screamed with happiness as the thought passed my mind. I quickly folded my umbrella and walked to the edge of swamp. Fixing my feet on hard ground for better grip, I extended the curved handle part of the umbrella to reach the girl. "Hold the handle, I will pull you out," I screamed at her. She nodded. After struggling for sometime which felt like an hour, I managed to pull her towards the edge. Now I only had to lift her up. I looked up and the rain washed the sweat off my face. I felt energised. The girl had stopped screaming now. As I started to lift her up, I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I looked back and what I saw made my heart skip a beat, again..
