The Dragons of Zanzibeth: Part 1

It was a dark and silent night. So dark that if you put a blanket over your head and switched off the lights in your room and shut all the windows, it would have been better. So silent that thumpings of your heart could be heard a mile away and a pin drop would be like an exploding atom bomb. Not a creature stirred that night. Not a whisper passed. The chattering trees had stopped its rustling and the river did not make its normal gurgling. All the animals had hidden deep beneath its burrows and caves. For on that night, the jungle sensed the coming of an evil. An evil that had no name or image. An evil that had been missing for a 100 years. A Beast whom no one could describe for there was none who had seen it alive and lived to tell it. And suddenly, from that silence emerged a roar. One so loud that trees bended backways and some even broke off. A bright glow emerged from underneath the ground. It came slow and surely. The glow was so hot that the grass and trees near it caught fire and so bright that it looked like the Sun had come out from the bowels of the Earth. The Jungle was no more safe. For the Evil had come.1

The night was cold. A little group of young lads and lasses can be seen very scared. Sonny, age 17 punched the tree next to him, "This is not good. Not good at all.", he thought.
He viewed his friends. Jack, age 12 and Jill, age 16 seemed very scared now. They had been running away from the bullies - Spike and Denkin. It had all started after school. Jack and Jill were cycling home when the big mean Spike and his aide Denkin stopped them in their tracks and as usual teased them calling them sissies and wussies. They got a kick out of making children smaller than them cry. Jack was on the verge of crying and Jill was fighting back their harrasing notes with little success. And they would have continued on for another one hour if Sonny hadnt arrived at the scene. Sonny was a big lad with a lanky and muscular physique and charming, boyish looks. Sonny didnt know it at the time. But Jill had a silent crush on Sonny. She admire his deftness in playing soccer and his kind, gentle way of talking to others. She felt he was the most handsomest boy in school. And she fell even more in love with him when he came to their rescue.2

Sonny had been cycling home when he saw Jill and Jack being harrased by Spike and Denkins. He had never liked Spike and Denkins too much. And he especially never liked people getting bullied by other bigger children. He decided he had to do something to save them. And he stopped his cycle right next to the squabble and intervened.
"Spike. Get lost. Leave those kids alone."
Spike had never liked Sonny either. Sonny was always intervening and helping out peole making him look weak. He was also extremely popular in class and he envied the way other boys and girls looked at him. He had always wanted to thrash him. But Sonny was really strong and Spike was a little scared of him too.
"Sonny, why dont you mind your own business? I am just talking to Jack and Jill here. Some class things. You bugger off and leave us alone."
"Yea, Sonny. Leave us alone.". Denkins always repeated whatever Spike said. Denkins was not a very brave lad. But everytime he was with Spike, he would act as though he was the bravest boy in the whole world.3

But Sonny was afraid of niether of them. And he pulled Jack and Jill out of their way. And ignoring Spike and Denkings, walked off with them.
"Dont mind them. They are just plain hooligans without an ounce of common sense. I am Sonny."
"We know who you are...", Jack said.
"You do?", Sonny exclaimed feeling pleased that he was popular.
Jill blushed when Sonny looked at her. Jill had pretty features and was attractive in her own way. But she stayed far from the Hot Babe Radar because of her introvertness and shy character.
"Well, come on. I will walk you to your home. Both of you."
And they walked. Suddenly a car roared from behind. They looked back and behind they saw the two goons coming in a car. Sonny saw Spike having a mad look in his face.
"Come, act strong now, Sonny", Spike screamed from the car.
And they three saw that he was coming right towards them. They cycled off in a mad frenzy, trying to get away from the goons.But the car was catching up fast.
Sonny pointed towards the woods. "Quick, hurry. They cannot follow us there.", he screamed to the others.4

And they cycled towards the woods with Spike right on their tails. It was apparent Spike was aiming for Sonny. And the distance between the car and Sonny's tail rapidly minimized. Sonny was almost there. Just inches away from the woods. But the woods didnt seem to deter Spike. He just kept accelerating towards Sonny. Suddenly Spike swerved his car and the car rotated wildly. The back fender hit the back wheel of Sonny's cycle at a fast pace and Sonny was throw out of his cycle into the woods. Spike and Denkins, sitting in the car was totally out of control. They kept rotating and hit a tree. The left side of the car was totally wrecked. Jack heard the anguished cry of Spike, "MY CAR!!! DAD WILL KILL ME!"
Jack sniggered. And then he looked back, Spike and Denkins had got out of the car. They had a slight bruise on their face. But what spurred him to action was the object in their hand. They had a baseball bat. And they were really pissed off. Jack and Jill threw their cycles and started running into the woods. The moment they stepped inside the wood, it was as though they had entered a different world.5

It suddenly became dark. The trees shielded all sunlight. There was no noise. Even Spikes bellowings seemed far away. There was a certain enchantment about the whole forest. They saw Sonny on the ground a little distance away. He was groaning. He wasnt that hurt because he had fallen on a pile of soft leaves. But the blow was pretty strong and it had jolted almost all the bones in his body.
"Quick, Sonny. Get up. We have to go. They are right behind us.", Jack tried pulling Sonny up to his feet. Jill also came to his aid. Together they pulled him up and then they started running. They could hear the faint voice of Spike and Denkins. But they ran quickly. And soon they could not hear any trace of them.6

All three stopped and started taking in heavy breaths. Sonny looked around, "Where are we?"
"We are in the woods. Its okay. I know this way very well. Me and Jill usually play out here."
"Oh good. I hate to lose my way in this jungle."
"Lets go that way. There is a shortcut to our house. Come on."
And they walked towards where Jack pointed. Jack led them surely and confidently. Sonny vigilantly listened for any trace of Spike and Denking. But there wasnt any trace of them. Suddenly after an half hour of walking, Jack exclaimed with a slight anxiety, "Where are we? I have never been in this place."
Sonny looked at him puzzled,"I thought you said you had been here several times."
Jill said in a very faint voice, "We have. But we should have reached a gate by now. And we have never seen that house before. Ever."
And she pointed ahead. And yonder, there lay a dark grey house. With shattered windows and hanging window sills. The whole house was tattered and broken and looked as though it would fall off anytime now. It was a perfect house to get haunted.
"So what do we do?", Jack was looking scared.
"Are you sure that this is the way to go to your place?"
"This is the way we usually take. But we should have reached there by now."
"Allright. We might have taken a wrong turn when we came."
"Uh... I really dont think so."
Jill looked at Jack. He was really scared. "Jack, we might have taken a wrong turn. Remember we are just coming back after a shocking experience. We might not have paid attention."
"I dont think I took a wrong turn.", Jack was almost to tears.
"Its okay. Lets just retrace our steps. Maybe we can try from scratch once again."
And the three went back.7

The sunlight is fast dying and night is falling. Jack is getting scared. He says, "If we dont reach our place before nightfall, we will get lost. The jungle is not a nice place to stay back after dark."
Sonny agreed to what Jack said in his mind. But he didnt want to scare his friends. So he just said, "Oh. Dont worry. We are going to be okay. You'll see."
Suddenly they stop right in their tracks. Far in the distance, as the moonlight shines upon the black shadow of a house. A house which is broken in many places and the windows are hanging miserably. It is exactly like the house they saw earlier. The only difference is there is now a light in the window and in the light of the window, they can see the shadow of a hairy man. The hairy man seemed to be looking at them.