Assuming Power

Chapter One

Raj and his teammates waited, catching their breath, for the dust to settle on the dry, barren field where they were playing football. With over a month of no rain, even the slightest disturbance drew thick, golden clouds from the soil, necessitating an exorbitant amount of pauses in gameplay.

As they huddled impatiently, several boys complained of thirst and whined the game had gone too long. They argued for a timeout to get more water, but not Raj. He lived for the May school break with its steady string of hot, sunny days and didn't feel like letting the game end in a tie. So, with a boisterous speech and an offer to give up the remaining water in his thermos, Raj convinced all but one teammate to continue playing.

With a semblance of visibility returned, everyone scurried off to their positions. But not Raj. He took his time, ignoring pleas to hurry up and throw the ball back into play.

Raj cherished the tense clarity of these moments right before the action resumed. So, he lingered, allowing the heat, sweat, and dirt to boy his focus as he ran the play through his head again.

CLINK.

Raj scowled, losing concentration.

CLINK.

Raj whirled about to yell at the kid they had left on the sidelines to rest and hydrate, but he was nowhere to be seen. Assuming his friend had drunk too much water and ran to the bathroom, Raj refocused and threw the ball back into play.

Raj's spirits soared as his team worked together flawlessly, moving the ball down the field until it was passed to him in a perfect position to score. With tense concentration, Raj kicked.

CLINK. CLINK.

The sound distracted Raj, skewing the angle of his foot. He watched with horror as the ball clipped the goal frame and bounced back into play. Raj stood frozen with bewilderment as the other team took the ball downfield to score.  

Devastated, Raj fell to his knees.

CLINK.

Furious, he searched unsuccessfully for the source of the offending clamor.

CLANK. CLANITY. CLANK.

* * *

Raj woke up.

He moaned and burrowed under the blanket, recognizing the dream for what it was.

"Was wondering when you'd wake up," Raj's mother said. 

"You made me miss the goal. Why do you put the dishes away so loudly?" He asked. 

"I've been tiptoeing around all morning. I've got things to do. It's late. Time to get up."

"I've decided to stay in bed until the rains stop."

"Ha! You'll be waiting a long time. The monsoons have just started. No use sulking about it. However, if it makes you feel any better, there appears to be a break this morning. It's only drizzling. Best be up and enjoy the 'dry' weather while it lasts."

Raj sat up, bleary-eyed, and yawned. 

"Drizzle isn't dry."

"It is during the monsoons."

"What time is it anyway?"

"Almost ten-thirty. You tossed and turned a lot last night. Was last night's story too scary for you?"

"I wasn't scared at all," Raj said.

"You sure about that? I half expected you to climb in bed with me."

"I wasn't scared." 

"Well, anyways, I've decided it was a mistake letting you talk me into telling you stories about the Virūpa."

"Mom, I said it didn't scare me."

"So you've said. But it doesn't matter. I've changed my mind about it. You're still too young."

"Mom, how is it any different from the pirate stories or the story about the knight and the giant?"

"We don't live on the high seas or in medieval Europe. Besides, giants aren't real."

"So you're saying Virūpa are real?"

"No, I'm not saying that, although many people think they are."

"So it's like ghosts? Some people think they're real, and some don't."

"I suppose."

"But, if you and I know they're not real…?"

"Look, those stories are old wives' tales every grandma tells to keep unruly children in line. Mine did, and it scared me silly."

Raj pondered what his mother said.

"You were unruly?"

"Not more than any normal child is."

"So, why did she tell you the stories?" Raj asked.

"Because an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure, I guess."

"Huh?" Raj's face scrunched in confusion.

"Forget it," His mother snorted, returning to the dishes.

Unwilling to let the matter drop, Raj insinuated himself between his mother and the pile of clean dishes to eye his mother suspiciously.

"So, you believed in them?"

His mother didn't reply immediately. Raj recognized the face she wore when carefully considering her words.

"You do think they're real." He smirked.

"No. No. It's all just stories. But I believed in them as a child, and after retelling one of them to you last night, I remember more clearly how they terrified me."

"Mom... you're being dramatic again."

"I am not. Trust me, Raj, last night's story is tame compared to all the others. It was cruel of my grandma to put those ideas into my head. No matter how unruly you may get, I won't make the same mistake with you."

"I'm a perfect angel. I don't know what you're talking about."

Raj's mother cupped her son's chin affectionally. 

"No one's perfect, especially people who claim to be. What do I always say?"

"Progress, not perfection," Raj rolled his eyes, "whatever that means."

"One day, it will make sense."

Raj turned the phrase over in his mind before trying another angle.

"Well…you don't have to be a perfect mother. I'm okay with you telling me super scary stories."

"Nice try. But I'm not telling you these stories about evil men and women doing horrible things to themselves and others, Raj."

"But the giant was evil, and so were the pirates!"

His mother laughed.

"Evil? Selfish, immature, and comically stupid, but not evil."

Raj giggled, recalling a scene where the pirate accidentally lit his beard on fire.

"Ridiculous, right?" His mother asked.

"Yeah, Captain Bluebeard's pretty stupid."

"I want to see you laugh, Raj. And yes, I know the pirates and giants are bad guys, but the humor and the fantastical settings make it all quite harmless. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, but I like the idea of having animal powers. It was a cool story. Change it so the bad guys are stupid, or make it happen long ago, or in the future, or somewhere far away from India."

"I'm not that creative."

"I'll help you. I could help tell the story."

"We'll see. Now up. You've got chores to do, and I want to wash the bedding today. Come on. Up, up, up."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Raj rolled out of bed with a sigh, stretched, and stumbled over to wrap his arms around his mother. 

"Aw. I need to remember to treasure these moments. You're almost as tall as me. It won't be long before you can't be bothered to give your old mother a hug."

"That's right, Ma. No more hugs when I'm thirteen," Raj said.

His mother tussled Raj's hair before turning him about and shoving him toward the bathroom.

"Wash up and change those clothes. You've worn the same pair for two days now."

As he prepared for the day, Raj plotted ways to persuade his mother to continue telling him the Varūpa stories. He knew from experience pushing too hard to get his way would backfire. His best chance lay in exhibiting behavior she deemed mature. So, Raj actually combed his hair and cleaned up after himself. He further calculated doing his chores without being reminded would be the surest way to get his mother to tell him more tales of the strange Virūpa, who increasingly lost their humanity as they robbed animals of their abilities.

Satisfied with his plan, Raj concentrated on a more immediate need: his grumbling stomach. He tucked into the breakfast his mother had set out hours ago.

"Slow down. There's plenty, and it's not going anywhere," Raj's mother said.

"I'm hungry."

"Obviously. Feeding you is getting expensive."

"I could get a job working in the mines. I'm finally old enough."

"And leave me all alone like your father did? No. The mines may pay well, but they're dangerous."

"The forest is dangerous. The mines are dangerous. The city is dangerous. You don't want me to go anywhere." Raj said with his mouth full.

Raj's mother's face grew serious. 

"I know. I can't protect you forever. Simply living in this world is dangerous. Be patient with me, Raj. Losing Maya and your father changed me. I've become quite the coward."

Silence lingered between mother and son. 

"Tell me what Maya was like again." 

"I wish you had known her. It's unnatural, having to live life without her. Siblings typically grow old together." Raj's mother smiled sadly. "But you and I keep her memory alive, don't we?"

"That's why I always ask."

"You could probably tell me everything I know about her already."

"I guess, but I feel like I learn something new when you talk about her…like there's some secret Maya's trying to tell me from Heaven."

Raj's mother looked sharply at her son. 

"Secret? What do you mean, Raj? Maya was an open book, no secrets."

"I like to imagine her and me driving you crazy like Hazan and his sister do their mother."

Raj's mother's face softened.

"Ah. That sounds delightful. Yes, the two of you together certainly would have. I'd undoubtedly have more than these few gray hairs you've given me."

The sudden sound of a ruckus outside interrupted their daydreaming. Raj recognized the distinct chirruping of an agitated mongoose. His mother jumped into action, grabbing a stout-looking stick, sharpened at one end, and peered through the mosquito netting-covered doorway.

"What's it fighting?" Raj asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out."

"I want to watch."

"No, you stay put." His mother stole a glance back at her son. "Feet up, Raj."

"Ma… I'm not a baby!"

"That statement says otherwise. Now, feet up!"

"Why is it okay for you? You don't seem to care if you get bitten."

"Better me than you."

"That's stupid. Who would take care of me?"

"Uncle Arjun would care for you."

"He lives in the city. I'd hate it," Raj said.

"You'd adapt. Now, shush."

Raj sat obediently as his mother stepped outside to investigate. He fumed, listening to the sharpened stick squelch as it stabbed the waterlogged ground repeatedly while the mongoose screamed angrily.

"We're on the same team, you little beast. Now quit fussing and enjoy the meal," Raj heard his mother shout.

Leaping up, Raj rushed to the doorway.

"Was it a cobra?" He asked.

His mother used her stick to shovel the long, lifeless corpse of a snake away from the house.

"No. Just a rat snake."

A mangy old mongoose with a ring of contrasting fur about one eye heckled Raj's mother before loping off toward the dead snake.

"It's Bullseye. I thought he was dead." Raj said. 

"So did I. I haven't seen him around for a while now."

"I'm glad he's still alive. I feel safer."

"As long as he stays away from the chickens, I'm happy to have him about."

Noting his mother's scowl, Raj asked, "Why don't you like animals? All my friends have a dog or cat or something. Even Hasan's little sister has a goldfish she calls 'Goldie.' Why can't I have a pet?"

His mother's scowl deepened. 

"We've had this conversation before. I don't dislike or like animals. They have their world, and we have ours. Getting too close to only brings trouble."

Raj kicked at the mud.

"Still, it would be nice to have a dog," He said.

"Raj, we live in the middle of nowhere, miles from the city. You're surrounded by all types of animals. You just need to learn to appreciate them in their natural environment."

"I'm not talking about those. I want a tame animal, a pet."

"There is no such thing as a 'tame' animal. Now, enough of this. I've got things to do, and I need extra water for the wash."

Raj sighed, "I wouldn't need to fetch any if you left barrels out to catch the rain like everyone else."

"That attracts birds, and God knows what else. Besides, I like my water fresh, not stagnating in a barrel. Now, hop to it. You'll thank me tonight when you climb into a bed made with fresh-scented sheets, "Turning to squint up at the roof, Raj's mother added, "In the meantime, I'll look at those shingles before another downpour comes. Should have had the whole thing redone before this year's rains."

"But you said that was too expensive."

"It was."

"We could have the money next year if I got a job," Raj said.

"Yeah…well, you can start by getting water. Go on, you're stalling."

Raj started to protest before remembering he was supposed to show his mother how mature he was.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Raj retrieved the pole and water buckets hanging next to a barrel covered with fine mesh and trudged toward the trail leading down to the stream. 

"Raj."

Stopping at the edge of the forest, the boy turned.

"What?"

"Take the stick. Keep an eye out for snakes."

"How can I shoulder the pole and carry a stick?" Raj asked.

"Leave the pole. You can take the stick if you only have one bucket."

"It will take me twice as long!"

His mother bit her lip with a far-off look.

"The rat snake has me a bit rattled. Take the stick."

"Mom, snakes are everywhere all the time. My teacher says they won't bother us if we leave them be. You worry too much."

Holding a hand out for the pole while thrusting the stick at Raj, his mother stood firm, her face resolute.

"Don't argue with me, Raj."

"Fine! Have it your way. But I still think you're being silly."

"Better safe and silly than sorry."

Before Raj could protest more, she turned and stepped into the house, but not without calling out one more order.

"And stay out of the stream. It will be swift, and the flooding disrupts the wildlife."

"I'm not stupid," Raj said under his breath, feeling he had already lost a lot of ground in his quest to convince his mother to speak more of the mysterious Varūpa. So he set off to fetch the water as quickly as possible.

Raj didn't fear snakes, even the poisonous ones. He understood his mother's dread but had never known his older sister. He felt that loss with a distant obscurity, which meant, at times, he resented Maya's posthumous effect on his life.

As he made his way alone down the mucky trail, Raj pouted, irritation becoming anger, until, in a moment of impetuous spite, common in children who fail to get their way, he decided to dally, knowing his mother would worry about any delay in his return with the first bucket of water.

Abandoning the path to a gently sloped portion of the river bank, where he and his mother could quickly draw water, Raj tromped onto another trail leading to a section of craggy banks where the small river began cascading toward the village farmlands below.

His destination was a tall, mysterious, infuriatingly impossible-to-climb tree that had enchanted Raj's imagination from the moment he found it. Thanks to a recent growth spurt, Raj could finally clamber up the stout trunk, and during his first ascent, he discovered a spacious hollow within a nexus of thick branches splintering skyward during his first ascent.

After this morning's events, Raj longed to hide and sulk in his new favorite thinking spot. So he trudged on, unaware of his surroundings, as he dreamed of drier weather, football, and growing up until one of his feet unexpectedly sunk into the mud, causing him to lose his balance.

"Ah! What the…?" Raj said, his arms flailing, trying to avoid falling.

Having righted himself, Raj looked about with confusion. He stood ankle-deep in the mire, wondering if he had veered off course until realizing the tree he sought stood before him, surrounded by swirling floodwaters.

"Whoa," Raj said.

Raj hadn't realized how heavy the rains had been the past few days. The extent of the flooding awed him, and he briefly considered running back down the path to see how the watering hole spot had faired in this unexpected deluge.

Of course, Raj instantly yearned to climb his tree, but the water posed a problem. Although he disliked disobeying his mother and rarely did so, the strange scene tempted him to ignore his mother. He gave the situation some thought.

"It's so close, a few steps away. How deep can it be?" He wondered.

Putting the bucket back on dry ground, Raj probed the water with the stick his mother had insisted he take. 

"Doesn't seem deep," He said to himself.

Raj cautiously waded in, finding the water reached just above his knees. Emboldened, he sloshed quickly through the water to the tree's base.

Feeling a powerful current tug at his feet, Raj curled his toes around a submerged root and clung to the trunk to brace himself against the river's flow.

"Yikes! I've never seen the river surge like this," Raj said aloud.

Suddenly, keen to get out of the water, he secured the stick as best he could in the muck before blindly grasping the lowest branch to pull himself up.

Immediately, Raj sensed something was wrong. Instead of feeling the rough, unyielding texture of the treebark, his hands sunk into something soft and wriggly. Confused, Raj hung there momentarily before deciding to let go. But he realized it was too late when a sharp nip stung his hand with an intensity strong enough to send a jarring bolt of pain down his arm.

Snatching his hand away, he dropped and stumbled, splashing into the water. Gaping upwards stupidly, Raj recognized the markings of a king cobra. Dumbfounded, he peered down at two marks glistening like vibrant ruby pendants on his hand. A million things rushed through his head until only one thought remained; he needed medicine soon, or he'd die.

Finding his feet, Raj ran. Adrenaline quickened his breath and heartbeat and supercharged his muscles. His frantic struggle also accelerated the spread of venom through his body. His vision blurred, he grew dizzy, and then the nausea hit. Disoriented, Raj fled in the wrong direction, away from home. 

"Mom! Help! "

Raj's effort to shout sapped his strength enormously and his increasingly labored breathing made it impossible for him to cry out again.

He collapsed to the damp ground in pain.

He tried to rise, but his limbs felt stiff and uncoordinated. 

"Mom…mom…mom," Raj whispered repeatedly before falling silent.

As he lay gasping, growing increasingly colder, Raj felt himself begin to drift away.

Silent darkness started creeping in from the edges, and Raj loosened his grip on life ever so slightly. Only the guilt he felt leaving his mother alone prevented him from heeding the far-off glimmer of a peaceful light. But Raj continued to slip away until the unexpected sound of a voice calling out to him.

"Don't give up! I'm coming!"

A flicker of hope helped Raj hold on.

"Help," Raj said.

The boy waited, fighting to stay awake.  

"I'm here. I'm here. Hold on. I can help," The voice said.

"Where?" Raj asked.

"Here, Boy. Next to you,"

"Mom?"

"No."

"Who then?" Raj asked.

"An old friend of sorts. You've seen me around before. In fact, I had quite a squabble with your mother today. Or maybe it was yesterday. Time confuses me. Either way, the woman has zero respect for the ancient custom of calling dibs on prey. But I digress; sorry, Boy, I should be helping you rather than chatting your ear off."

Looking about, Raj didn't see anyone.

"I don't see you."

"Here."

A tickle of softness on his cheek drew Raj's attention to a tiny amorphous blob hovering next to his face. Straining against the venom's effects, Raj managed to focus enough to make out the circle of white fur surrounding the eye of the old, mangy mongoose, Bullseye.

Logically, Raj understood animals didn't talk. Still, given the dire straits he found himself in, he was young enough to accept this incongruence with reality without question. 

"A cobra bit me."

"I smell it," Bullseye sniffed.

"I think I'm dying."

"No. You're different. I can help. Just accept my help, and I will fix everything."

"What are you talking about?" Raj asked.

"Shh! I am old and have little time left, so I'll give you what I no longer need. You could demand it; take it from me, but I see you are unaware of what you are. I gift it to you. Take it."

"I… don't understand," Raj said.

"You're out of time. Let me help you."

"H...how...can you... help?"

"Trust me." the mongoose said.

Raj had always enjoyed watching the old mongoose rambling about the yard. He found it easy to trust him.

"Okay," Raj said.

Raj wondered at the sharp pinch he felt in his wounded hand before realizing the little beast had bitten him. Raj grew heated, feeling indignant at being tricked. But as a warm, soothing itchiness oscillated up his arm, Raj warily reconsidered the meaning of all this.

He wondered if the mongoose was hungry. He giggled hoarsely at such an absurd thought. 

"Why'd you bite me?

"Gifting you something... only a mongoose possesses…so you... may live," Bullseye said, sounding far off.

Raj broke into a fierce sweat. A buzzing in his ears intensified, drowning out all other sounds as it felt like his blood boiled. Somehow, he knew a battle raged inside, and his side was winning.

An indeterminate amount of time passed as Raj's body roiled on the ground until he found himself lying there pain-free.

"I feel better. How?" Raj asked.

"A mongoose's immune to... snake... venom. Now, you... are, too," Bullseye whispered.

"What? Where's my mom? She must have given me snake serum. Where is she? I don't remember her being here."

"She... wasn't. I... bit you...it...saved you. Most humans can't assume... power... from us. But you... can. You're...Virūpa."

* * *

Link to Chapter Two