Short story – Janu, the mountain bird

Janu and I were schoolmates. It’s a shame to call it school. A thatched roof shed, dripping from the monsoon rains, with three teachers who have to teach in all four standards, as our science teacher had been moved to another location.

Janu was older than me, but he failed twice and we became classmates.

My dad worked in the gulf and rarely came home.

Janu lived on the adjoining plot in a shack, with his parents, who were daily wage earners, doing odd jobs. Helped mom with housework. I helped her in her studies, as she was weak in all subjects.

The hills where we lived were full of small streams and wild trees. Janu and I wander around, picking fruits and berries. With my sling, I could accurately aim a handle, even at a good height, and knock it down with a stone. And the mangoes were really very tasty. We used to share everything, leaving the part of our parents.

Hares, porcupines, wild birds, honey, etc. they were also available occasionally.

Or we would fish. Janu was an expert at catching them in streams. They weren’t big, but that was all we had, as the closest market was miles away.

There was a post office two miles from our school. Since the postman was reluctant to walk every day, he came only once a week. I would take Janu on my bike and bring letters and kitchen supplies on other days. Mom was reluctant to send me just because I was too small, even though she felt I was big enough.

One day, Janu noticed a big ball of something she hadn’t seen before. It was full of fiber and Janu could easily break it. He said it was wild elephant dung and that we should hurry home as the animal was close by.

We had barely moved a few meters, when suddenly he threw me and we climbed a hill, from whose top we could see the surroundings. I was panting. He hugged me and asked me to look at the stream below.

I could not believe what I was watching! There were a dozen of these animals, large and small, swimming and playing in the water. When a boy tried to escape to the ground, his mother knocked him down. I was sorry, but Janu said it was necessary for me to learn to swim. When Janu knew she was safe, we returned home.

One day we were bathing in the stream. I noticed that she had breasts like lotus buds. The circles around the tips were small and pink. Mom’s were dark. I asked him why it was so. She just smiled and kissed me.

On the way from the post office, a truck stopped near Janu. The driver took her bodily and was about to return to his cabin. Everyone looked and the girl screamed and screamed: leave me alone.

I always carried my sling and a bag full of stones. Before long, a large stone struck the driver’s back. He fell and we both rushed home. From then on, Janu was not allowed to go to the post office. I became a hero.

When standards 5 to 7 were added to our school, I begged my dad to allow me to complete my studies there. He didn’t want to leave Janu.

We extended our trek up the mountain to hills several miles beyond, taking our food with us. We once noticed a man in pants and a shirt coming with a tribal woman, completely naked, except for some leaves around her groin. Janu motioned for me to hide in the bush and look. They looked around and, seeing no one around, the woman lay down on the grass. The man took off his pants and inserted his large penis into the hole between her thighs. Then he kept putting it on, removing it and repeating the process for some time. Then he gave her some money and they left.

I asked Janu what all this meant. She was very excited.

She asked: do you want to do it? Come.

Then she also took off her skirt and asked me to take off my underwear. She lay down and spread her thighs wide, exposing the slit, which she opened with both hands. Do you see a hole?

I saw one, very small, through which I could only insert the tip of my penis. Then he pressed my buttocks hard, against his groin, when my penis entered his hole completely. I experienced a heavenly feeling.
Then I knew what to do.

The climax was so exciting that we wanted to do it every day.
I asked him: how did you learn this?

Sometimes my parents did it, also during the day. Then I looked at him through the keyhole in the door.

But our “honeymoon” was interrupted by fate.

My dad uprooted Ma and me from the mountains and took us to Dubai, where I completed my studies and started my own business. I got married ten years ago. We do not have problems.

Are you still thinking about the mountain rat?

My wife woke me up from my fond memories and offered me a cup of hot tea.

Don’t call the innocent girl a rat, I protested.

She something new about Janu; I didn’t say anything about our secret encounters.

She asked: Why don’t you register it?

I wrote letters to the postmaster; he never responded.

Her: The next time we go to India, we will have to go personally. I also want to see it.

So we searched the maps and located a point in the Vindhya ranges. We had to contact the forestry officials who helped us get to the post office.

The area is changed beyond recognition. Passable roads and terraced buildings were not uncommon.

Near the school was his cabin, still unchanged. I hurried there and was surprised to see an old woman without teeth, with her hair all white and her face lined with wrinkles … Is it Janu?

He came over and laid his face on my shoulder, wetting my shirt with abundant tears. I tried in vain to hide my tears.

Janu was crying: I lost everything. First my only son; then my husband.

I did not know to say. I gave him a thousand rupees and we left, promising to return.