King of the Secret Forest

In the whole country, there is a secret place, hidden away from the masses and only known to certain people in the Government. It was a place where a King still rules over his subject and despite living within a very modern country; lifestyle of people remains ancient to the time of Romans.

The kingdom lies within a large area of forest and treacherous mountains and no one is allowed to enter the forest without special permission from the highest level in the Government. The only sense of modernization in the kingdom is a lonely railway track that passes through the edge of the kingdom. The train however does not stop any where in this kingdom.

Image via WikipediaThe palace where the Great King (in my dream, looked like this guy, ha ha) stays is within a large stony mountain and most of the King’s subjects live in the other side of the forest where it is not assessable from the railway tracks.

They worked as hunters, loggers, miners and farmers. It is a self sustaining kingdom without any need from outside help and it has remained so for hundred of years. 

It was a fine day when the King and his trusted men adorned full body armor and shiny swords, took ride in their mighty horses towards the edge of the forest for their routine patrol against any intruders and also keep tab of anyone that might be trying to find the secret of the forest.

They rode their horses in silent and remained hidden from any spying eyes. They reached the peak of a small hill overlooking the railway track. It was time for the morning express to travel through, for a short moment, the kingdom and the King likes to watch the train in the morning. The Morning Express was fast and it has been instructed to pass through the Kingdom in the shortest period possible. The Government certainly did not want to be in the Kingdom for long.

But something was not right that morning. The Morning Express was late, something that never happened in the past. The King looked at his men and wondered the same. Then there was a sound of a train but it was loud and slow. The King and his men saw the train from far and immediately knew something had gone wrong.

The train was moving slow and there were a couple of men in the front and at the back. They seem to be stealing something from the train. By the time, the train had reached the small hill where the King and his men been watching, a couple of the men had moved to the first coach whilst the others remained at the last coach where the loot has been stacked away.

The train passed the hill and immediately the King chased the train, galloping his horse closely followed by his men. The men in the train remained unaware of the King and caught off guard when a large man with a full body armor were standing at the back door with a large shiny sword in his hands. The men who had firearm remained shocked by this picture until it was too late.

The King and his men managed to apprehend all the men in the last coach and recover the loot. Unfortunately the gang leader was in the front coach and they were heavily armed. The King decided not to risk attacking the front coach, so he uncoupled the front coach, leaving the back coach away from the front coach.

He knew that it will not be long before the gang leader realized that he has lost the loot and his men in the back coach. He also knew that it won’t be long before the gang leader gather his remaining men and try to recover the loot.

The good thing is more of the King’s men had arrived at the railway track and they managed to sneak back to the safety of the forest with the caught men and the loot. The King instructed his men to prepare the defenses as he rode back to the palace for rest and lunch. He knows that he needs to be at the frontline once the battle starts. He had to pass through a huge gate before he will reach his palace. All the way, the path is heavily guarded by his men who remained hidden.

When he reached the main entrance of the palace, he was confronted by his people who had heard the news of the train being robbed and how their King had captured the criminals. They wanted to be with the King now if the gang leader and his men decides to attack the Kingdom. The King, now taken his meal and rested, walked to the balcony and sees his subject armed to the teeth, waiting at the below. The King waved at them and walked towards his advisers who had interrogated the criminals caught by the King and his men earlier. The loot turned out to be precious metals which included gold. There was more gold in the Kingdom than one can imagine.

The criminals were indeed dangerous and will not stop at anything to recover the loot which they had worked hard to rob. They did not expect that their plans would be foiled by unknown men in the forest, for all the while, had thought that the forest was empty of people.

Meantime the gang leader and his men have not been quiet – they were furious on the loss of the men and the loot. They knew that someone in the forest has stopped his men, recovered the loot and uncoupled the back coach from the rest. They were determined to recover the loot, no matter what are the odds. No matter how many enemies they need to face. They were preparing for a showdown. The sun was setting down in the horizon and the King was preparing for a battle.

The Large Statues

Image via Wikipedia

I was in India visiting a large ancient temple somewhere in Chennai. 

A guide was waiting for us at the temple entrance and from the entrance, I was not able to see the whole temple complex. The guide took us into the temple structure and at the deep end of the structure, there was a small room. We entered the room and noticed a small staircase leading up but I could not see the end of the stairs. 

We walked up and we must have walked for almost an hour when we noticed a glimpse of light. We were now at the rooftop and at the very top, there was smaller temple ground with some idols. I walked to the edge and noticed that we are now almost 15 stories high. 

And just in front of me, leading from the temple ground was 2 huge statues - one I could easily recognized - it was the statue of Kali Ma - it look scary to others but to the worshipers, it looked grand, colorful and comforting. I could not see the other statue but it was at the same height with the statue of Kali Ma. At the very end of the ground, I could see people - they looked so tiny. 

A small breeze of wind blew as I looked at the horizon - I could not see any other structures but the temple structures. I felt very peaceful despite seeing the 2 huge statues.

3 Children

I was asleep when I heard some sound. 

I woke up and noticed that there were 3 small children standing in front of me. I noticed that my throat and lips were dry. So, I took the bottle of water which was nearby and drank some of the water. The 3 children kept quiet and did not show any reactions. I offered them my water as I felt that their throats must be dry. They took the bottle and then drank the water. They however did not say anything to me. 

Realizing that they can take care of themselves, I woke up and started to walk to a bus station at the front. When I turned around and looked back, one of the children was holding a shotgun. The child was not aiming at me but rather was playing with the shotgun with others. Suddenly the shotgun went off and blew one of the children’s head. 

The police arrived shortly and keeping asking the children what had happened but the children remained silent. One kept looking at me.

(Image source: http://www.historysanjose.org)

The 5 wise bloggers

(The story below written was based on a dream)

It was a plan concocted by 5 prominent bloggers in the kingdom…

It was a plan to know exactly how far the blogsphere can shape and move the life of an ordinary citizen. Words was spread through the blogsphere by these 5 prominent bloggers that there will be a big rally against the establishment. Well, the word “big” was an understatement. The largest…ya, that’s more correct.

Short messages – Sunday, men on the right, women on the left was all that was posted in the blogsphere but it was more than enough to inspire the masses to move to the place of meet on Sunday morning. From afar the 5 prominent bloggers was watching closely. They almost smiled.

Thousands of men and women on the opposite side of the square, ready to clash and emerge as winners. There was someone shouting in the masses and suddenly the big group clashed. Some were seriously injured and whilst some was left to dead in the confusion.

When the dust settled down, everyone started to ask what had happened. They went back to the Internet and started reading the blog posts of the 5 prominent bloggers. The post has been changed. It now reads Sunday evening, men and women against the establishment. The men and women march back to the square, ready to clash again when they were surrounded by heavily armed police. Both clashed. The police seem to be on the losing end. They were reinforced but that is not stopping the determined men and women from winning the fight.

From afar, the 5 prominent bloggers were now indeed laughing. They had the powers to move the masses. They have seen it working. They knew it was true. That is why the Government is so afraid of them.

It was time to execute the plan…

(Image source: http://artofmanliness.com)

Steel Ladder

(Image source: Flickr)

The steel ladder was cold…

I looked up, the ladder went on but I could not see the start of the ladder. I looked down and it was the same case. I looked around and found that the surrounding was dark and had very little light to see. Clearly I was in some shaft – it was cold & breathable. I anticipated my next move – should I climb up or climb down. Where was the ground? Up or down? I felt a cold wind blowing from the bottom, so I decided to climb down.

My hands were aching now – it must have been hours, me climbing down but I still could not see the end. I wondered whether I made the mistake of climbing down. Perhaps I should have climbed up. Nonetheless I continued climbing down. Suddenly I saw a platform. When I reached the platform, I noticed that there were no doors and the ladder continued to go down under the platform. Although I did not reach the ground, the platform was a welcome stop – it allowed me to take a rest before I proceed to climb down.

I looked down, the ladder continued down – the ground nowhere in sight

Steel Bars

(Similar steel bars. Image source : www.seanbuckley.ca)

I must have dozed off…

I woke up and found myself at a corner of the roof on a tall building. I looked down and noticed I was sitting on steel bars.

The tall building did not have any floors or walls. It only had steel bars crossing along the 4 corners and down each floors. The building must be 40 stories high and I was on the 40th floor.

The wind was blowing fast now and it almost knocked me off the precarious position that I was in.

I looked down and there was a high plunge down – I could not see the ground. The steel bars were all in red and was well bolted. But it allow a small space for me to sit in – one wrong move will have me plunging to the ground, 40 stories down.

I did not move and continued to sit at the corner…