Keep Your Love Strings... by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (mobi ebook reader TXT) 📕

 The big neem trees in the portico stood tall.  Varieties of grasshoppers peculiar to the hilly region started to screech and it continued in chorus for more than an hour. Dora can hear the flapping wings of some birds, but could not see them in the dark.  She can hear the rustling sound of snakes that moved fast on the ground. 

Once in a while she heard the sound of a frog being caught by a snake. Dora had seen only rats. But here she can see large bandicoots, which looked like small kittens.

 Wild cats roamed free in the space around the guest house. But, the cat at the guest house cozily slept in the sofa of the drawing room. Big male cats chased the rats for a while and then caught them as their food. To see a cat hunting for its prey reminded Dora of seeing a wild tiger hunting its prey in the forests.

 The cook at the guest house told Dora about a cheetah hunting deer in the forest uphill.  It is quite dangerous to live uphill. It is because, tigers, wild boars, deer, foxes and pythons still roamed around freely in the wild forest.  In spite of all dangers, some young boys always come there for trekking and they walked till the falls in the forest.

If you are lucky you can see a wild boar or a wild dog, and it is not advisable to walk in the evening. Taking bath in the falls is also restricted as it has no safety limits and nothing has been done to secure safe bath for the people who want to take bath in the falls. 

There are many types of trees around the guest house. At the entrance of the guest house stood a tall tree with the creeper manoranjitham entwined on it. Manoranjitham flowers smelt so strong and its perfume even invited snakes to have a sniff.  As the creeper has grown high up in the tree, no one can climb up the tree and pluck some flowers. The unpicked blooms spread its perfume and filled the air with a romantic charm.

 ‘Sh, look there,’ the cook pointed to the manoranjitham tree.  A huge cobra stood on the branch of the tree and it stood tall with its hood straight. They can even hear the hissing noise of the cobra. Dora and Vel watched the snake without making any noise.

The cobra slowly moved down the tree and caught a frog at the bottom of the tree. The small mouth of the snake widened to help the snake to swallow the fat frog. 

A shiver went through Dora, and she clutched the hand of Vel in fear.  Vel can feel the shiver in Dora and looked at her with concern.

 ‘Hi, what is this, you are trembling?’ he whispered to her with much concern.

 ‘Let us go inside.’ Without waiting for his answer, Dora got up and went inside the guest house.

Publication Date: 08-22-2013

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To all young couples who start their married lives with dreams!