The Frayed Quill

Ranchit handled the pistol in his hand and explained to her. “You should be able to load the pistol and take the stance to shoot.” She closely followed whatever he did. Then she took her stance and shot at the cutout with the marking. The bullet simply touched its left side and was lost in the air. “Focus, alright, you'll get it right.” Ranchit said to her. She shot again four times in a row. Thrice she missed but one of them hit the cutout, a little bit towards the left. He patiently told her to breathe. “Relax, okay? And keep your eye on the target.” Again she took her stance.  “Remember how Arjuna had eyes only for the fish’s eye, the rest was nothing for him. Only the eye.” She saw the marking and let its sight absorb within her being. Breathing in deeply, she touched the cold trigger.  Crack! The bullet was out, landing closer to the middle.  “Hm… Good, good enough.”  She lowered her arm. Sweat streamed down her face. “All you need is practice, then you'll soon ...

Through the dense, gloomy forest she walked, crushing the dried leaves and twigs under her shoes. The darkness pressed in close against her yet her steps were steady and her eyes looked ahead. There was only a bit of light visible at a distance. She struggled to look through the slit of cloth, which covered her whole head but the eyes. They kept widening as the light was too dim. Her pace was steady yet quick.  Beads of perspiration appeared on her neck, the cloth suffocated her; she wanted to get out of the forest as early as she could. She lowered the cloth a little, letting in a breath of fresh air. Then, she lightly touched her nose and cheek; a painful tingling ran all over her face.  The cut wouldn't be that deep, she thought. The blood will get smeared all over. She felt the blood on her fingers; its sight would fill her heart with fear but now she only found it tangible—warm, water-like. My blood, and her—no. Not hers. She shook her thoughts away and continued to walk....