Deep Freeze
It was very odd. There were no people on the bus, but the engine was running and their belongings were there. But the bus stop was deserted.
I had just visited my aunt who lived in the countryside.
The bus that would take us back to town came only once every hour. I thought I would miss it so I ran all the way from my aunt’s house. But when I reached the bus stop. this strange sight confronted me. Where were the driver and the passengers ?
There was a sandy field behind the bus stop and I went there to investigate. I saw footprints on the sand which were probably made by the passengers. The footprints were all leading to one direction – towards the centre of the field. I plucked up my courage and ran towards it. As I was about to reach it, an unusual sight caught my eyes. There was a big crater in the sand, and a bright light, as though from an explosion, shone upwards. People stood at the edge of the crater, looking into it. I continued to run towards it. Then I felt a hand grabbed my arm, and I screamed. “Hey, don’t be frightened. Don’t run to the crater, or you will become like them,” said a stranger. I turned to face him, and saw that he was an old man whom I had seen in the village.
“Look at those people,” the old man continued.” If you look carefully, you can see that they are not moving. They are frozen like statues.” He told me that when the bus was about to leave, a glowing, bright object crashed into the field and formed the crater. The pull of the light was so strong that everyone seemed drawn and rushed towards it. Even the young children were not frightened by it. The old man could not keep up with the rest of them because of his weak leg. He noticed that whoever looked at the object in the crater became immovable, as though transfixed by it.
I asked the old man what we should do. I wanted to run back to the village for help. “Wait,” he said, “I think something is about to happen that will save them. The sky is dark. I hope the gods will bless us with rain. We waited for the rain to fall. I could not help stealing looks at those immovable figures surrounding the bright light. It was very eerie.
Then it rained, There was a heavy downpour. The old man and I watched an incredible sight. The bright light grew weaker and disappeared, and at that moment, the people started to come “alive” again. We approached them and they seemed not to have any knowledge of what had happened to them. They were all busily talking about the crater, and had no memory that some minutes of their lives had been frozen by an alien force.
I looked into the crater and saw that there was a smooth globe inside it. But when the rain wiped out the light, it lost its power. The old man looked at me, and I nodded at him. We both understood that we would not tell the passengers the truth about the incident. They were better off not knowing, and besides they might not believe us, anyway.
