The Matka Boy.

It was as good as any a day for the boy, holding his matka in front of him walking silently, behind his mother as they both walked over to the upper part of the river. His mother filled her two matkas, put one on her head and the other her waist and gestured him to do so too. He filled his matka, but unbeknownst to him, two snakes had entered the matka with the water. He didn't realise it and held it over his head. They both started walking home, with the boy sloshing a bit of water with every step he took.

He reached home and his mother went to her cooking while he was putting his matka down, for the animals to drink from. One of the snakes raised his head out of the water and before he could react, suddenly bit him on his hand. The boy dropped the matka, which incidentally didn't break. The boy whimpered in pain as tears welled up in his eyes, but he didn't cry for help. Another head was raised from the matka and the snake spoke in a hissing sort of voice, "That venom will kill you in two days." The boy's fright had no bounds. He had never even imagined what death was and here it stood in its face. "Unless I bite you. You see, my bite holds the anti-venom to my brother's venom, which will clear your death." the snake hissed louder.

"Well, bite me then, I don't want to die." the boy's fear knew no bounds.

"Do you like rats, brother?" the snake turned to his partner, while the partner nodded with eyes still fixed on the boy's hand. "Go now boy, get us some rats to eat, then I'll think of biting you."

The boy dropped all thought and ran into the farm next to his house. His father had set up a few rat traps around the farm. He ran into the farms at night, even though it would have been a fearful task for him any other day, but not today. He collect four-five rats amd returned to the matka. He threw the bodies of dead rats at the snakes which they ate voraciously. 

"Now, bite me. Before I die." the boy pleaded.

"Oh, not so fast. The poison will take two days to kill you, won't it brother?" he turned to his brother who was just swallowing a particularly large rat at that point unaware of the question. "Yes, two days. You must bring us rats for the next two days if you want to live."

The boy's heart sunk. He thought for a while. He assured himself that it would be just like doing chores for his mother. He agreed to the snakes, but he tied a cloth tightly on top of the matka. When the snakes protested, he asked back what if they ran away. The snake hissed but didn't say anything in return.

The next two days were full torture. He rounded up as many rats as he could collect. He even collected many from nearby farms. All he thought about was rats all day long. And whenever he returned, he would ask the snake to bite him, but the snake would just say no. He brought so many rats that he himself had started to smell like a rat. His pet dog would not come near him or play with him, thinking that he was sick. But the boy didn't mind, all he could think of was rats.

After the end of the second day he brought seven rats to the snakes who had grown a little by then, by eating so many rats. He gave those rats to them and asked the other snake to bite him, offering his arm. But the snake said, "Not before we finish our rats." The sun was setting fast, but it was as if of no consequence to the snakes. After an excruciating wait the other snake finally came round to the boy's arm. And he bit him hard. Blood trickled out, but the boy consoled himself by saying that it was better than death. He clenched his teeth and took the pain as it was.

But before he could enjoy his freedom, the other snake bit him on his other hand. Even more pain surged through him. Tears welled up in his weary eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

The other snake laughed in a high pitch hiss, "Good one, brother. Ever the greedy, he is!" then concluded with another hiss.

In a broken voice, the boy said, "I've given you all the rats. There are none left." as he broke out in proper tears rolling down his cheeks.

"There is one left, but now we are not interested in rats anymore, are we brother?" his brother was eyeing something in the distance.

"Yes, that's it. Boy, your dog sure looks tasty. Bring him."

The pain of the bites suddenly felt numb to him. The dog? He was a part of the family since as long as he could remember. How could the snakes ask for him? He turned around to see the dog staring happily at him. He called out and the dog came running to him, happily wagging its tail. Just about to jump at the boy with glee, to lick him, the snake leaped over him and coiled over the dog's body. The other snake bit the dog near the neck and he too coiled around him very tightly.

Everything happened in a flash. His dog was now dead, even before he had a chance to say good bye. One of the snakes, the one who had attacked first uncoiled just his head and said, "Think about which dog will come for us tomorrow. Good luck" then laughed with a high pitch then started swallowing the dog head first. The boy just stood up and left, broken emotionally and physically.

He had diligently cleared the village of dogs in the next two days, but all this was affecting him very badly. He smelled of dead rats and dogs and dried blood. He didn't eat properly, nor did he take bath, or attended to play with other boys of the village.

The same thing happened again but. The other snake bit him at the end of the second day, but then before he could move the first snake would bite him. And this time they wanted goats. The boy honestly told them to eat the stray dog he had brought for them for the night, he would bring the goat from tomorrow. The snakes hissed in disapproval, but started gulping the dog on either end. The boy stood up and went away.

The boy woke up in the middle of the night due to some weird dream. His whole body was covered with sweat. He thought of the snakes. He stood up, tiptoed his way to the matka and wrapped a thick cloth around the mouth of the matka, trapping both the snakes inside. The snakes didn't seem to realise what had happened, because they were in deep sleep. The boy came back to his bed and thought what if this would never end. At what point would he decide that death was indeed better than this slavery, he thought. He turned to one side and went to sleep again due to heavy exhaustion.

Next day he woke up late, and decided that the snakes had enough. No goats would be sacrificed for the snakes. The snakes hissed obscenities from inside the matka which the boy heard, without any reaction. The snakes were kept hungry for the following day too. At the end of the second day just as the sun had started to slide down, the boy took the matka and went to the river.

The snake inside spoke after a while, "So you have decided to die now, brave boy? It doesn't matter. You were our dog, smelly like him. And when I get out of here I will eat you, then your tasty mother and father, then your whole beloved village. And I will laugh at your dirty dead body."

The boy collected wood from the nearby bushes and started a fire. After the fire had reach a certain ferocity, he put the matka over it, with the cloth still attached. In no time, did the snakes start screaming. They hurled abuses to him and his family. Then writhed in pain as hot surface of the matka touched their scales. After punching a few holes on the cloth above, unsuccessfully trying to come out, they coiled and bounced inside all the while screaming. The boy sat next to the fire listening intently without any emotion left. After half an hour, of this the screams finally shut up. The boy removed the cloth and poked inside the matka. There they were, two stinking carcasses of snakes, with many of their scales fallen off. Their bodies were boiled from the inside out, with gashes all over them. Their eyes had also popped out. He saw this, then picked up the matka, and put their bodies back into the river. He then cleaned the matka, then sat there watching the last sunset of his life. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The sun was a red ink spot on an orange sky. Cool winds flew the birds back to their nests.

Then finally the sun set. But the boy was alive. Suddenly the boy realised, the snakes were lying all the while. There was no anti-venom bite. He felt himself as the fool. Still as ever, he scoffed then picked up his matka and started walking home.

The next day be returned to the spot with his mother to collect water. After his mother had started walking back, he filled his matka, and again two snakes slid inside. But this time he was careful. He emptied the matka over a thorny bush nearby, and two snakes got impaled over the thorns under their own weight. The boy refilled his matka, and started walking home without even looking back.