Ravana Goes To Silicon Valley: Chapter 3
The landscape that greeted him on the other side of the ridge was very different from last time he was there. The deep snow that always covered the hillsides in the past had given way to a dull gray rock surface, strewn with big and small boulders.
The biggest change was the lake itself. The sight broke Chandru’s heart. The lake was now a small fraction of it’s former size, much of the ice had melted away, and the surface was covered with ankle-deep, dirty water.
Using his ice pick for support Chandru stepped out on the ice, hoping it was still thick enough to carry his weight. The ice seemed quite solid, so he got braver and went out further, tapping and probing the ice with his pick to make sure it would hold him. After all, if he fell through the ice nobody would be there to rescue him. Ironically, he might end up the only prisoner of the ice.
Suddenly his left foot got stuck. He looked down, terrified, and saw that a hand had grabbed his ankle and was preventing him from moving. He screamed, and began hitting the hand with the ice pick, but the hand wouldn’t let go.
Realizing that five hundred rupees probably wouldn’t solve this predicament he turned the ice pick around and pinned the hand to the ice. It finally let go, and Chandru rushed to the shore without looking back. Reaching solid ground he collapsed on the bare rocks. An intense pain shot up his leg, and when he tried to stand up he found it wouldn’t hold his weight.
It took him several hours of crawling across the rough terrain to reach the ridge, and once there he passed out from exhaustion.