Page 4 - ln2-011320010112

Expedition: journey

With the help of a long stick, Prashant started the eighteen kilometer
long journey back home. As he passed through the flood water, the
journey got inscribed in his mind forever. He had to use the stick to
guide him and find the path where the water was shallower. At some
places the water was waist deep and his pace slowed down. At some
places, he lost a track of the road and had to swim to save himself from
drowning. After sometime he was relieved as he got the company of two
friends who, along with their uncle were returning to their village. All of
them proceeded together.

As they waded through the waters, the scenes they witnessed grew
more and more macabre. They had to push away many human bodies
— men, women, children — and carcasses of dogs, goats and cattle that
the current swept against them as they moved ahead. In every village
that they passed, they could barely see a house standing. Prashant now
wept out loud and long. He was sure that his family could not have
survived this catastrophe.

Waded: swam
Macabre: horrible
Catastrophe: disaster

As the group proceeded, they got to see horrible scenes. They had to
push dead bodies of human beings and animals which were being swept
around with the current of the water. As they crossed villages, not even

a single house was seen. As Prashant’s fear grew, he wept loudly. He
was sure that his family members would not have survived the disaster.
Eventually, Prashant reached his village, Kalikuda. His heart went cold.
Where their home once stood, there were only remnants of its roof.
Some of their belongings were caught, mangled and twisted in the