A Night in the Forest

Abdul Hafiz

Research Data

A Night in the Forest

Description

When I was young, we lived in a village called Dalku, also known as Dain [in Goharabad]. My mother explained that it got this name because, at night, people would hear a sound like "dang, dang," believed to be made by jinns. My mother, Salam Bibi, would take our 60-70 goats to graze daily. One day, when she returned home, she realized some goats were missing. My grandfather, noticing the loss, scolded her harshly. Feeling regretful, my mother decided to go back and find the goats, and I followed her. By the time we reached the heart of the forest, it was pitch dark, and we couldn't see our way back home, so we chose to stay under a large rock. After some time, we heard the sound of our lost goats. I felt relieved, thinking we could finally return home. But my mother warned me that it wasn't the actual sound of our goats, but rather the jinns imitating them. A little while later, we heard the sound of a cat from the top of the rock. I wanted to throw a stone, but my mother stopped me, saying it wasn't a cat but jinns again. She then hid me in her large woolen frock. Later, we heard my elder sister calling out to us. I was sure and hopeful that it was truly her and that we could finally go home. But once again, my mother stopped me, explaining that my sister was too far away, and it wasn't possible for her to be in the forest at this time of night. She believed it was another jinn trying to trick us. Terrified, I buried myself deeper into my mother's frock. My mother then pointed to a white line in the sky and told me that when it crossed the sky, it would be morning soon. We waited through the entire night in the jungle, and as dawn broke, we finally made our way back home.