Kangara

By Annette Siketa

Three men are invited to witness an unusual ceremony. However, they barely escape alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Annette Siketa
• Release date: Nov 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005763305

Annette Siketa

For those of you who have not yet made my acquaintance, my name is Annette Siketa, and I am totally blind. Were you aware that most blind and visually impaired people are extraordinarily perceptive? To sighted people, this ability must seem like ESP, and I suppose to a certain extent, it is. (I'm referring to the literal meaning of Extra Sensory Perception, not the spooky interpretation.) To compensate for the lack of vision, the brain and the other four senses become sharper, so that we can discern a smell or the identity of an object. I promise you there's no trickery involved. It's simply a matter of adapting the body to ‘think’ in another way.Being blind is no barrier to creativity. Like most things in this world, life is what you make of it, and after losing my sight due to an eye operation that went terribly wrong, I became a writer, and have now produced a wide variety of books and short stories, primarily of the ghost/supernatural/things that go bump in the night genre.So, how does a blind person write a book? On the practical side, I use a text-to-speech program called ‘Jaws’, which enables me to use and navigate around a computer, including the Internet, with considerable ease. Information on Jaws can be found at www.freedomscientific.comOn the creative side...well, that’s a little more difficult to explain. Try this experiment. Put on your favourite movie and watch it blindfolded. As you already ‘know’ the movie – who does what where & when etc, your mind compensates for the lack of visualisation by filling in the ‘blanks’. Now try it with something you’ve never seen before, even the six o'clock news. Not so easy to fill in the blanks now is it?By this point you’re probably going bonkers with frustration – hee hee, welcome to my world! Do not remove the blindfold. Instead, allow your imagination to compensate for the lack of visualization, and this will give you an idea of how I create my stories. Oh, if only Steven Spielberg could read my mind.

Book preview

KANGARA

By Annette Siketa

Copyright © 2021 Annette Siketa.

No part of this book may be manipulated, transmitted, or altered by any method or manner whatsoever. All rights reserved. Please respect the authors’ rights. Only through honesty can the insidious practice of illegal copying be curbed.

Distributed by Smashwords

Kangara.

Our host, Shem Patil, an important official in the Indian government, could not have been more gracious, and when our business was concluded in Calcutta, he took Colonel Stanstead, Hudson, and myself, to his, Shem's, country retreat.

It was wonderful to exchange the stifling heat for cool jungle air, and on our last night, Shem asked if we would like to witness a cultural event. A local woman who was part sorceress, part priestess, and part nun, was due to make an appearance. Apparently, she only did this at the height of a full moon.

The colonel, who had served in India for many years, arriving as a young foot soldier just before the mutiny in 57, expressed the opinion that, while there were many strange things in the world, there was nothing that could not be explained. Hudson was nonplussed, whilst I was interested from a scientific point of view.

It was five miles to the meeting place, and our transport was two elephants once owned by a local Raj. Happily, the jungle and its ferocious inhabitants had long ceased to frighten the behemoths.

Led by several torchbearers, we followed a well-trodden path into the jungle. However, when we turned onto a less frequented track, the atmosphere took on a strange eeriness. I thought I heard whispering behind some trees. I said as much to one of the torchbearers, who immediately stopped and listened.

No, sahib. It is the wind, and she is singing a strange song. He suddenly spun on one leg and started snapping his fingers. What on earth are you doing? I asked, but it was Shem who answered.

He is chasing away any bad spirits that might be following us.

Does it work on tax inspectors? asked Hudson flippantly.

Nobody paid any attention to the remark as we plunged deeper into the jungle. I listened to the 'clacking' of the crickets, the monotonous croak of the tree frogs, and the buzzing of the fireflies as they flew past like embers. And then the wind blew in earnest. It seemed to bounce off the trees, shaking their canopies and emitting a shrieking song.

We must stop here, said Shem, dismounting. Here is the village, and the elephants cannot go any further.

Village? repeated Hudson. Surely you are mistaken. I don't see anything but trees.

The huts are so well hidden that even in daylight you could hardly see them. They do not show lights tonight for fear of attracting evil spirits.

Are we expected to watch the witch in darkness?

Shem cast a furtive look