Some items were never meant to be seen nor touched by man. They existed only for itself to prove existence to the universe. The charred and blackened statue along the highway 35 was one of them. It was there even before the highway was built before the turn of the last century. Workmen who were clearing the forest first discovered it by accident.

Folklore had it that it was moved twice from the original spot but returned to the place after men were dying like flies.Rumors flew of its origin. Some said it was cursed by the unknown tribe. Other said , it was the spirit of the forest itself. But they all agreed , whatever or whoever it was , it didn’t want to be disturbed.

Since then , it had occupied the special place alongside the highway as stories of were handed down by subsequent settlers to the area. Of course , in the 21st century , such stories would have been taken as nothing more than a bar joke. So it was the legend that Johnny found out the hard way.

One day in June 1965 was a hot day for summer. Johnny , who was then a newly minted member of highway patrol team , was doing the routine roundabout. He stopped by a cafe in the middle section and was resting when he received a call from the HQ. Someone reported an accident before the nearby right turn and he was asked to investigate before the rest of the team arrived.

He finished the hotdog and coffee in rush and stepped down on the accelerator to the spot. He arrived in 20 min and saw a car overturned on the side with smoke clearly seen from the tires. He used his car to block the part of the road and rushed towards the car. He looked into the car and saw an unconscious man at the driver’s seat. And to his further amazement , there was a little girl close by , watching him.

He asked her if she was ok and then carried her into the patrol car. He went back the accident site , used his gun to smashed the windows and managed to pull the man. He was soaked in blood from head down but still breathing. He torn off the shred of clothes and tried to stop the blood flow.

Fortunately ,  ambulance soon arrived , along with his seniors. Soon , the situation was under control and Johnny suddenly remembered the little girl he carried to inside the car. He hurried to the patrol car but she was no longer there!

The End.