It was a warm day in spring of 2020 as Austin was taking a hike with his two doggies names Cooper and Gunner. While on his normal morning walk Austin noticed a new trail, he has never seen before. “Let’s go this way, boys!” Austin exclaimed as the three took a left turn into uncharted territories.
On this particular Saturday morning Maria had senior pictures scheduled with a well-known photographer on the University of Oklahoma campus. Feeling the joy and excitement in her heart while posing in her cap and gown she started to reminisce over the past Four. Long. Years. “Wow, this is the building I had my first lab in while I was still a freshman. I remember the grueling hours I spent in that cold lab learning biology,” Maria stated to the photographer. Just then her phone rang. “Oops let me turn this off so we can focus and have some fun!” she said excitedly.
“Gunner, come back here!!” Austin yelled to their German Shepherd as the dog ran off into the woods with Austin and Cooper on this tail. Out of the blue an Oklahoman rattlesnake popped up and bit him on the ankle leaving Austin incapable of walking. Gunner ran back to figure out why his owner was yelling in pain. “Go find help, Gunner” Austin pleaded to his puppy before Gunner ran off again.
Minutes pass…
Then an hour…
Floating in and out of conciseness Austin heard someone yelling in the background. “AUUUSSTIINNN” yelled a conservation officer. “over here…..” Austin mumbled right before he passed out.
The state troopers tried calling Maria’s phone to tell her of the danger her fiancé is in but there was no answer. They transferred him to the nearest hospital. Sadly, Austin does not recover from his wounds.
Back at the University Maria finished her pictures and was walking to her car whenever she turned her phone back on. She then listened to the devastating voicemail left by the police and rushed to be by her future husband’s side.
When she arrived, Maria was confused and hurt that the nurses would not let her back to see her fiancé. This was when the doctor tells her the terrible news that his injuries were just too much for his body to handle.
Maria let out a scream, “WHY me WHY him WHY right now. Our lives were perfect. If only I was able to answer the phone call sooner. I would give my life to just spend another day with him”.
Just then a weird wind blew though-out the hospital and with it a voice whispered in Maria’s ear. “If you are willing to give half of your life, I will bring the boy back for the years you will sacrifice”. Nodding her head in agreement she declared, “I will do anything!!”
“IT’S A MIRACLE” a nurse scram. “HE IS AWAKE AND ALIVE” she shouted from Austin’s room.
Authors note
In the original story Ruru pleas to give up his life so his future wife, Pramadvara would be able to marry him. In order to do this he must sacrifice half of his life and give it to her. Since the original story is about love and sacrifice, I deiced to keep that the same for my story. However, this is one of the main details I switched up in my story by having the woman be the one that sacrificed herself for her husband to come back to life, so they are able to spend more time together and get married. This story reminds me of myself and my fiancé. I would 100% give up half of my life to spend a little bit more time with him and become his wife. This is why I have decided to write over this story with this new view. Since this story is inspired by my life I decided to keep out names the same and create it into our current lives. My puppies Cooper and Gunner also make an appearance within this story. We also really enjoys going on hikes together and traveling whenever we are able to.
Bibliography: The Mahabharata (Volume 1): Ruru and Pramadvara by Sumathi Sridhar