Nights in Nepal

The sun was setting, illuminating the sky in a bright pink. The full moon rose and stared me in the face. I closed up shop and headed down the path to where the boats were. If I hurried I could make it in time before the shop closed up for the night. Ignoring the rustles from the dense bush on either side of the path and focusing only on the moss covered, cracked staircase that led to the boats I safely made it to the boatshed; I paid my token and hopped on the last boat. The pilot told me of giant snakes that live underneath the lake and preyed on young children/animals. Naturally I was hesitant to believe him and asked for proof. He told of an abandoned building near the drop off point. If I climbed up a tree I could look into the top room that had captured one. Though it looked dead, the snake was asleep.
Below me I could hear men shouting for me to come down. I turned and saw 3 policemen looking at me with suspicion. I climbed down to confront the men. Luckily for me there was one man in the group whom I knew. A neighbour of a friend who recognized me at once and thus I managed to get out of a potentially sticky situation. His name was Laxman. I asked about the snake in abandoned room and he confirmed the story told by the boat boy. This snake attacked a child when she was playing on the shore. The villagers searched the lake but could not reach the deeper parts and had to give up searching.
A month later a family had come to Pokhara for a holiday. They were unaware of the dangers possessed by the lake so they set up camp near the shore. The father was a trained Ghurka, he was teaching his son how to use the khukuri knife properly. While the son was taking a break and his father was off praying, a scream was heard in the direction of his sister. He rushed over but could not see her anywhere. He waded into the water and screamed out her name. With no reply he waited until he saw what made his sister scream. The snake slithered towards the boy and he, with his khukuri knife still in his hand hacked away at the snake. The boy’s attacks were weak but they were enough to cut the snake and ensured the snake too weak to escape. By this time the father had returned to provide aid. Scientists took the snake to a nearby lab to be studied and answer questions about the lake but when war broke out funding was halted. Today the building full of unanswered questions still stands, waiting for the return of the scientists.