The Dream
The dream
He was running as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He was running towards freedom. He wanted, no needed to be free. To be educated. He wanted to learn like the other kids. He was imagining himself in a car, sitting on his mother's lap arguing with his father on which song they would listen. The father was quite handsome, with a fair complexion, hazel eyes and blond hair. Like one of the heroes you'd see in a classic hollywood movie.
Just then, a shout pierced through his imagination. It rang loud and clear. 'SHYAM! Come back here, you mongrel.' He shut his eyes and stood still. A vein was throbbing in his temple. He turned around. His gaze zeroed on a rather sturdy and dark complexioned man. The man was sprinting towards him. He took a few steps back searching for anything that would protect him from that charging bull of a man. He couldn't see the face of the man. It was blurred. Damn his eyesight!
A bead of sweat fell into his eye. It burned like hell. The man closed in on him and slapped him across the cheek. The vein throbbed harder with each second. How did he tolerate this for fourteen years! His grip tightened around a rusty scalpel. The man spat blood. His eyes moistened. "Shyam..no..."
"Shyam?" Shyam woke up, his breathing rough and his hair tousled. "Are you OK? You are sweating profusely." Said Sasi, his wife. "Oh, I'm fine." Shyam wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his palm. "Did I disturb you?" He asked again. Sasi raised an eyebrow. "Do you
seriously
think that I'd sleep when I have a full grown man writhing beside me?"
Shyam put on an apologetic grin. He let his eyes rest on her face a moment longer before he ran his hand over the little bump on her stomach. "She is growing fast, don't you think so?" It had been five months, ten days, eight hours and forty six minutes since he was declared a father for the second time. He couldn't be more happy."Who do you think it will be?" Sasi asked, running her hand over her stomach. "A girl." "Again?" "Yeah. I'd love to have two Diya's running in the house." He chuckled at the mere thought. They couldn't survive another Diya. Sasi chortled "I don't think we need more chaos, but I have a strong feeling that it's a boy." "Well, be ready to lose." Sasi rolled her eyes.
"Could you get me a glass of water?" She asked. Shyam nodded. "I could do with a gulp too." He unwound himself from the sheets and made his way into the kitchen.
After a while, he entered the room carrying a glass of water. He sat on the edge of the bed, beside Sasi. "Hey, you up?" "Yeah. What took you a while?" Said Sasi, setting a pillow between her back and the headboard of the bed. Shyam rolled his eyes. "You hide the glasses away in the pretext of organizing them and I have to go on a voyage to find them." "Just accept that you are slow. I mean you are ageing." Sasi snorted. "Excuse me! I'm twenty nine, for god's sake." Shyam retorted. Sasi shrugged and sipped her water, earning a glare from Shyam.
He put his ear on her stomach and kissed it gently. Sasi drank the water and placed the glass on the table when... Thump...
"AH, Did you hear that?" "She kicked." The baby kicked!
_________EP-01 COMPLETED ___________
