A silent morning began to come alive with human presence as two legs rushed on the road towards the park.
The legs entered the park and headed towards a particular bush and behind it they hopped and a hand reached out to pick up something, a cricket ball.
The evening a day before, Sanjit had stopped on his bicycle to watch a cricket match amongst children of his age group. A shot towards the bush brought a fielder to look for the ball, then the other fielders and soon both the teams. The ball was not found but Sanjit had spotted it and he quietly cycled away on his bicycle.
Sanjit returned the next day to find the ball for himself. He didn’t live in this neighbourhood, who was going to notice.
“Are you Sanjit?”
Sanjit turned to find Ayansh standing. Ayansh was out on a forced morning walk with his father, while returning he spotted Sanjit.
“You live here?” awakened Sanjit, quietly hiding the ball in his pocket
Ayansh and Sanjit knew each other; they used to go to the same school for a while. They were friends back then and then Sanjit transferred to another school. They were younger back then than they were now.
“Yes, I live here. What brings you here?” asked Ayansh
“I pass by this park often, I never knew you lived here,” said Sanjit
They exchanged numbers. They didn’t meet often and the few times they met were mostly when Sanjit was passing by; although words were regularly exchanged online.
“I would like you to meet one of my friends Mukul, Sunday evening,” Ayansh said on a phone call to Sanjit
“All right,” said Sanjit and Ayansh was a bit relieved. The uneasiness of Mukul’s house that had crept in, had grown into a worry.
Both the friends reached Mukul’s house on Sunday evening.
“This is my friend Sanjit, I was hoping you two could become friends as well,” said Ayansh, as Mukul opened the door
Mukul looked confused for a moment but then he smiled and welcomed both inside. Ayansh was not having the same feeling that he had previously been in the house, something had changed.
Mukul asked them to go to the dining room first, “let’s have the burgers first” he said
Ayansh entered the dining room to find a boy sitting at the table. It may have taken a few seconds but he identified him as the tall boy in the family portrait. The one he knew nothing about. Sanjit looked around at the house.
“This is my elder brother Harshit,” said Mukul, “he died four years ago”
Ayansh and Sanjit stood in silence, if it was a joke then it was the kind they had never heard of before. But Mukul didn’t say anything after.
Sanjit pretended to smile and said, “that was a good one, you had us both there”
Mukul turned and walked to the corner of the room and picked up a wooden stick and threw it at Harshit. The stick passed right through him.
“He really is a ghost,” said Ayansh in a shocked voice
“No, he is not,” said Sanjit, “I see tricks like this online all the time
Mukul, a bit visibly irritated asked, “Let’s eat”
“Where are your parents?” asked Ayansh
“At a relative’s house. That’s why I called you to introduce you to Harshit,” said Mukul
Everyone sat at the table, Ayansh let Sanjit sit on the chair next to Harshit.
“I am sorry to have ruined your plan to scare Ayansh,” said Sanjit to Harshit and Harshit smiled but didn’t say anything
“You must be the one making noises in the floor above,” said Ayansh
Harshit still did not answer.
“He cannot speak,” said Mukul, “Just being visible to you is taking away a lot of effort.”
Ayansh noticed Harshit wasn’t eating anything and Sanjit felt Mukul was not able to accept that the prank had failed.
“Nice house,” said Sanjit to Harshit
Mukul interrupted, “I told you he cannot speak..”
“It’s okay, the prank fell apart, it happens,” said Sanjit
“He is fading,” said Ayansh and Sanjit noticed it too
Harshit faded away and the sound of footsteps running up the stairs could be heard.
“I thought you could become a friend to him as well,” said Mukul looking at Ayansh, “He is not harmful, he stays with us…”
Silence arrived.
“I have some pending homework,” said Sanjit
“I think I will leave too,” said Ayansh, trying to avoid Mukul’s gaze
As both left, Ayansh looked at Mukul to say goodbye, and they knew this might be it, the end of the friendship.
“I hope maybe one day you will understand,” said Mukul
Ayansh didn’t say anything and walked away with Sanjit. He didn’t visit the house again.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 