The stairs became quiet after the occasional hurrying footsteps on a Monday morning. One of the footsteps was that of Vishal. Three days a week he had to go to the office, and he left at 11 am. Rest of the working days he worked at home.
Vishal rushed to the stilt parking of his building, rushed to his car, before stepping in he heard a sound on the other side of the car. He wouldn’t have paid it more attention if the remnant of a passing warm summer wind didn’t carry the sound of children playing. It was time for summer vacation.
Even though the reality was right there, Vishal’s hand drew back from the car’s door and he slowly walked to the other side of the car, towards what he wanted to see.
A scared cat paused to look for a moment before rushing off with Vishal’s broken hope.
It began three years back. A new family moved into their rented apartment; they had a nine years old boy Tushar. Tushar was quiet, had two friends from what could be seen. On holidays he could be found playing in the stilt parking area with his remote-controlled car or simply his imagination.
One day Vishal found him hiding on the other side of the car waiting to apparently surprised Vishal but the quiet nature had subdued the confidence and Tushar kept hiding thinking of what to do next while being discovered.
The first few times there were words of concern warning Tushar of getting hurt, but then when Vishal found the persistent boy, he began talking to him and once in a while brought the occasional bar of chocolate.
It was one of those little things one subconsciously thinks would go on for quite some time.
A month had passed and Vishal realised Tushar was gone beyond the usual absence. The security guard informed of the family moving to some other place else and the last image of Tushar waving as Vishal drove away to work floated up.
Life returned to its normal course even though some occasional expectations emerged out of a graze of familiarity.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 