Part - 1.o1 – A Familiar Stranger
I was slowly walking by the road, with a list of grocery items clenched in my hand along with some money. In short intervals of time, I was opening my fist to check on the money in my hand, fearing I may have dropped some of it. Slowly, I walked up to the point where I had to cross the road by looking at both the sides as had been instructed by my mother. But something told me not to step on that road, something in the back of my mind didn't allow me to cross the road today, the same road that I crossed hundreds of times while playing with my friends, the same road I ran across to buy my favorite candy.
I was standing there thinking when someone held my left hand gently. Startled, I looked up to see an elder girl smiling at me, she looked beautiful, I wanted to trust her sisterly grip, But an inner part of me was scared, scared to cross the road or rather scared to trust her. My dad had told me not to talk or interact in any ways with a stranger, and here she was, swaying my promises, promises that I had made to dad. I looked at her and asked a bit awkwardly, "You aren't going to kidnap me are you?" in a slow but steady tone. Her smile turned into laughter, and she said, "No beta, I am not going to kidnap you, I am just helping you cross the road." Her laughter was so pure, so true that I believed her without further ado. She told me, "Walk by my side only." There was care in her eyes for me. We started crossing the road, she held out her left hand as we crossed the road and in a tiny bit, we were on the other side.
I started walking towards the shop when she asked me, "What is your name beta?" It felt so good when she called me 'beta'. It felt like she was my real sister. "My name is Vaibhav. Can I call you didi?" I asked shyly, hoping she won’t mind. "Yes of course you can call me didi", she said smiling, her smile was so addictive that I felt if I could keep talking while looking at her smiling face. "You are buying something right?", she asked and I nodded slowly. "Let me help you." she said and we walked towards the shop. She took my list of groceries and gave it to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper started picking out the things. "So which class are you in?" she asked me. "I am in 4th class didi." I replied, "What is your name?" I then asked curiously. She smiled and looked at me, "Smriti" she said, I looked at her and smiled "You know one of my classmates has that name too" I said. "Oh really?" she said in an amused manner and patted on my cheek. Soon the shopkeeper gave me,my things and I handed him the money. "Which chocolate do you like by the way?" she asked me. "Dairy milk" I replied excitedly. "Can you give me a dairy milk please" she asked the shopkeeper. I stared at her as the shopkeeper handed her a dairy milk and she gave it to me after paying the shopkeeper. "This is for you" she said. "Thank you!" I said and we started walking towards the road. There wasn't much traffic on the road this time, "Which class are you in?" I asked her, "I am in college beta" she replied smiling. "Do you have any younger brother?" I asked in a low voice. She laughed and replied "Yes... you are!" I looked at her with wide eyes while she kept on laughing; I wondered what seemed so funny to her? And how she could always be happy? Are all elder girls like this or is she special. We had already crossed the road by now. "You can go back from here right?" she asked in a caring manner. "Yes" I replied smiling. "Will you meet me again?" I asked in a dim voice. "Yes of course we will, just don't forget me then" she said, this time we both smiled "bye didi" I said "bye and keep smiling" she said I watched her go with a smile on my face. She picked up her moped and entered the lane, while driving, she turned once and waved at me, she was still smiling…
Then everything happened so quickly, that the next 10 seconds became one of the worst 10 seconds of my life, she looked back at the road, and a car was coming from the front, she turned her handle and applied the brakes, her moped skidded and she fell on the road, the car stopped with a long screech, everyone turned around to look in that direction, my legs instantly sprinted in her direction but before I could even get a little closer, a huge tug on my collar pulled me back and I watched a huge truck crush the air I was standing in a second ago, I watched the truck go in front of me, my face had now turned white with fear, not the fear of what would’ve happened if that truck had went over me but with fear as I watched it go towards her, the truck driver had already applied brakes and beneath the screeching of tires, my shout totally disappeared, “didi!” I yelled with my full force but even my own ears couldn’t hear my voice…
I shut my eyes tightly, hoping that it’ll all go away when I opened them. Slowly, fearing what I’d see I opened my eyes and in one flash I saw, the truck was now standing by the side of the road, someone was screaming, there was blood all over the road, I wished that it may all go away, I wished that I may be the superhero who could change it back to normal, change it all, I just wished I wasn’t even here, I just wished and wished hoping that even one of my wishes may come true and do some good…
I had shut my eyes again now and tears were rolling down my cheeks, I felt the grip on my shoulder someone’s hand was still grabbing me. I was sobbing bitterly, slowly the grip loosened and the same hand that had saved me earlier was now patting on my back.
After a few seconds someone asked in my ear, “was she your sister?” I couldn’t reply to that question as she was so much like a sister to me but still a stranger in the eyes of the world… After a short time the same voice asked me again, “beta was she your sister?” a couple of drops flowed from my tightly shut eyes and a faint and broken sound came out from my mouth “yes” and darkness filled my vision…
I shook my head back to the present and felt my fingers thrusting in Smriti’s arm. And I realized that as terrible that incident was, it made me the caring brother that I am today. Every time I look at my baby sister I see a glimpse of Smriti didi in her eyes…
Written by:
Atul Shrotriya,
Juhi Shrivastava
Edited By:
Jugal Shrivastava
