Chapter 1(c): At the Orphanage

The boy and the puppy started walking to the dormitory. The boy looked at the puppy with a smile on his face, felt him very close, no fear, no anxiety — he was normal. He bent down on one of his knees and said his first word in his mind.

"—Thank you—"

"—You saved me... You are my best friend "

He sat on the ground and began to think of what to name him.

"— Watchman uncle told me to give you the best title? Which title is best for you?" he said thinking.

" — TITLE, I think it's good." "You're the TITLE," he said with a smile. The puppy loved the name 'TITLE' and barked out of happiness.

"— TITLE is a very good name, ABHI" said someone from behind.

—The boy was shocked to hear that voice and immediately turned his head and saw the watchman standing with a torch in his hand. He wondered how the watchman knew his name, suddenly his heart started beating fast, he was scared and ran away from there.

—The watchman did not know why Abhi was afraid to speak with people — this worried him.

Night:

Abhi was lying on the bed with his left hand on his forehead. Slowly one by one students in the dormitory fell asleep quickly; but he lay awake turning his past all over his mind. Suddenly, he heard a sound; it was the TITLE barking outside. He ignored it, but TITLE continued barking. He thought if it was hungry — he slowly sneaked out of his dormitory and walked to the dining room, took a glass of milk and walked over to the puppy. He tried to feed him with milk, but he was not drinking it. TITLE was barking looking at the playground. Abhi looked at the playground but did not see anything. Suddenly, TITLE ran towards the playground. Abhi did not know what was going on and started running along with it. They both came and stopped in the playground. This was the first time Abhi has visited the ground. He was overjoyed. He realized that the puppy wanted him to play in the playground because it was his wish. He picked up the puppy with his hands and hugged him tightly.  He was very happy to have a pet like him. They enjoyed playing in the ground, TITLE chased to catch him — it was the best day of his life.

— Finally Abhi's wish to play in the ground was fulfilled.

It became a daily routine for him to play in the ground every night with his puppy.

Night around 9 PM

The kids in the dormitory were asleep at the moment, but Abhi was not in his bed — he was playing in the playground with his pet, TITLE.

— At the same time, a student woke up from his bed to get some water, and walked to the dining room. On his way back to the dormitory he noticed something strange in the playground, which looked like a shadow in the dark. He thought that it was a ghost roaming; he did not know that Abhi was actually playing. The kid ran to the dormitory and told his friend about it. Slowly, the rumor spread throughout the school, and students were afraid to play on the field. They believed that a ghost was haunting the playground. Slowly the news came to the principal's notice. He ordered the school compounder to find out the mystery behind it.

Like every night Abhi was playing in the playground with his pet, TITLE. He was very happy like never before.

Suddenly, he observed someone was walking towards him — it was the compounder coming.

The compounder reached the playground and was shocked to see Abhi playing there, and thought he was the one pretending to be the ghost. He threw a tantrum at the boy 's act and slapped him on his cheeks. The puppy next to him barked at the compounder and even tried to bite him with his little teeth. The compounder angrily and forcefully pushed the puppy away with his foot.  Seeing that scene, Abhi got angry at the compounder's action. He picked up some pebbles lying on the ground and threw them at the compounder. The compounder immediately squeezed the boy's hand and led him to the principal.

"— This boy is pretending to be a ghost," the compounder said. The principal did not expect Abhi to wander around the playground late at night.

"— I must follow the doctor's insistence, but this will be your last warning ..." he said and asked them to go back to the dormitory. He warned the warden of his irresponsibility in looking after the students.

— The children in the dormitory thought the boy was a ghost and were afraid to stay with him. The warden tried to persuade the children but they were not in a state to understand. He did not know what to do with the boy and took him back to the principal. The boy's story became a headache for the principal, who never had such problems with other students.

"— This guy doesn't talk but still comes up with new problems" he said in his mind.

"— Send him to the old farmhouse for some days ..." he said.

The farmhouse was barely visible from the school and dormitory. That late night, the warden took Abhi with him to the old farmhouse next to the playground and dropped him near the farmgate.

"— You have lost my reputation today. I will not let you go back to school. This is your punishment ... and you must stay here for a long time. "he warned the boy and walked away.

That night, Abhi was standing alone near the farm gate. He had no idea what was really going on with him. Tears rolled from his eyes. He sat on the ground and looked at the moon and the stars in the sky.

Morning: sounds of students playing.

Abhi was exhausted and slept on the farmhouse front gate — he woke up and realized it was morning and listened to the students playing in the school ground. He walked out; everyone in the playground was playing. He also noticed The watchman was walking towards the farmhouse; he was carrying food with him. The watchman smiled at Abhi and walked over to him. He cleared his throat and said, " I was unaware of this ... sorry."

"— Here is your breakfast." he said again and walked back to his place.

Night around 9 PM

Abhi had nothing to do except to look at the stars. His puppy was not even with him, at least if he could have spent time with him. The watchman came into the farmhouse with a glass of milk and some bread with leafy vegetables. He kept it on the table and sat next to the boy who was staring at the stars in the sky.

"— I used to do the same, looking at the stars'' he said.

"I remember, My grandmother once said that our loved ones will be seeing us from the sky — like the stars."

"—  here's your dinner, I'll be back with a surprise … wait for it"

Abhi was waiting at the farm gate by the time Watchman arrived there with his surprise. He was carrying a puppy with him — it was TITLE. Abhi was very happy to see his puppy again. The watchman came to him, looked into his eyes and said in a low voice, "— I don't know if you understand me ... but keep this in mind — If you live here as an orphan ... you'll end up knowing nothing in your life, and also remember ... listen to what your heart says, run for your happiness. I hope one day you'll find the right place." He ruffled his hair and walked away smiling.

Abhi was gazing at the stars, and thinking about something.

"So … The stars are our loved ones … My parents are my loved one, they 're the stars," said Abhi in his mind. He decided to leave the place that night and follow the stars.

Night around 10 PM

Abhi began walking on the ground and reached the main lane creeping under the school fences — The puppy was with him.

He walked cautiously to the other side of the main gate and saw an unfamiliar truck stopped on the road. He slowly sneaked to it and tried to get in the truck; but he couldn't.

— On the other side, the watchman who was at the main gate noticed something near the truck — it was Abhi. Without wasting a second he rushed to him immediately, and shouted, "What are you doing here? It's not safe playing at this time".

— He held his hand and started walking towards the school, but Abhi had different ideas in his mind, he wanted to leave the place permanently. He stopped for a second, forcibly released his arms from the watchman's hand, ran back to the truck and tried to get in again. The watchman understood the boy no longer wanted to be in the orphanage, but he knew it was not safe to travel in an unknown truck. He walked over to him, picked him up and carried him back to the farmhouse.

" — Listen … you are not going anywhere … okay…" he said.

Abhi nodded his head, smiled and waved "bye" at the watchman.

Morning: At the Dining Hall

The watchman was in the dining hall to have breakfast for the boy — he sat alone in a corner. The caretaker saw the guard and walked over to him.

"— You asked me about the boy last night ... I found out something about him …" she said.

" Oh .. what do you know about him …" he asked with much curiosity.

"— The boy was introvert by nature ...

" Many times ... people knock on his house door to warn his father … Most of them were strangers ... He had never seen them before. He worried why those strangers always threatened his father …

— Those incidents would have triggered strong fears within him. This might be the reason why he was afraid to talk to strangers, she said, and walked away to continue her work.

— Watchman was sad when he heard it. He took the breakfast plate and calmly walked out of the dining hall — his eyes clearly indicated that he was thinking about the boy.

The farm door was locked before the watchman arrived with breakfast in hand.

He stopped dead for a second — the boy was nowhere to be seen. He rushed to the playground to see if he was playing with his pet; but couldn't see him there. He went back to the farmhouse and opened the door. He could not find the boy's bag. The watchman then realized that the boy had left the place.

For the first time, his eyes turned red, he gradually took a long breath and said to himself in an emotional tone, " — I don't know what will happen to you. But, I hope you will reach the right place in your life … have a bright future …"

— Tears welled up in his eyes — All he could do was pray for the boy.

Little did he know that last night was his last goodbye from the boy.