Chapter 2(c): At the Village

Abhi slowly walked to the hill and spent time by the pond with TITLE.

— Next day, again, Abhi waited for Akshara at the school; but she did not appear. He waited for her for at least 3 days, but of no use.

— Four days later, Akshara's family returned from her grandma's home. She was treated because of her ill health — she was all right now, will stay healthy for years. Akshara, as she went to school, like every day, was excited to meet her best friend ;Abhi.

In her dismay, she didn't see him anywhere. She had to go to the classroom, as the morning bell rang.

— It was a sunny day, and Akshara sat quietly in her class; probably thinking of her friend.

Slowly, her eyes shifted to the playground, which was a little far from her school. She noticed Abhi sat on the playground bench and that TITLE was with him, too. She was very pleased to see her best friend again.

— Here Abhi was sitting on a wooden bench in the ground thinking of something. TITLE was busy chasing the butterfly — this was his favorite game. He ran all over the ground to catch it and eventually reached a farm.

— Abhi looked to see TITLE but he was nowhere to be seen. He noticed TITLE was very far and was running towards the farm.

Abhi got out of his bench and rushed towards him.

— It was noon, and Akshara came out to see Abhi. But she could not find him anywhere and began to search for him. Luckily, she saw him running towards the farm. She followed him; ran to meet him.

Abhi who was very close to reach the farm, noticed someone running behind him — he stopped and turned back; it was Akshara. She was coming to see him. Abhi was very surprised to see his best friend and waited for her to come closer — Akshara came over and hugged him.

Abhi was very happy to see her again. They walked to the farm to catch TITLE and found him sitting under a tree scratching his ears. Abhi rushed and picked him up.

— On their way back home Abhi noticed that most of the trees looked similar and quite odd — they were the trees of cluster figs and realized they were in a farm. It was the first time Abhi had seen them and tried to pick some out of the tree, but he could not succeed. The farm keeper, who was having a nice nap, heard their footsteps. He woke up and followed the noise. He saw that Abhi and Akshara were trying to cut the figs out of the tree. He rushed to catch them, but Akshara was clever enough to see him and ran away. The keeper however managed to catch Abhi and held his shirt.

"— What are you doing here, little thieves— ?" he shouted. Abhi was scared, tried to escape, but he couldn't. Akshara saw the keeper caught Abhi. She wanted to save her friend and walked to him.

"— Please leave my friend, he can't talk, I just told him to cut the figs." she said, requesting.

The keeper knew that it was Abhi who was cutting the figs but was happy to see that Akshara was trying to help him. He left Abhi and smiled.

He also gave them some figs as a token of their friendship and sent them back.

— It was Sunday, and Abhi knew he couldn't meet his friend. He sat on the terrace and was playing with TITLE. Truck Driver was busy repairing his truck, he shouted in a shrill voice, " Abhi, Come Down, Now!" Abhi heard the voice and rushed down the stairs to the driver. He was surprised to see Akshara was waiting for him, she dressed in blue and had two tufts that absolutely looked funny.

They walked to the church which was located near the school. It was half-constructed, and the cement coating on the walls was still wet. Abhi had the best morning, and he enjoyed playing with his friend and pet. The view from the church with the Mango fields on one side and Hill on the other was completely like a wonderful experience. Akshara walked back to the church and wrote their names on a wet cemented wall. Abhi had the best day he 'd had in a very long time.

Suddenly, Akshara shouted, "Abhiii" in a loud voice. The echo was made and heard again. Abhi was surprised, he was very happy to hear his name as an echo. At the same time, he shouted her name loudly.  A moment of silence passed; Akshara was shocked to hear Abhi shouting.

" — You spoke Abhi, '' she said excitedly.

Without wasting a second she started running to her home to tell that Abhi had spoken. Abhi too ran behind her. Akshara rushed to the kitchen; her mother was cooking.

" Mom, Mom … Abhi speaks… " she said excitedly. Her mother was surprised to hear that. She didn't believe and continued her work. Akshara held her hand and brought her outside. Abhi was standing near the front yard.

" Okay, Abhi what is your name …" asked her mother sarcastically.

Abhi did not respond, he was afraid to speak with her. He could not stand there and rushed back to his home.

— Akshara shrugged to think why Abhi could not speak with her mother. She did not know that Abhi was a glossophobic and he could speak with only the person he felt comfortable with.

Days passed so fast; Akshara and Abhi became good friends. Abhi was talking to her now. He did not know how he did it but was very happy. He never spoke to other people in the village. Akshara tried several times to show someone that Abhi was speaking but she failed. However she accepted the fact that she was the only person who spoke to Abhi.

Evening 4 PM:

It was evening. Abhi and Akshara walked back to their homes from the school. Akshara got home, she said goodbye to Abhi from her front yard. Abhi walked home alone.

— On the way home, Abhi noticed that some unknown trucks were parked near the house where he was staying. A lot of people were packing their luggage in a hurry — it seemed like they were going somewhere.

— Abhi didn't really know what was going on. He walked past them and heard some people muttering about some of the contract work they had been given, and half the villagers were migrating to a different place.

Abhi was afraid that they might take him too — he does not want to go. He wanted to be there for his best friend. — He slowly walked to the house and sat near the front yard and looked at the people calmly —  All this seemed very shocking and sudden to him.

When Abhi was guessing what was going on, one of the villagers picked him up immediately and put him into the truck — he also picked up TITLE into the vehicle. Abhi stopped dead for a second — he realized that he was one of those going to another village.

— Here Akshara's father got to know about villagers' migration. He came along with Akshara and helped them organize their luggage. [Because Akshara's father was a government person, he was not leaving the village]

— Akshara looked around for Abhi and saw him sitting in the truck. She realized that he was one of the villagers who would leave the place — she was not happy to see him going. She decided to give him a present as a memory and ran to her house and came back with a wooden truck toy — because Abhi liked the truck very much.

— Here Abhi who was sitting in the truck saw Akshara coming towards him. He was so happy and sad to see her, because he would leave her soon. Akshara smiled at Abhi and walked over to him.

"— I'm going to miss you Abhi, you're my best friend forever." she said and gave the toy as much as he liked it.

— Abhi took the toy, and suddenly tears rolled from his eyes. He knew he would lose his only true friend, and she was the only person he could talk to. Abhi could not talk to villagers around, but his heart screamed,

"— I do not want to leave."

—It was 7 o'clock at night. And everything was set up in trucks. Some laughed, some hugged, and some said goodbye to the other villagers. Everyone said their last goodbyes

— It was a pleasant day for the villagers but not for Abhi.

— A moment later, the truck started moving.

Abhi's heart began beating so fast, tears welled up from his eyes — he wanted to shout so loudly that he did not want to leave — he tried but he could not — his fear of speaking publicly dominated more than anything. It was the first time he felt sad, why God gave him that fear.

— The truck slowly left Akshara and other villagers behind. Akshara looked at Abhi who was going in the truck and said goodbye. Abhi looked at her and slowly waved his hand. He looked around — the houses, school and temple; All seemed to be saying a final goodbye to him. He realized; that was the last time he was going to see those places — In fact, it would become his past.

— By the time Abhi realized that he was alone now; Akshara disappeared and so did the village.