A Plate of Food

Two pairs of eyes were constantly preying on their target. They were both waiting for an opportune moment to make a strike. Both have been starving for days together and they couldn’t afford to let go of this opportunity.

Amudha was unpacking the food that she had prepared for the trip. She was constantly having an eye on her kids as she did so. Ravi and Kripa were playing hide and seek near the pine trees and Rajesh was busy fiddling his cell phone.  Just as she completed setting up the food, she heard a loud cry from Ravi. Startled by the cry, she quickly moved across to check what had happened. Rajesh too dropped his phone and ran across calling out Ravi’s name.

It wad mid-afternoon and there was an eerie silence engulfing the entire place. There were not many people around who could be called in for help. Rajesh was shocked and could not decide on the next course of action while Amudha had already started crying. Just then the two kids emerged from behind a bush making a “Bhoo” sound. “April fool April fool!” shouted Ravi.

Amudha was relieved on seeing them both and immediately ran and hugged her daughter. Rajesh on the other hand was extremely angry and raised his hand to slap Ravi for his action. Just as he neared Ravi, cries of a boy could be heard in the direction where they had halted for their lunch. As they all turned back all they could see were two objects rolling over the mud. Rajesh immediately ran back to their halting place as he had left his wallet and cell phone back there.

 As he neared the place, he found a small boy about the age of 10, fighting fiercely with a street dog. The dog’s eyes were red in fury and it was trying to pounce over the boy. The boy finally managed to get on top of the dog and was landing punches over its stomach. Now as Rajesh too neared with stones clutched in his hands, the dog ran for cover.

The boy though was severely bruised as a result of the encounter. Rajesh helped the boy onto his feet. The rest of the family too reached the place as Rajesh was enquiring the boy of his wellness. Just as Rajesh turned around to check his cell phone, the boy took the lunch bag and started sprinting away from the place. None of them expected this to happen and Rajesh went away chasing the boy.

 The kids could not understand the pain of hunger and hence thought of the boy to be a cheap stealer and gave a nasty look in his direction. “Ho! It’s good in a way that he took away the food. We can push daddy to get a pizza for us today.” told Ravi to Kripa. She too got excited on hearing this. “I had specially prepared the food for us. And you kids relish the idea of skipping it. Do you know that pizzas aren’t good for health” snorted Amudha.

 Rajesh was very angry with the action of the young boy and was determined to chase him down. “How could a kid be so cunning at such a small age? I need to teach him a lesson” Rajesh thought to himself as he was running.

He could see the boy slowing down a few paces ahead and hence he picked up his speed. The boy seemed to have got tired of running and was apparently resting with his hands atop a dustbin. He seemed to be gasping for breath. Just then Rajesh reached for him, pulled him by his shirt and slapped him hard on his face.

 “How dare you steal at this small age? Don’t you know that it’s an act of shame?” asked Rajesh. The boy stood numb not replying back. Rajesh could not control his anger and raised his had to give him another slap. Just then a dog pounced from the dustbin growling at Rajesh. It was the same dog that the boy had fought off a while back and landed punches on. Rajesh could not understand the reason behind the dog’s behavior.

 He then noticed the food packet torn open and food spilled all near the dustbin. As he peeped into the dustbin, he found two small puppies feeding on the food that had been dropped into the dustbin.

“I am very sorry sir. Its 3 days since I ate anything. I felt very hungry and hence I took your food. I had put a packet of food for that dog and its puppies. Here is the other packet sir. I will not do this again” told the young boy tears rolling down his eyes.

 Rajesh felt like being slammed on his face. The boy’s gesture left him speechless and ashamed. Neither words nor tears would come to his rescue. He hugged the boy and kissed him on his cheeks and took him back along the road.