The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Lakshman's revenge (prompt fulfillment Part 1)

Ram was busy sweeping the floor of the cottage, trying to clean up the fall leaves which had flown in without invitation. It was a grueling task, but he thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't Lakshman, who had a much, much harder task. Speaking of Lakshman, Ram walked out to see how he was doing.

"Hey!" he shouted up to the roof, and Lakshman's head poked over the edge. Ram felt a bit queasy at the height he was in. "How is it going?" Lakshman grinned, and held up a thumbs up.

"The roof is thatched!" he leapt off, and as he was mid-air, Ram's heart jumped. But, he landed on both feet, and pointed towards where the hole in the roof was, now completely thatched, secured, and....colorful. Ram peered a bit closer, and noticed that the grass had been covered with mud of many different colors.

"Hey Laksh, when did you become so apt at house building?" he asked curiously, and Lakshman blushed. Lakshman didn't get a chance to answer though, for at that moment, they noticed two limping figures coming down the road. As they ambled closer, their profiles became clear. Bharat and Shatrughan.

"What happened?" Ram asked, as they ran down the road. Neither answered, and they discovered that Bharat was leaning heavily on Shatrughan, who was injured as well. Lakshman lifted the elder brother while Ram took Shatrughan, and they raced towards the medical center concernedly.

"Bharat has a fractured leg bone and a few broken fingers, Ram. That will take quite a while to heal, but he looks mentally strong, and is thinking and perceiving very well. Shatrughan has some minor and major lacerations, and purplish bruises, which I am very concerned about. He is also doing well mentally, but I do not think he wants to talk about it." Lakshman just stood there, taking the bad news in silence, jaw clenched, as Ram sobbed near the two's beds. It was very rare that Shatrughan did not want to talk about something.

"What happened Bharat?" he asked and the brother looked up, attempting to stand, but couldn't. He could speak, however.

"Well, we went into the forest to gather the flowers that the guru asked for. We found the pink roses quite quickly, as there was an entire field of them. The blue lotuses were much harder to find, and we ventured further into the forest hopefully." he coughed a bit, then continued perseveringly. "We found the pool, but there was a really rocky path leading to it." Bharat took a deep, shuddery breath.

"Well, we tripped. There was a trip rope positioned right there, and we tripped. The rocks in the path were very sharp. The two, Daura and Riku, stood there, laughing, and told mainly Shatrughan that no one would come to save us. That you guys didn't really care about us. Neither of us believed it, though." He swallowed hard as he finished.

"Oh, they're going to get it," Lakshman growled attempting to walk off, but Ram pulled him back quickly.

"Lakshman, you can't! You can't do something so selfish. The sage is good, but he won't forgive an all-out attack on them. Shatrughan and Bharat need you right now. No." he tried to explain and bring sense back to a furious brother.

"THEY HURT THEM!" he roared. "THEY BROKE BHARAT'S BONES AND TRAUMATIZED MY LITTLE BROTHER." Ram sighed.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can beat them. We all want to, do you think that I am not angry? But think Lakshman. Our priorities are taking care of our family, not settling some grudge." Ram sat Lakshman down on the floor, and he frowned, brooding.

Normally, Lakshman would have followed Ram's orders to the fullest. After Bharat and Shatrughan were healed, he would have left it up to the guru to punish the gang. However, it was not just Bharat who was hurt, but Shatrughan. His little, innocent, good twin. His little brother. A prankster. Lakshman held grudges very well, and fulfilled them very well. If they had hurt the hermitage prankster, Lakshman could easily substitute.