PHOENIX - The Rebirth Of Hope

Chapter 2: A New Start

The sun was beating down hard. The place looked like a complete wasteland. It was a really big stretch of land but by its poor condition, it looked like some kind of dump yard (Samarth would know given his familiarity and dislike to dump yards). Garbage was littered in scattered heaps everywhere. Plastic bottles, broken footwear, shredded filthy clothes, and wrappers were disorderly thrown all over the place. At one point Samarth found a wallet and some money inside but somehow his pride took the better of his scruples and he couldn't make himself take it. Though as it was already being wasted there, he took it and vowed to give it to some other poor person on the road he might find. There are always people who are in greater need of money than you. Samarth had already seen so many children on roads ranging from babies to teenagers, which broke his heart. Not to forget he was one of them too a long while ago.

Samarth had left in the morning. There had been a time-consuming goodbye. Hugs and kisses and yes, a lot of crying too was included. Samarth remembered their faces as he walked away. He had saved every detail in his memory as not to forgot them. His mother's eyes were puffy and red but she wasn't crying. She was encouraging and supportive. Father was holding her and he too had puffy eyes from crying but he too looked...different. There was a new glow on their faces. Hope. His Nana Ji quickly wiped away the tears that came. The first Samarth had seen him cry. But there weren't only tears in his eyes but a hidden pride too, that Samarth detected as he was told to 'see well' and (teasingly) to 'not eat too much and have stomach aches'. The latter Samarth accepted smilingly. He had a thing for stomach aches.

Samarth's mother had hugged him last time and told him to talk through a small basic phone he had taken from Nana Ji or send letters regularly. She had also told him not to give up with his father backing her up.

They all had been trying to stay brave and encouraging for his sake. But Samarth had known he couldn't go before saying farewell to one last person.

So he had gone quietly to Aashu's room and for a minute he had just looked at his brother from the threshold. Aashu had been sitting as he always did. In his wheelchair and looking at the scenery. He never knew there was a mother, father, brother, and Nana Ji in the house who were always dying for him to just look at them and see them properly at least one time.

"Bye, Aashu. I am going to the city. I could not crack any competitive exam. And now I need to find a job. I don't know if you will miss me but I will surely miss you and remember all our moments together when you were—" what? You were not disabled? Would recognize your own brother? "—when you were all right and were always there by my side. If it was my fault for what happened to you, then please forgive me. You are the only brother I have. I love you. You don't need to repeat it."

Just as Samarth had turned to close the door behind him, something had tempted him to glance back one last time. To his immediate surprise, Aashu had been looking at him with something close to recognition and there was a shadow of a genuine smile on his face. The first smile in so many years. But Samarth had felt his heart squeeze painfully when in the next second it was all gone. Aashu had turned back to the painting. The shadow of that first genuine smile and the glint in his eyes had gone as if they were never there in the first place. But Samarth knew what he had seen. There was still hope. He had felt a smile on his lips. With renewed vigor, he had taken a deep breath, looked up at the sky, and began his journey.

*

Earth to Samarth. Samarth chided himself. The sun was really cruel today. Yesterday had been breezy. Today there was only a big ball of fire blazing heat. Great.

Samarth had taken a bus and it had left him at the edge of the playground. The bus' condition hadn't been any good but somehow they had just managed it.