Realisation And Nurture (BOOK #2) ✔

Chapter 43 (Part 3)

Chapter 43 (Part 3)

Ishaan wanted to run away then and there, for the hammer of his heartbeat was too difficult to cope with. It was only the innocent expectation he had seen in the face of Aarohi and the hopes she had bestowed upon him for which he dared against dare to overcome his fears.

As he watched Aarohi's petite face praying for his victory, he was equally appalled by the fact that even Prachi had her fingers crossed for the final shot. Though he surely knew she would be praying for Rehaan's win, he felt satisfied. After all, Rehaan's success would mean that his life was no longer in danger.

Rehaan pulled the trigger with a tremble of his fingers while Ishaan stared at the ceiling above him. A cold silence was spread around the entire area of the auditorium for the drama they had put up was nonetheless breathtaking.

After Rehaan had taken his third shot successfully, the audience jumped out of their seats, clapping merrily while Ishaan fell down on his knees. It was the first time that he had tears in his eyes for he knew he had finally accomplished it.

Rehaan stood staring at Ishaan and the fact that the latter had turned emotional surprised him. Somewhere at the back of his mind, Rehaan could feel a soft corner brewing up for him.

"You are admitted into the academy, vatsa." Rehaan slapped Ishaan's shoulder lightly before shaking his head. "I have never seen a more daring pupil like you. You are rightly named as Abhayan!"

While the audience applauded, Ishaan stood up on his feet and whispered, "You will now have to fulfill your promise, Rehaan. You will have to allow Prachi to be friends with Aaru again."

"I remember my promise." Rehaan nodded in agreement. "But I wonder how could you withstand this daring situation!"

"You thought I would run away but I knew I wouldn't," Ishaan said with confidence. "It was clear to me that you would never miss your target just for the sake of eliminating me. If you couldn't have hit the bull's eye, you yourself would have lost points for poor performance. So I stayed put in my spot and we successfully accomplished the third round."

Rehaan smirked at him. "You may carry on with your clever brain for the rest of the games but I know I will win the first prize in the end."

"Let's wait for the results of the third round right now." Ishaan reminded him and walked back to his seat among the audience, followed by Rehaan. There was only one performance left before the conclusion of the third round.

*

After the completion of all the performances, the host took the stage for the announcements. The judges and the trainers had already allotted their points for every performer and the results were about to be announced in a couple of minutes.

"The leader board has shuffled drastically after the end of the third round." The host began speaking over the microphone. "Our judges have given their verdicts for all the performances and I am only here to announce the results."

While every child crossed their fingers, the host ran his eyes through the record book. "I will first tell you about the comments that the judges have supplied for each of the performances."

"I will begin narrating about the first performance." Another lady host took the stage. "It was a mesmerizing act by Aarohi and Shalini, which gave us a touch of the medieval history of India - the narthakis and the maharajas. It was bliss to watch their skit. The lively dance performance by Aarohi and the beautiful sketch by Shalini did not fail to impress the judges."

The first host took his turn to speak. "We shift our attention to the second performance which managed to bring tears to our eyes. It was a very unique and heart-wrenching performance by Prachi and Dhairya, where Dhairya's skill of writing was outstandingly portrayed. On the other hand, Prachi's determination of converting her weakness into her strength is a much-required skill these days. Not everyone has the similar courage."