The Trail to Spring

Chapter 16

I was reading The Last Mountain Standing while sitting on my bed when I heard faint shuffling noises coming from underneath. I put down the book beside me and bent down to see what the matter was. Suddenly someone jumped towards me out of the darkness below and rocketed out. I instantly sat up straight in shock. I looked up at the little figure standing in front of me and scowled.

"You'll never grow up, dada," I said, picking up my book again.

The little kid put on a backpack that was kept on the floor.

"I am going, bon. I am going away to see the world and live the life that I always wanted to. I'll roam around beaches and trek up mountains and make friends and have adventures all around the world. I can eat all the rosogollas and pani puris and kochuris that I want to eat and nobody will stop me," he said, throwing up his arms in glee, "The world is such a wonderful place and I want to be a part of it."

I looked at the innocent joy with which my brother's face seemed to be glowing. He was still young enough to believe in fairy tales and his idealistic words seemed to be so out of place to me.

"Listen, dada," I said, "You can't just leave us like this. Do we amount to nothing?"

He just smiled back at me and then rushed out the door of my room.

"Hey, don't go," I shouted trying to catch him.

But I was too late. He had already gone.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring out of the train window, the cold wind whipping across my face.

Rakesh was sitting on the opposite seat and was wearing his sunglasses.

I looked beside me and realised that the husband and the wife with whom we shared our compartment were still snoring in the upper bunks.

"You fell asleep while looking out of the window last night," Rakesh informed, "So the couple decided to take the upper bunks."

I rubbed my eyes and looked out of the window again. We were hurtling past green fields and small kutcha houses and I observed some people going to their village markets in their cow driven carts. The outside was mildly foggy. Last night, the train had stopped for quite some time because of the fog. I could guess that we would be late at least by an hour. I glanced at my watch and realised that it was just seven in the morning.

"You seem like you didn't get to sleep, on the other hand," I said, noticing Rakesh yawn, "It must be because you are worried that you gave up all your money to that thief."

Rakesh advanced a pack of biscuits towards me. I didn't understand how he could have procured that.

"I didn't steal it, Ms. Ganguly," he assured me, "You don't have to pay with money all the time. And yes, I did get to sleep, quite a bit actually. Dreamed about the peaceful good old days back when I still hadn't had the misfortune to meet you."

"What did you pay this with?," I asked, ignoring his taunt. I felt my stomach grumbling and realised I had not eaten dinner yesterday. I blushed at the thought of what Mother would say if she ever came to hear about this. I took the biscuits from him.

"I paid it with friendship," he said, "I knew the vendor."

I wondered whether he meant a friend from his orphanage. His face looked so inexpressive and the sunglasses looked so out of place on him since it was cloudy and foggy outside.

"People will think you are odd if they see you wearing those glasses in this weather," I advised him.

"Let them think," he curtly replied.