HOMINI

CHAPTER4:AGONY

Wh.. What.. What's going on? Why is everyone at our home? Where is maa and baba?

I ran through the crowd and stooped after spotting my uncle, seeing me always made him smile but today all I see is a strange expression, like.. like pity?sorrow? Or both?

A shiver ran down my spine, as I heard a loud cry and tears made their way to my eyes, I realized it's maa. I wriggles my way out of my uncle's arms and rushed to the living room. My 10 years old self couldn't process anything that was unfolding in front of me Or maybe I just didn't wanted to .

My legs trembled as I took steps towards my maa, my dear maa, who was a mess from crying. As if she sat in a ocean of her sorrow, weeping her eyes out. Her face was all red from so much crying, her hairs tangled,she clutched her chest, her pain clearly audible from her cries.

I climbed in her lap trying to figure out what happened. She hugged me tight and as if she lost her voice, she tried to speak but all that I heard was a light whisper, 'Mere..B...Beta, .. Tumhare.. Ba.. Baba...

She never had to courage nor the strength to complete her sentence. On that day my life changed completely , it was a disaster for us.

(From author's P. O. V.)
Shivam sat beside his father's lifeless body, all calm and quite, his mother was completely lost, she was no longer could make sense of anything , the only thing she knew was agony.

Seeing, him so calm, not a single tear escaped his eyes, everyone tried to explain him what had happened in a subtle way. But he understood it far too well . Thinking he is too shocked to grasp the situation they tried to talk it out but he didn't uttered a word.

Finally, it was time for the cremation. The procession headed ahead . His uncle held him tiny hand to take him for the last ceremony but he ran bare foot behind the procession yelling, Baba.. Baba.. , finally letting his pain flow as tears.

When everything was ready for the giving agni(cremation) , he stood up and denied doing it. Somehow all he could say between his sobs was, -
Nahi.. Main agni nahi dunga.. Mere baba ko dard hoga.. Baba ko dard hoga..

From that day onwards nothing fazed Shivam. No matter how big of a crisis it was he never showed any signs of sorrow or fear. As if the child who ran behind the procession, came back as a grown up man. He matured up on that day, as he took care of his mother and himself from then . He hated when anyone showed sympathy towards him, he became colder to other but was still the sweet son for his mother. He spoke less but didn't fears to give someone a piece of his mind if they say something about his mother.

Even now, he moved to a bigger city to give his maa a better life and treatment. They both tried to fill the empty stop left in their life for each other.

The fact that such a big job offer was given to him by Phoenix, would make life a bit easier for him . He could shift his mother treatment to a bigger and better hospital. But he was a bit hesitant to accept the offer as this was not the job he was trained for and had zero experience in it. After much evaluating he decided to give it a shot.

He started preparing for his d-day at his new job.

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Hi, everyone! I know I am a bit late , but I didn't had the courage to complete his chapter. Also I wasn't much satisfied with it, so it took more time. I tried to convey agony as best as I could. I hope you like it. For the next chapter, it will be uploaded by tomorrow morning , so stay tuned.
Bye~