Nurture And Love (BOOK #3) ✔

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The trainees were made to stand in a row, facing the target board. The Ratna academy which was on the verge of being shut down, now seemed to be alive once again. Each of the five boys from the Swastik orphanage including Prachi were given arrows and asked to qualify their admission test by hitting the bull's eye.

Prachi made no move while observing the dart in her hand, whereas one of the boys came forward to take his test. After some pondering, he released the dart from his hand and it landed a couple of inches away from the bull's eye on the board.

Having missed his target, he quietly gave space to the next boy in the row and stood aside, drooping his head. Ishaan shook his head in a manner which was incomprehensible by Prachi and she waited there for her turn without a word.

"It's your turn now, Prayag." Ishaan told her. "Go ahead with your dart."

"Yes, Sir." Prachi followed his order and grabbed the arrow in her hand. Contemplating for a few seconds, she extended her arm and positioned it across her half-opened eye.

Prachi's mind ventured into a voyage of blank sea as soon as the target board came to her vision. Feeling a slight rise in her heartbeat, she murmured a soft prayer.

She was feeling scared of taking a dig at first, but her mind reminded her of all the wrong done to her family since she was a child. Reminiscing the sufferings her brother and she had faced without their parents, wondering about the pains her grandfather was thrown into, and lastly the fear of losing her father to someone's foil plan of murder created some sort of fiery motivation into her.

All her father's words came gushing into her brain including the tips and tricks Vihaan had shared with her. Trying to utilize one of those lessons in her test, she strengthened her shoulders before pulling at the arrow and darting it towards the target board in an instant. Closing her eyes, she prayed for her success so that she could make her father feel proud and also pass the admission test.

"Am I worth the admission?" Prachi asked slowly without opening her eyes. "Sir? Ishaan Sir?"

Ishaan made no noise at first, trying to frame his words in his mind before responding to her. With a voice so light as a feather, he finally opened his mouth to speak, "Unavailable, Prayag, I have never found such a brilliant trainee in my teaching career. Pupils interested to learn have never been able to hit the bull's eye during their admission tests. How did you manage to survive it, boy?"

"I did because—" Prachi could not find a proper reason to answer. "I practiced during. . . the weekend."

"I don't believe you." Ishaan shook his head. "A span of two days isn't enough for acquiring this skill. It requires continuous practice."

"As a child, I have watched my sibling. . ." Prachi took a pause to prevent her stammering. ". . . playing with catapult and aiming at everything."

"So just viewing your sibling, you learnt it!”

"Not only watching but. . ." Prachi paused and added, "I used to secretly play with his catapult. . ." She stopped talking and gulped a little. ". . . without letting him know about it."

"I'm so surprised but I must applaud your intense desire of getting into the training."

"Thank you, Sir."

"So here it goes—" Ishaan turned towards the rest of the boys. "Most of you are very lame at shooting as I have witnessed. But it doesn't matter because you will be taking classes under my guidance. I will start with your training from tomorrow. Today you will be enrolled in our register. We will only have an introductory class and I will make you aware about the course of the training."