Precious

I held my phone in my hand and realized that it was my alarm that had gone off again as I hadn't dismissed it. I threw the phone on the couch with anger and rushed back to the balcony to see what had happened to the boy, but he had disappeared. I assured myself that the man must have let him go and that I had nothing to worry about. There was no sight of the man either and something didn't feel right. I slowly walked back into my room and noticed how cold my tea had become. I put that aside since I wasn't hungry anymore and decided to work for a while.

My days would usually go unplanned yet one thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to leave the house that day. Those few hours that I spent working didn't seem to pass by and all I could think about was the boy.

At about 15:00 I put down my laptop and thought about heading out to the library. The heat was deadly but being productive had been my priority that week. It was as if something was pushing me out of my house. It was a force so strong that even if I had used all the power in me, I wouldn't have been able to defeat it. I simply could not understand why I was thinking so much about a strange boy whom I did not even know. At this point, I began making assumptions. What if he was actually trying to rob something and the crows just came in the way. What if the bag he had been holding so tightly, contained something valuable that he had robbed? I asked myself all these questions not knowing why I was doing so. In the midst of dealing with this feeling, the force was working its magic and I left the house.

As I walked down the street, the sun began to lose its brightness and it began to get cloudy. It was as if the angels were welcoming me to the outside world. With each step that I took, the atmosphere felt cooler. I had only walked a few steps when I saw two men talking. One of them was the man who had caught the boy. I walked past them as they talked. They were discussing the boy and I began walking slower as I heard. "I can't believe that little boys are going to rob us now. These families try looking for shelter and jobs in the city and end up robbing us. Absolute shame!" I did not look at them or tell them what I had seen as something inside me wanted to believe it. I walked at normal speed now. As I did, I noticed something in the corner of the street where the house was and I moved closer. The street was empty and that was the only thing I could see on the ground. As I walked towards this object, I noticed that it was the boys bag that had fallen.

I stood still and stared at it. I wanted to look inside it but ignored the fact that it existed and began walking again. I turned to my left on the street where the gate of the house was and saw a slipper fallen on the ground, a few steps away from the gate. I walked towards it and flipped it over with my shoe. It was the boys' slipper. The one he had been fighting to get. I observed that the straps were completely detached from the footbed and it seemed to have been like that for a very long time. I felt a bizarre sensation in my chest and I walked back to where I had seen the bag. I got there, bent down and picked the bag up. I opened it to see what was inside it. To my amazement there were two mangoes in it. I put my hand inside and took them out. The mangoes were so small that they both fit in my hand. My tears fell down my eyes as I saw that they were covered in fungus all over. They weren't yellow but mostly black and were in no condition to be eaten. I kept staring at them as tears rolled down my cheeks. The boy wouldn't let go of the bag that contained something very valuable to him. Something that wasn't edible yet was the most precious treasure he owned at that moment. I put the mangoes back in the bag. I wasn't able to hold it. The fruit smelt terrible but that was not the reason I was bothered. I continued crying silently and saw the man walking beside me. He looked at me and stopped. I was standing on his property. "Do you need help child?" He asked me. I kept crying and was unable to speak. I gave him the bag and said. "The boy who climbed up your roof accidentally dropped this here." He opened the bag and stared at it. He then looked at me. We both stood there not saying a word. I turned around and began walking back home. I do not know what the man was thinking at that moment but I could feel that he hadn't moved as I moved away from him. I walked as fast as lightning and nothing was allowed in my way at that moment. I slammed my door open and finally cried louder but I did not wash my hands rather, I sat on my couch in shocked state. I then heard a warbling sound and turned my head to my left and saw Mrs. Pickey sitting on my window pane watching me as I sobbed.

THE NEXT DAY

I was up before my first alarm had even gone off.  The weather was cool and I thought of taking a short ride in my car. As I stepped out, I observed that the road was damp as it had been raining all night. I got in my car and began reversing it. I looked in the back view mirror however I had to stop instantly as I spotted a child standing behind my vehicle. As he came forward I noticed it was the same boy I'd seen being attacked by crows. He looked at my car with amazement as he walked and stood right beside the window where I was sitting. He then looked at me and I looked at him. His hazel eyes sparkled as he smiled at me. He then suddenly turned his head around as if someone was calling him and ran away. He faded into the street as he ran. I felt a sense of complete relief as I smiled to myself.