Sacrifice And Realisation (BOOK #1) ✔

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Vihaan, with exhausted short breaths continued running through the woods of the dense forest until he reached the railway station. The windpipe inside his throat was already choking because he hadn't eaten anything since morning. It was late afternoon and he had been pacing under the sun for long. The summer month of June and the scorching heat of the sun had exhausted him to much extent.

Half panting and half inhaling, he set his foot inside the platform. Rotating his eyes around the platform, he saw some food stalls. He felt the urge to eat something before boarding the train but then he knew he was already late. He quickly ran his hands through his pockets only to face an another disaster that day. He had misplaced his mobile and wallet during the encounter with the attackers. He heaved a sigh of relief upon realizing that his gun was yet safe with him in his underpocket.

"I don't know what more holds in my luck today! The day has really been bad and the worse is yet to come. I can't even buy any food for myself," Vihaan thought to himself and used the public tap for washing his face. He quenched his thirst with the water flowing through it and started waiting impatiently for the train to Ujjain.

He winced all of a sudden when the shirt he was wearing was pulled by a little boy of hardly twelve years of age. The boy was wearing ragged clothes and his skin looked very pale. He had a scar across his cheekbone and he stared up at Vihaan with the expression of hopes on his face. "My name is Chetan. Please buy a flower from me, brother. I need money for my mother's treatment."

The words of the little boy touched Vihaan's heart. Even though he was a tough and not-to-melt kind of a cop but he too possessed a heart, a heart as vast as the sky and as deep as the ocean. He did not like showing the softer side of his heart to anyone despite possessing a humble heart of gold. Strong persons like him were always bound to fall in intense love if ever he did!

Vihaan remembered the illness of his mother and tears filled the brim of his eyes. Trying to be strong, he inhaled deeply to forcefully let the water dry within the eyes instead of flowing outwards. He then spoke lowering his voice, "I'm sorry Chetan. I understand your pain because my mother is also very ill. I could have bought all the flowers from you but I've lost my wallet. I could not even buy any food for myself since morning. I really don't have a single penny to pay you."

Chetan thrust a fresh sunflower in between Vihaan's palms and said, "I'm sorry brother. I also do not have enough money to buy you food. Sometimes, I remain empty stomach throughout the days. I have to arrange so much of money for my mother, I can't waste it buying food for myself. She is suffering from cancer."

Chetan picked up his basket of flowers to shift to a different passenger to sell his flowers but he turned to Vihaan again. "It is alright brother. You can pay me later when you have money. You will always find me at the station daily. It's sad that your mother is also ill. You can keep this flower as a blessing for your mother. I pluck these flowers from a temple of the goddess Durga nearby."

Vihaan was hesitating at first but for the sake of welfare of his own mother, he accepted the flower as the blessings of the goddess, the goddess whose name was similar to his mother. And in the next moment, he unfixed his platinum bracelet and tossed it into Chetan's basket. "Use this in exchange for money to treat your mother but don't hesitate to buy yourself food. I've realized the consequences of staying empty stomach and refusing to eat the food cooked by my own mother!"

Chetan nodded vigorously and took out the bracelet to return it to Vihaan. "No brother, I can't accept this. I want to treat my mother with my own hard earned money. I can't take any favour."

Vihaan held his palm. "You are calling me a brother and can't accept this little help from me? You will always get ample of time to earn money in an honest way but your mother's treatment is urgent. If you really don't want to accept my help, you may always return me with some help in the future. You can find me at the Indore CBI bureau any time."