As the neighbour's alarm went off and broke through his window like every morning, the clock struck five. It was finally morning.
He wiggled his toes under the blanket. The night's sleep was towering over him, but he couldn't fall asleep, definitely not now.
Slowly, he got out of the bed, careful not to bang against something. He tiptoed to his table on the other end of the room and picked up his bag, which was now, instead of his school books, carrying all his 'secret stuff'.
He made his way into the other room to check on his parents. The snores at the door told him that he was the only person up in the house right now.
Grabbing the keys from the kitchen downstairs, he headed towards the main door as his heart throbbed with excitement. He stealthily unlocked the main door, then the gates, and shut them behind himself.
He was finally free.
He giggled to himself and blushed at his cleverness.
He then walked, skipped, ran, and even danced his way to the main road, and finally reached the square.
But how to get to the railway station now?
The answer was right there. The city buses, of course! They take you to the station!
He hopped on to the bus that seemed the prettiest, and chose a window seat for himself. He placed his bag on his lap, and took out his little gullak. He wasn't going to travel for free.
More and more adults clamoured into the bus as little Munna sat in his seat trying to open his gullak. Somehow, the piggy's cap just did not seem to come off. He tried with his little fingers, then dug his nails, but to no luck. The bus started moving.
He looked at the man sitting next to him for help. His eyes were on his phone and his ears were capped with headphones. Next to the man was an overflowing crowd of passengers holding on to the handles, or what seemed to Munna, their dear lives.
"Ticket, ticket!"
The conductor squeezed in through the corridor, making his way through the gaps between people's armpits and bellies.
What if the conductor throws him out of the bus?
And then he saw something curious - a girl, just about his age, dozing off in the bus - and the conductor didn't ask her for a ticket!
He knew exactly what to do.
He leaned his head against the windowsill and shut his eyes. Then he patiently waited for the conductor.
His eyes still closed, he tried to map out his further course of action. He would go to the station, then board the train, then go to... then go to? Ah yes, to Magic Land... with little minions... and singing trees...
As the cool wind from the window caressed him to sleep, he went on to become the king of the minions.
***
"May I have your attention please. Train number 1-0-2-0-1, starting from Lucknow to Bilaspur - is now cancelled. Inconvenience caused is regretted. Thank you."
Finally a good reason for Praful to look up from his phone. How perfectly the universe had aligned against him! Just a day before, his boss had handed him his termination letter, then his landlord kicked him out the same evening, and now his train back home got cancelled.
He wasn't even sad anymore.
"When life gives you lemons... well my life is a lemon stall right now," he chuckled.
He looked at his watch. It was almost 2 p.m.
Fresh bookings? He was in no hurry. All he needed now was something to amuse his noon.
Luckily, life did find him one.
His gaze wandered to a little boy with a Spiderman backpack and red sneakers - he seemed about 8 - smashing something hard against the station wall. He didn't look like he was having much luck though.
He walked up to the boy.
"Hey buddy, need any help?"
"Can you open this?" He said, panting.
"Um, sure. Is this... your piggy bank?"
There was only one thing that could be shaped like a piggy, but he didn't have a better thing to say.
"Oh yes. But it's not opening up. I've been trying since morning."
"Bad piggy," he tried again as he took the piggy from his hands. No one laughed though. "So you are... alone?" He asked curiously as he scanned the surroundings for someone this boy could belong to.
The boy hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head in a yes.
Praful wanted to ask if the boy had run away from his house, but then decided against it.
"Well, lone saint, where are you headed to?"
"My Nani's house," the boy said, with a flicker of excitement. "For now, at least."
"Aha! And where might that be?" Praful asked in his sweetest voice.
"Ahmedpur."
So he had run away indeed.
Praful felt the gullak's cap come off in his hand, but decided to close it again.
"But the train doesn't leave till 6 p.m." Praful said.
"What?" The boy frowned. "I've been out since morning."
"Oh poor you. Don't worry, I'm headed to Ahmedpur as well."
"Really?"
"Yes, but I've been waiting here for so long. I'm bored," he said, frowning. "No one to talk to. And 4 more hours to go."
"Well, I'll give you company," the boy said, smiling.
"Hey, thanks bud!" Praful said, hi-fiving the boy. "What's your name?"
"Munna."
"Don't worry about the gullak, Munna" he said, when he saw him peeking at it. "We can open it later. Come on, I'll treat you." The gullak was the only thing holding the boy back, and Praful knew that very well.
As they started walking towards a stall, Praful felt Munna's hand slide into his. He gripped it with a sudden kick of responsibility. His noon's pastime had just turned into a moral duty.
"A chai please," Praful told the stall keeper. "And milk for the kid."
"I want chai too!"
"But chai is for grownups, buddy!"
"I'm a grownup too."
"You're 8," Praful said, chuckling.
"But I am living all alone now. That means I'm a grown up."
"Oh, well."
You can never really win from an 8 year old's arguments.
As they sat on a bench, sipping their tea, the next hour rolled by quickly. Munna was telling Praful all about his dramatic morning adventure - about how his bus didn't take him to the station and how he had to change buses (he seemed pretty disappointed about it) and how a balloonwala tried to steal his gullak and he had to chase after him. Praful had some serious questions there, but thought it best to stay mum.
Munna then went on to tell him how he would earn his living by showing magic. Then he showed him a card trick, to which Praful clapped, subtly ignoring the fact that he had seen him cheat.
Ultimately, when all of the day's exhaustion climbed over Munna, he slid on the bench, and dozed off.
Upon checking that he was really asleep, Praful quickly grabbed his school bag, and shuffling through his toys, cards, clothes, and a map (the second thing that had surprised Praful so much that day), he finally found a slip with his parents' contact numbers.
Relieved, he took out his phone to finally send the boy home... when his brain shot him with the biggest 'what if' ever.
How could he be sure that it was right to send him back? What if, what he thought to be an innocent childhood rebellion, was really a boy getting out of a toxic environment? What if, instead of saving him, he was really just pushing the boy into danger's mouth?
What could he do then? He couldn't leave him at the station alone. Hand him over to the police? Perhaps they'll handle the situation better than him. But what if they don't? What about the trust that Munna had rested on him when he had held his hand? What if they do the very thing Praful is afraid about?
His conscience juggled in a dilemma as Munna snored his way through Magic Land again - this time as the king.
***
The train honk woke Munna up with a jerk.
"Hmm?" He looked around. "Ma..?" He called out.
"Hey buddy, you up? C'mon it's almost time for the train."
"Train? What train?" He asked, still sleepy.
"To Ahmedpur. We're going there, right?"
It was now that Munna's sleep really wore off.
"What? No! Ma... Ma!" He shrieked.
"Oh she came searching for you a little while ago."
Munna's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yes, but don't worry, I hid you. No one's taking you back." Then seeing the horror on his face, Praful said, "That's what you wanted, right? That is why you ran away."
His heart sank. He only ran away because he didn't like school and didn't want to do his homework.
Tears flowed down his cheeks.
"Hey, hey, now," Praful said after a while, pulling Munna towards himself. "You aren't the only one who knows magic, alright? Why don't you look up there," he said, pointing to the stairs that led to the platform.
Through his blurry eyes, he saw his parents running down towards him.
"Ma! Papa!"
He got down on his feet and wiped his tears. He was grinning now.
"In the meanwhile," Praful said, "would you like something from the shop? A chai, perhaps?"
"I'll have milk."
"Mhm?"
"I like it cooled."
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