Written by Queen, who secured the second position in a recent story writing competition conducted by Insipid Board in a collaborative workshop on storytelling.
"It was great to meet you after so long, Lisa. See you soon."
Raka bade her friend goodbye. It was almost evening, and she didn't make it any late to start for her home as she had her homework left.
There were a lot of vehicles on the road. It was really tiring for Raka to wait beside the crowded and noisy street. After a long time of waiting, a red light was seen on the traffic signal, and the pedestrians were free to cross the road. Raka started to walk on the zebra crossing with the other passersby. No car was supposed to move at that time. But, suddenly, a car started moving, intending to reach its destiny soon instead of waiting for the green signal to be shown. Raka got so frightened seeing the car coming. She barely had any time to move as the car was speeding.
Fortunately, Raka got saved but the loud thud was unmistakenly someone who was hit by the same car. A weak street boy wearing torn clothes, carrying some flowers to sell, was lying on the street. Luckily, the boy was not injured much as the driver managed to press the brake paddle quickly.
Seeing this, the traffic police rushed to the scene, shouting for the person who speeded across the road under a red light. The policeman was furious, moving to the driver. But before berating or punishing them, he was shown a visiting card of the car owner sitting in the backseat. On the card, there it was, in bold letters: 'Ministry of Finance'.
Frightened, the policeman gave the Minister a big salute, even though he had allowed his driver to speed under a red light. The police let the car move on with due respect.
Then that poor little boy stood up weakly and asked the policeman crying, "Sir, why did you let the car go? Wasn't the person supposed to be arrested for his action? Who would take care of my sick mom and little sister if something had happened to me by accident?" Instead of showing some pity to the boy, the police slapped him and said furiously, "Who the hell are you to teach me what I should do? Do you know the person who was in the car? No one cares about what happens to you. Nothing would change if you died, not to the country or the people. Understand?"
Raka was astonished seeing what the police did. She tried to go to help the poor boy but she couldn't as the green light shone through the signal. The pedestrians were told to clear the road.
The boy stared at the flowers, lying crumbled against the concrete, ruined by the footsteps of the people. Tears welled up in his eyes. Everyone started walking to their respective destinations. The police pushed the boy away from the zebra crossing, and soon, everything was back to the form it had before.
Raka is back home safely. She is too tired to study now, so she lies down on her bed and closes her eyes. Raka imagines she is walking through a mythical way and comes in front of a heavenly door. Raka knocks at the door, filled with the hope of seeing a beautiful unbiased world where everyone is treated equally, irrespective of their power, age, race, occupation, gender, color, or the minority they belong to.
Comentários