The thirteen-year-old Varun was in deep sleep when a sharp voice woke him up. “Varun! wake up….I said wake up…now”, his mother was shouting from the kitchen. Varun slowly opened his eyes and looked at the school bag kept on the shelf. His laziness faded as he impulsively sprung out of the bed and sat uneasily. “It’s Monday…I forgot my maths homework. No..no.. Miss Sheetal will punish me badly”, his thoughts were making his heart beat faster.
He was still thinking when his mother stepped into his room and spoke in an angry voice,” You are still in bed. Get up fast. Get ready. If I have to come here again it will not be good”. She walked back to the kitchen.
Varun slowly walked into the kitchen and stood at the door. “Ma! I am not feeling well. Can I skip school today?” The mother didn’t bother to turn back. She kept preparing the dough while she spoke back in an irritated voice,” Your excuses won’t work on me. Go and get ready.”
Varun started doing his morning chores. He wore his school uniform and sat at the table as his mother served breakfast. He was thinking of a way to skip school but his mother won’t allow it. Somehow he completed his breakfast. His mother packed the tiffin and prepared his bag. He sluggishly carried the bag and walked out of the house to the bus stop.
As he reached the stop it came to his mind that he could make an excuse for missing the bus. So he went a bit far from the bus stop and sat at the tea stall. It was a hot sunny day. He was looking at all the snacks kept on the shelf of the shop when he realized that he was thirsty and had forgotten his water bottle. He looked at the school bus as it passed away and that gave him a bit of relief. He was still scared of his mother but what could she do now? The bus was gone.
He decided to stay there for a while and then go home. He was sitting there when a man came close on a bike. He was the kid’s neighbor, Prashant. He asked the stall owner to prepare a cup of tea for him and then looked at Varun. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you go to school?”
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Varun mumbled, “I..I..missed the bus”.
Prashant looked away carelessly as he took the tea from the stall owner. As he took a sip he spoke again, “Come I will drop you.”
Varun started sweating with fear again. “No worries uncle. It’s ok. I will walk back home.”
Prashant nodded against it and spoke as he took the last sip of his tea, “Don’t argue kid. Your mother would be angry if you went back. Come, let’s go.”
Varun sat on the bike with a sad face. His heartbeat increased as they reached the school gate. He climbed off the bike and entered the school premises. All latecomers were standing in a line and were being scolded by the PT Teacher. He joined the line. The teacher scolded them badly and then asked all of them to run and make five rounds of the school grounds.
Varun was pathetic. He thought to himself,” I should have taken the bus. This is worse than getting scolded by Sheetal mam”. He pushed his thirsty tired body and started running on the ground. The teacher kept shouting from behind, “Keep running”.
Finally, the rounds were over. A tired Varun reached his class. He was panting and sweating badly. As he sat on his chair, his friend asked,” Why are you late today?”. Varun was too tired to answer. Thankfully the first class was over, so he won’t be facing Sheetal mam.
As he caught his breath, he asked his friend, “Did you submit your maths homework today?”. His friend smiled and said,” Oh! no. She did not come today. Thank god! You know I didn’t do my homework. I was so scared. But she is on leave till next Monday.”
Varun looked at his friend in shock. He went blank for a moment and then asked his friend, “Can I have your water bottle?”.
By Khushboo Singh
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