Ehsaas

Chapter 2 Past's Gloom & Present's Joy

Aksh was sitting silent for a long time now. He knew he has to tell everything to Rudra but didn't had any idea how or where to start. There were so many little and big incidents of there life, some gray and some pure dark. Incidents which transformed themselves in to nightmares and tears but never go away no matter how much you try. And he has tried, with all his might. He has tried to protect his brother for as long as he can remember but has failed miserably. Ansh's fear, his nightmares, his tears everything is a testimony of his failure to protect his little innocent brother. What happened two years back still has a big impact on ansh. Even thinking about those days fills aksh with pain and sadness, everytime he looks at a scared ansh, he feels as helpless as his did two years back.

Aksh was so deep in to thinking that he didn't notice when his eyes pooled up and tears rolled down on his cheeks. Rudra saw him and embraced him at once and said "kya hua akshu, kuch bol beta"

Aksh hugged rudra back and said "I failed bhaiya, I failed in protecting anshu. Sab meri wajah se hua bhaiya, it's all because of me"

Rudra pulled him away, wiped his tears and said "nahi beta, aisa kuch nahi hai, you haven't failed. Kitne achche se dhyaan rakha hai tune ansh ka. Pls aise ro mat bata kya hua, if something has gone wrong then we can fix it together."

Aksh nodded and started telling everything to rudra.

Flashback

2 years back.

Aksh "anshu tujhe yaad hai na aaj main wapas nahi aaunga, mujhe ushering ke liye ek night event me jana hai. I'll be back tomorrow after college"

Ansh "yaad hai dada, kal se 10 baar bata chuke ho, ab jaoo bhi"

Aksh "tujhe badi jaldi hai mere jaane ki?"

Ansh "aur kya dada, aap jaoge tabhi to thodi privacy milegi"

Aksh raised an eyebrow and asked "aur aapko privacy me kya karna hai beta.

Ansh " Bada ho gaya hu ab main dada, sab cheeze to aapko nahi bata sakta na"

Aksh shook his head and said "haan theek hai mat bata ki tujhe comic books padhni hai. "

Ansh's eyes widened in surprise and he asked "aapko kaise pata chala dada??

Aksh chuckled at his surprised voice "Mujhe sab pata hai beta, but make sure you sleep by 10 and make sure the alarm is on for tomorrow. Aur khana theek se khaa lena, and pls take your bottle and fill it before sleeping. Aur......... "

Ansh "dada aap sirf ek raat ke liye jaa rahe ho. Don't worry I'll be fine"

Aksh pulled him in his embrace and said "apna dhyaan rakhna bachcha, I really don't wanna go. But they are paying quite well so can't say no. "

Ansh "thank you dada"

Aksh "kyun"

Ansh "kyunki aap deserve karte ho. Thank you so much. I love you dada. You are my superhero."

Aksh held ansh for a few second before pulling him and said "bas ab subah subah senti mat kar, chal bye, take care" He kissed his forehead and left.

Ansh went to the in-house school and went about his usual day. Everything was going as usual but in the last period the teacher was running a little late. Ansh and many other kids of the class were standing at the class door and playing. As the boys were playing someone pushed ansh and he fell spilling the water from his bottle. Just then they saw the teacher coming and all ran back to their seats. The teacher slipped on the wet floor as he entered the class and fell face down. All the students started laughing. The teacher got up and glared dangerously at them. Within seconds there was pin drop silence in the classroom. Mr. Bharghav (teacher) was one of the strictest teachers of that school.