Lost Meteor

Hold me Tight

Prithu doesn’t like to party much with the society elites; he was his Baba (Byom) and KakuBaba’s (Tupak) son. Had it not been for his KakuBaba he would never attend this kind of an affair. He had his own set of friends and yes they did party… but they were never this boring. Everyone here had only one agenda, that was to prove who was wealthier, more powerful and with more prospects. This was simple mingling of family affairs with business. In short, useless for a teenager… 

But Kaku had said that it was a birthday party of a little girl new in the city. She needed friends and Prithu can’t say no to his KakuBaba. He was his idol in life. He can bear much more than a wasted evening for him. The little girl was actually granddaughter to Tupak’s mentor Vidyapati Sanyal. A great doctor and philanthropist. The cake was brought into the room and everybody was waiting for the little girl …. Moumita…. But no one could find her... 

Prithu was out strolling in the garden when he noticed an outhouse… but it was all dark. The whole house was lit with lights, even the lawns were lit softly enhancing the building. But the out house was all dark, it stood like an abandoned ghost. Prithu was intrigued as any 16 year old would be … he started towards it and then lit his phone torch. When he reached the nearest window it was the stained glass work on the window that intrigued him at first... but then he heard the muffled sound of someone crying. Prithu opened the window with some force and managed to climb in. 

He thought it must be a kitten or something but then realized, the sound was coming from a big wooden trunk.  He was surprised to find it locked so he broke the lock and opened it…

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Mou was scared to death all her energy was already drained. She has been locked up here for more than two hours now. She had no idea what was coming up next. Her new dress all smeared with dirt and the colours…. Her hair messed up and the side of her face still burning with pain from the slaps she had received. When the trunk lid was opened by a stranger she didn’t know to be happy or scared. She was still hiccuping but then the stranger extended his hand towards her and then kept it on her head softly and then he said…

Prithu: Its okay little one… ab sab theek hai. Main tumhe lene ayaa hu. Aayo chalo…
Mou tried to stand up but her legs had gone numb from remaining in the same position for so long. So the stranger picked her up and then gave her a piggyback ride to the house. For 9 year old Mou it was the first time that she got a piggyback ride. She was just coming out of the shock of being locked up in a trunk so her breathing was still heavy and she instinctively held onto Prithu’s neck a bit tightly. 

Prithu walked towards the house but slowly so as to not to frighten the baby on his back anymore. But the moment they passed a man in the hall where the birthday was being celebrated Mou flinched and hid behind him bit more. 

Prithu turned a bit to take a note of the man…. He was surprised to find that it was none other than her own father...