Tracks Go Mad

It was a great stone-built hall with vast space filled by chairs of one kind. At the end of the hall was an inclined table-top ground, and on the inclined ground were gathered great amount of people.

Among them was Mihira. She was so desperate to see how the program goes ahead. But the only disadvantage with her was that she couldn't stand a view with her height. She tried several times, to lift her ankle but it took few minutes for her to realize that it was not high enough to match the heights of the people ahead. She grunted and came back to her own position. She always watched functions from the front view and wanted to see how a function carries on from behind. She had thought this was one chance she could use, but it looked in vain.

She slithered back to the end of the crowd. From there, she could actually breathe. She took a glance at the empty hall, which was about to be filled that very evening. The hall was not literally empty though. At a corner of the hall was her brother, seated in a chair, all alone. She then decided to spend time with him since no adult cared to give her attention. Although she could walk down the stairs, she leaped down the stage and slowly walked towards her brother.

Viraj on the other hand, had his mind busy and irritated. He had his phone in his hand, with his ankle on his knee. There was no one by him, until the next second, when Mihira arrived.

"What are you doing, brother?" she asked with utmost innocence. Viraj nodded.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, advancing forward. Yet, no reply. Then he burst into an eruption of whines and growls. Mihira knew something troubled him. She dared and peeked into his phone where she found a bunch of photos, of forests and one person in common in all of them. "What are these?" Mihira asked. Viraj caught his head and started typing something.

Mihira knew how to get a word out of him.

"I am going to the ice-cream point!" she said, loud enough for him to hear, "Come with me to get them!"

Viraj seemed as if he didn't care enough to hear it. "I'm going!" Mihira said again, and turned back. She started walking again, gazing at the crowded stage, shaking her head. She at last came to the ice-cream point, where a bald man was scooping up ice-creams. They were inserted in small cups, with a spoon in them. Mihira took one of them as the coldness penetrated through her hands. She put a spoon in her mouth and started thinking, recalling the photos her brother was looking at. She tried to guess who the boy in the photos was. At last, she came to a decision, when she turned back and found Viraj.

"Who was that boy in the pictures?" Mihira asked.

"Farhan" replied Viraj, scratching his head.

"Yes! I guessed him correctly! I won the bet, so give me the reward!" she burst out in excitement. "I didn't bet you on anything" said Viraj, confused. Mihira filled air in her cheeks in frustration, "At least I succeeded in getting you off of that chair"

They placed themselves in two chairs. "So what's the matter with your 'Farhan'?"

* * *

Yugank had his earpieces fixed to his ears. His head nodded in a rhythm. He held his phone in one of his hands.

"Don't let me go!" came a shrill voice from the phone. "I have done…what I had to do…" he sang with the voice. He was, for some time, a part of the voice and that mild piano which sounded like a small, kind boy's voice. Something gentle touched his shoulder. He turned his head reluctantly away from his phone, to the source of that touch. He found a small boy, maybe of Fourth standard, dressed in a school uniform.

The boy held his hand out and gently touched his shoulder again. Yugank took off one of his earpieces. All the sounds of the conductor screaming for tickets, the bus honking, the vehicles on the road honking too, and then the bus replying with a honk, their engines rumbling, entered Yugank's ear and it sounded uncomfortable to him. He raised his eyebrows at the boy. The boy looked up to him, "Sorry if I disturbed you" he smiled.

"You did indeed but I'll excuse you for that" said Yugank, smiling back, "How can I help you?"

"Can I sit here, please?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, sure" Yugank moved closer to the window and the boy settled beside him.

"Thank you" said the boy. Yugank grinned wide and fixed the earpiece back to its place.

The song continued playing. The sounds from outside sounded so low now and he felt like he were back in heaven. He continued singing low with the singer, when a high-pitched noise disturbed him. He knew the noise was not from the song being played. He took a quick glance at his phone and found that someone was trying to call him. It was Viraj.

He picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, bro"

"Yes, Viraj?"

"Do you have your phone with you now?"

"Then how do you think am I talking to you?"

"Oh right, look at the message I sent you"

Yugank tapped the phone several times until some pictures appeared. The pictures showed a boy in a thick forest. "Farhan is enjoying in a forest in foreign. And look at that tag, '#I am having an adventure'. Well, that triggered me" continued Viraj

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Don't you feel like being challenged?"

"Challenged? How?"

"I feel like Farhan thinks no one can go have an adventure like he does. Of course he does. That selfish boy! This is a clear challenge, Yugank. Let's go somewhere for an adventure and send the pictures to him directly."

"And what does that give you?"

"What does that give us? Satisfaction. Feel of Victory. A rebuff to his pride"

"Uh- I don't think that's needed."

"Why do you say that?"

"If the challenge you say isn't true, what will be left for us is embarrassment. I'm not in for it."

"Come on, Yuga! Think of it! You, me and the gang - somewhere in India, clicking selfies, having an adventure!"

"I don't think that'll work."

"All you need is time to think. Think and say yes or no, but don't choose the second option."

"I'll see"

"Bye. Think hard"

"Bye"

He took a deep breath and looked at the boy beside him. The boy was looking at Yugank with his big black eyes. He seemed like he heard the conversation between him and Viraj. The boy grinned and turned back. Yugank felt the embarrassment in the boy's mind.

"What is your name, kid?" he asked.

"Hruday" the boy replied.

"Looks like you're going home from school on your own. Which standard are you studying in?"

"Fifth"

"Aren't you scared of travelling in public buses, all alone?"

"To be honest, it is fun. Feels like an adventure." The boy said and left the bus at the stop it was in. Yugank sat still. 'Have an adventure' he thought, 'a kid is having an adventure. Hmm. Looks like I've thought hard'. He pulled his phone out again and started dialing Viraj.