Kartik Khandelwal

A small boy, wearing white pair of pajamas along with a white t-shirt, sat on a bed. A window was in front of him and he glared outside towards the bright red moon which laid its light on his charming small face. “Whoa…” He said as he glared at the full moon. Behind him was a door, which opened and a woman came in. She wore a casual skirt upon a t-shirt, with an apron on top. “Kartik…” She said in her sweet motherly voice.

The boy, or as I say, the small me turned back and looked at her. I noticed the yellow bowl in her hands and turned my head away in anger. “Hmph! I don’t wanna eat curry-rice,” I said innocently in my childlike voice.

“But you have to eat it to grow big and strong, right?” She walked forward towards the bed, which was just a step or two away from her. It was a very small room, and was stuffed with a bed in the front, and a wardrobe on the right. “Even Rohan has grown bigger thank you. Don’t you want to be all big and strong? Or, do you like being called ‘shorty’?”

She raised the spoon full of food towards me, who again turned my face the other way. “I’m better being called ‘shorty’ than eating that.”

“Okay, then,” She shrugged and moved back the spoon away. “It’s your choice, at last.”

She moved the spoon into her mouth and started eating it. I slowly turned my head around and saw her, my mouth filled with water. My stomach started gurgling and I said, “B-But, mom, I’m hung--”

“Then eat!” She moved the spoon towards me. I looked at the spoon full of rice, and then somehow moved my head forward towards it. I then surrounded the spoon with my eyes closed because of fear and then closed my mouth. My mom took out the spoon and I started chewing, with my eyes still closed. I clenched my tiny fingers on my t-shirt in front of my chest and somehow gulped it. “Yay! You just ate it!”

“Fast! I wanna finish it as soon as possible so I won’t be able to suffer for long!” I said in enthusiasm.

“Okay then!” She dipped the spoon in the bowl again and moved it at me.

Some fifteen minutes passed like this. I was staring at the shiny moon while chewing the food. My mom was mixing the stuff in the bowl for me with the spoon. Then, she moved it again and I opened my mouth. She moved it inside, I closed my mouth and she moved it back. Then, she looked at me staring at the moon. She turned at the moon, and then at me again, and asked, “Why are you always staring at the moon like this? It must be flushing because of it.”

“What is ‘flushing’, mom?” I asked innocently, still staring at the moon.

“Well, to flush is to be embarrassed. See, when your cheeks turn red,” She explained while she pointed her finger at my cheeks.

“Mom, am I… flushing?” I asked, without turning towards her.

She turned her head at me, and saw my cheeks red in determination while I started at the moon. “Y-Yes,”

“It’s because I’m excited!” I replied. “The shiny full moon in the middle of the stars reminds me of the Ferris wheel in London.” I turned my whole body at her and asked excitedly, “Mom, Rohan showed me the pics of that giant wheel! He said that they went on a trip there during summer vacations. Can we go there too?”

At this, my mother was filled with guilt. Her facial expressions fell down and she sighed. “I hope we could, Kartik. But, at this time, bad guys are around who won’t let us enjoy. They will even eat us alive! That’s why we came here, and we don’t let you go to school, son.”

“But mom, I’m a big boy now, aren’t I? I can beat the bad guys for us, and then we’ll enjoy to the fullest!”

“Even father can’t beat them until now, son. And, you are still smaller than him, right?”

I tilted my head down and sat quietly. Suddenly, a drop of tear fell from my eyes. I was in despair. “But…” I said as I rubbed my tear. “… I badly want to go there.”

She moved her hand below my face and rubbed the tear with her thumb. “We will, Kartik, but not now.”

“You’ve been saying this for months, mom!”

“Let the situation to settle down once, son. Then, we’ll go wherever you want.”

“But…”

“Just for a few days,” She added.

I stood up from the bed, jumped down and started running quickly. “Kartik!” My mom raised her hand at me as I ran outside the room. I quickly ran down the narrow corridor, pushed open the door, and ran outside in the middle of the night.

I turned right on the dark empty street, which didn’t even have a lightning pole to lighten it. I left behind the narrow door of my small home. I ran a few steps, and then stopped at an intersection of four rods. Below a lightning pole, I rubbed my eyes and murmured, “I don’t need my mom or dad. I’m better alone.” Then, I looked back at my mom running towards me.

“Hey, kid,” A man called to me and I turned back towards him. He was wearing a creepy mask that had a creepy smile. The sharp teeth were seen on that face on the mask. In yellow, the quote ‘Wake Up Dead’ was written on top of it.

I casually asked him, “Yes?”

“Aye kid, d’ya know where the Khandelwals reside?” He asked me.

My mom stopped running and stopped at the position. She covered her mouth with her hand and then suddenly ran towards us. “No! NO!”