Oh, God! Not today, please! Not today! hiding himself between the crowds of children, Jai
mummed these words to himself. Jai was about to enter his class when he heard a voice " did you
complete your biology practical ?" with hair spiked high, half unbuttoned shirt, stood the leader of the
bully ganging, Sunny. He was
often described as the father of the Devil by the students of Sant Mary College. I can't exactly explain
what was so terrifying in his voice but, on hearing his voice, Jai's forehead was covered with the sweat
of fear. Though it can't be
seen as his straight mushroom-cut hairs covered it fully. But, his fear could be easily seen through his
eyes, as his round glass are unable to hide them. Sunny loves such fearful eyes, those which states
that "I am terribly afraid of you". It makes him feel strong ."Ya," said Jai in his trembling voice ."Good
now do it for me too ", said Sunny in his sharp clear voice. Jai wanted to say "no", " why me?" but, he
never said those words and probably, he never will. The classes ended with the drowning of the sun.
It's time for the students to get back home and time for the bully gang to
show their supremacy. "Hi Jai, you did a great job by submitting my practical on time without telling
the teacher that you made it ", said Sunny with a creepy smile "thanks," said Jai in his soft voice and
tried to move himself to the other
side. "H....H..H..., wait .....s.....s...so, I think......k. I should thank you . I have thrown a party tonight at my
place.", said Sunny increasing the length of the words as if he was enjoying the fear in Jai's eyes."
thank you. But, I don't like parties," said Jai "Don't speak until I permit you to do so", said Sunny with
squeezed eyes and lifted eyebrows
."H...H.. Sorry ", said Jai in his broken trembling voice ."Sharp at 8:30 p.m ", said Sunny and left. Jai took
the public bus and left for his home ." Mom, I am home", said Jai in his relaxed voice ." oh! My son ",
said Mrs Shah and hugged him. Suddenly Jai's eye fell upon the broken wine bottle at the corner of the
room with a few drops of blood and he noticed his mother had a sharp cut on his neck. "Mom !", Jai
gave a loud unamazed cry as if he exactly knew
what would have happened ."Go in your room and complete your assignments . I will bring something
for you to eat ", said Mrs Shah with a pale face. Jai went straight into his room, shut the door, jumped
with his face towards the bed, and cried till there was a single ray of hope in the sky. The drawn has
worn the black gown and there were lights on the streets. Jai looked up and noticed it was sharp at
8:00. " Sharp 8:30 p.m " these words echo in his head. He got off the bed with a broken heart and soul
and took the roads that he wished to never walk on. On reaching Sunny's outhouse, he noticed that
Sunny was seated on the door, at the corner of the hall with his leg huddled in his stomach and hiding
his face. This was something unusual though Jai. He went to Sunny and said in his soft voice ." Yeh!
what you want me to do for you. Do you want me to clean up, like last time...but, there isn't anything to
clean like no beer bottles, no
packed food papers ?", said Jai examing the hall. On hearing his voice Sunny looked up. Jai noticed
Sunny's eyes were full of tears as if there was a flood in the desert. His eyes were red as hot molten
lava but, it didn't express anger or any feelings of hatred, maybe for the first time his eyes expressed
loneliness and sadness or it would have expressed
them a thousand times in darkness ( no one knows)." I think you need some water let me bring that for
you", said Jai.
Before Sunny could deny it. Jai went straight to the room closest to the dining area. When he was
about to enter the kitchen his eyes fell upon the portrait of a beautiful lady framed on the wall.
Shoulder-level short wavy hair, thick
eyebrows, and thin smiling lips that can force anybody to say "wow, she is so pretty," thought Jai.
Realizing why is he there? and what is the situation? he resumed his state. Jai went to the kitchen and
got a glass of water. He gave a
gentle hand on his shoulder and offered him the glass of water." l saw the portrait of the lady, she has
the same eagle eyes, wavy hairs, and thin lips as yours" said Jai. "She is my mum, "said Sunny in a pale
voice." She is very beautiful
", said Jai. "was** , she is no more and guesses what!!!. I am the bloody reason. She died as soon as I
was born. She has to. After all, she gave birth to a devil ".**DEVIL" Sunny repeated in an irritated tone
as if this word makes him feel sick ."You are a devil only if you can't control your anger. If you keep
blaming others for your mistakes and yourself for situations that were beyond your control. You don't
create the situation but, you can create a scenario " as Jai said these
words, clock hour hand strikes at 10. " It's time, where is your chemistry practicals ?". They had to
submit the chemistry practically tomorrow and Jai knew Sunny wouldn't have done it ." Let it be I will

do it", said Sunny. For the first time, he had listened to Someone so patiently. After Jai left, Sunny
closed his eye and recalled the conversations that he had with Jai. He felt lighter as a feather and
wanted to fly high but, couldn't as he needed the support of other feathers to form the wing. He looked
up at the wall clock, the hour hand just moved towards 11 and the wind blew with all Its strength to let
the moonshine in all Its glory by pushing asides the dark clouds. Sunny knew it was a bit late but, at
this point, he didn't care about anything. He got up, took the keys to the bike, and rushed towards the
parking
area. On his way, he kept on practising the conversation so, that it could sound as sweet as the
marshmallow. He stopped in front of a small house. As Sunny went closer to the house, he could hear
people talking loudly. At first, he
builds the image of the house with lovely people having loud and funny conversations. But, as he went
closer - and -closer. The sound grew louder- and - louder and he realize it was not a general
conversation nor did it sound like
an ordinary argument. He heard a man howling like a Werewolf ready to kill anybody who would stop
him from doing the things he wanted. When he went closest to the door could hear a lady crying loudly
and saying that she don't have any money to give. He could hear the breaking of glass objects. At this
point few people from the neighbouring house came." It's their everyday drama ", said one of the
neighbours and gave a creepy smile." I feel sorry for Mrs Shah
and the boy, Jai, that man is worst than an animal", said the lady in short hair. Suddenly Mrs Shah gave
a loud cry as if she was about to die. Sunny gave a hard blow on the door and finally succeeded in
opening it in his second attempt.
As the door opened to his amazement Mrs Shah was almost covered in blood. It felt as if the cyclonic
storm of the Pacific Ocean as just crossed the house. Indeed it was a cyclonic storm that resulted in
such huge destruction but, its origin wasn't the Pacific Ocean instead it was the anger ." Anger-which
is the origin of a devil".As the proverb says " a drunken man is no better than a beast", the man holding
the lighter in his hand was ready to prove it. "Who are
you????", said the man holding the burning lighter in his hand " None of your business", said Sunny
joining his fingers to form the fist and giving a hard blow on his face. He lost his consciousness and
fell to the floor. Sunny immediately ran towards Mrs Shah and helped her to get on her legs." Jai is in
the storeroom, please help him, it's down the stairs left
to the kitchen.", said Mrs Shah with eyes full of tears. Sunny could not make out if those tears showed
happiness because they were saved or fear from what will happen next or the mixture of the two but,
it's not the time to figure -out
such things, said Sunny to himself and ran towards the storeroom. As Sunny opened the store-room
door with his kick he found Jai lying on the door in his unconscious state. Sunny lifted him on his back
and ran towards the main door. In the meantime, he also managed to call the cobs. The story to be
told and listened t will be done by the cobs but, the part of the story that you should know is Jai and
Mrs Shah both were saved that night not by any angle but, by a devil.
" DEVIL", was he a devil ????"Mom, look who has come to meet you", said Jai with a smile." Good
morning, Mrs Shah, I hope the hospital expenses aren't worrying you because I am all there for you,
"said Sunny with a gentle smile and calm eyes. As Mrs Shah gently opened his eyes to see the figure
of this angelic voice. She saw a tall man around 5'8 with a calm face almost dressed like a gentleman,
come forward and give her a sweet-smelling bouquet. The bouquet has indeed some magical
fragrance. I can say that because it gave Mrs Shah the strength to open her eyes for she couldn't do
that for fifteen hours ." Thank you my Angle", said Mrs Shah with a smile that was hidden from Jai's
eyesight for years. The person who removed the blankets of moaning clouds from their life was the
one who was
described by the people as a devil. "Memories fade with time but feelings don't.", said Jai to himself
and smiled at his thoughts.

Published on October 1st, 2022