Part-1 "ANGELS"

As I filled in the few Last numbers in my math’s notebook, I realized it was going to be a long monotonous day. Summer holidays had just begun but I was bored already. I jumped out of my bed and looked around my room; My Donald duck poster was now laughing at me, ‘I know it’s a boring life but u would never know how tough it is to be an 11 year old’ I taunted back.

I gazed through the window; the video game parlor on the other side was very alluring. I could picture myself sitting on a busty bean bag and fighting hard to save the world with my gun, My Sniper. ‘One shot, one kill' I exclaimed. But none of this was possible, my piggy bank was deserted, I did shake it vigorously only to listen to his empty stomach. He was hungry and I couldn’t blame him, with these never ending boring holidays all I had done off late was to starve him off his food.

The leather pouch sitting comfortably on the dining table smiled at me, I went ahead and grabbed it. It contained Dad’s purse, I skipped a few beats before going through with my inspection. I found a couple of cards and my treasure, placed beautifully in front of a few thousand rupee notes was my treasure. I saw my 2 hours of freedom from the agony, shaped in a perfect rectangle with the magic numbers 50 printed across its chest.

Various thoughts came through my mind, but with an impulsive instinct I grabbed and slipped it under my hand. Just then out of nowhere a funny looking average aged man appeared in front of me. He was short, Very stout; I could have made him Popeye in my fantasy cartoon movie, the one I had been planning since last 2 weeks.

Startled by his presence and amused with his appearance, I decided to confront him trying hard to contain my smile which I was sure he would feel bad about. “Who are you? “ I asked. I did not recognize him, but he did appear very friendly.

“I’m an angel……..” he fumbled.”I am the messenger of truth, I am the voice of god, I am your inner voice, I come forward to stop you from committing blunders, and Actions which you know are unforeseen and unjustified”. He exhaled and continued. “I’m a thought, something that comes across your mind and takes a silent form”

None of this made any sense but I was sure he had told my mom about me draining the glass of milk I was given last night. Scolding’s gone black and blues all morning and no wonder I was still angry.”You told my mom about my glass of milk, why do you keep spying on me? I am big enough to take care of myself so leave me alone”

My words sent the man staggering backward. “I never told anyone anything, you need to understand, I am a part of you, until you are caught between your choices and you know you’re doing it wrong, I never come forward”. “Right now, you know you’re stealing, stealing money from your Dad’s purse and you know it’s wrong”

“No!” I declared. “Absolutely not”. “I’m bored, I have better things to do , I already completed my homework , Dad would never notice missing 50 rupees from his purse and no one is even here , who will know , who is watching me?

He walked to a deep leather chair and sank into it. “God is watching you , he is everywhere, he sees everything, Things you do you think are right , You feel happy for them , he gives you that happiness , When you know you have done wrong , U feel remorseful, You are punished, He gives you that punishment”.

My face slumped; I had heard my mom sing praises to god and ask him for things which were very expensive. He was a powerful man; I knew that, the only thing that had startled me, he was following all my actions and I never knew about it. “Are you talking about him?” I pointed my figure at the stone idol placed in the corner of the room and asked.

“Not exactly the same, but yes” he continued.”We choose to believe in our inner faith in whatever way we like, For many its power that appeals , Hence you see stone idols manifested with superpowers, It’ s your belief that counts Not the superpowers”.”You know you are doing wrong by stealing money from the purse, Your mom and Dad will be hurt when they find out , Your friends will think you are a thief, Even if they don’t come to know , will you be able to sustain this shame of stealing money, the inflated feeling of the guilt you are facing now?”

I gave a helpless sigh, he was right, I was betraying my inner-voice by choosing to steal, I was feeling culpable already and more than the guilt, the fright of getting caught was a lot to take. I was being so watchful, peeking at the noise of a pin already with the money in my hand, “What would happen if I spend this? I can’t sustain this fear of getting caught” I uttered. I safely deposited the note back and turned to thank him but he was gone, nowhere to be seen, the leather couch as empty as ever.

“I can’t play videogames but that doesn’t mean I’ll be bored, I have many other exciting things to do” I lied to myself to force a smile on my face, the smile was faked but It was a reflection of the surreal peace, the ecstasy my heart was sunk deep into.