One Last Time...

Prologue

Everyone in the house was asleep. It was a small house on the outskirts of Delhi. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Khanna and their only son- Dhruv. He was 17 years old, presently in 12^th standard. The Khannas were not that well-off. The husband and wife ran a small bakery in the same lane as their house. They just about managed to lead a simple yet fulfilled life. Apart from his studies, Dhruv assisted his parents in their bakery and also took tuitions for primary students to add to the household’s income.

It was around 2 a.m. Dhruv got out of the bed and picked up his back-pack. He went to his parent’s room, saw them for a brief moment and then silently left the house, probably for the last time…

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Chapter 1: Questions and lies.

It was two days since Dhruv was missing. He had not left behind any note. His parents were perplexed. He seemed very normal at dinner on the day he went missing; in fact more jovial than usual. But what was more surprising was that his parents did not enquire about his whereabouts and just went about their work in the bakery like always. They did not even care to lodge a police complaint. They informed the parents’ of the kids whom he used to teach that their son has shifted to his aunt’s place in Ludhiana and will be completing his studies there.

One of the kids’ mother asked Mrs. Khanna, “How come he has left in the middle of the year? And Diwali is around the corner too, how could you let him go?”

Replied Mrs. Khanna, without a stutter(as if she had rehearsed it many times), “He is very close to my sister and she lost her husband a few weeks back. They couldn’t even conceive a child together. She was feeling very lonely and my son, being the sweety-pie that he is, offered to go and stay with her.”

“But couldn’t your sister come and live with you’ll?” asked the mother.

“Well, she knows our financial position and didn’t want to be a burden on us.”

“Okay. I really pity that you have to celebrate Diwali without your son.”

“I hope this is for the first and the last time”

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Chapter 2: Lights and darkness

There wasn’t a single dark corner in the entire neighbourhood. The festival of lights- Diwali had arrived. Every year, this was a busy time for the Khannas. The festival always ensured that they could live comfortably for atleast a couple of months. But this year business was much lower than normal. Seventeen days had passed since Dhruv had left.

After closing their shop, the Khannas headed home. On their doorstep, they saw a woman. It was someone they never expected to see- it was Mrs. Khanna’s sister.

“What are you doing here?”, snapped Mrs. Khanna.

“What a nice way to greet your elder sister?” said the visibly stunned sister of Mrs. Khanna.

“Oh I am so sorry didi, come on in. And by the way, Happy Diwali!” she said apologetically and hugging her sister at the same time.

Inside the house, Mr. Khanna and his sister-in-law were chatting, while Mrs. Khanna was preparing dinner.

Suddenly she asked, “Where’s my bacha Dhruv? I almost forgot him!”

“He is out with his friends, bursting crackers.” answered Mr. Khanna, a bit nervously.

Just then, the door bell rang and Mrs. Khanna’s sister went to open it. It was the neighbour to whom Mrs. Khanna was speaking a few days ago.

“You must be Mrs. Khanna’s sister. It was so sweet of you to come here and bring along Dhruv for Diwali…” the excited neighbour started blabbering.

“Ummm…I didn’t get you, bring along Dhruv...?” she enquired, looking back at her brother-in-law for an answer.

Mr. Khanna replied, “Yes Mrs. Gupta, he is here and he is out playing with his friends. Mrs. Khanna is busy in the kitchen, so could you come back after sometime?”

“Ya sure. I just came to give you’ll these sweets. Happy Diwali! I’ll meet Mrs. Khanna at the temple tomorrow…” and she left, a little bewildered.

“Jiju, what’s going on here? What did that lady mean?”

But Mr. Khanna wasn’t paying attention to her. He knew this day would come but he didn’t expect it to come so soon. He called Mrs. Khanna out of the kitchen.

“Its time…you know what you have to do. You come with her; I’ll be waiting for the both of you.”

Mrs. Khanna started to protest; but she knew it was of no use.

It was 2.30 a.m. The entire lane was still lit except for one house. Mrs. Khanna looked back at her home, one last time.

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