Small Story 663.

 Short Story 663:

 Life is Beautiful... (Part 8)

Time was passing very quickly. Ram was extremely anxious. He was waiting for Raj's phone call to find out who had been involved in the accident.

Ten minutes later, Raj called.

"Ram, the boy's name was Manjunath."

Ram let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Raj, on one hand, I'm relieved that it wasn't Prasanna who met with the accident. But on the other hand, someone else has lost his life. I just can't come to terms with that. A loss is a loss."

Raj replied,

"That shows your kind heart and your humane outlook."

"Thank you, Raj. We'll talk later."

Ram sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. He tried to recall the very first time he had met Prasanna. It is true that the human mind can travel faster than the wind.

Seven years earlier, Ram had gone to Bengaluru to visit a friend. While returning to Mysuru by bus, a young boy suddenly dashed across the road on the Mysuru highway. The driver slammed on the brakes just in time, and the boy narrowly escaped with his life.

All the passengers on the bus began scolding the boy.

At that moment, Ram said,

"Please calm down. It was an unfortunate incident. Don't scold the boy."

He then asked the boy,

"Why did you cross the road without checking if any vehicles were coming?"

The boy's reply left Ram completely shocked.

(To be continued...)

— K. Raghavan

6-7-26