Parshu Shrestha
Pradip was alone in his room. He was reading a book. The room was peaceful, but he was restless at the moment.
The next day was Saturday, a public holiday. His school would be closed. His friends were talking that afternoon about the new movie in the cinema. They were planning to go to the cinema the day after. They asked Pradip, too, but he did not have money for it. As he had no way to get money for the cinema, he kept quiet.
Ramesh, one of his friends, even proposed that he would lend him the amount for the ticket. But how would he return it? Pradip had no plan for it. Therefore, he could not finalize his decision about it. He said he would confirm his presence the day after, and walked home.
Pradip got a sudden plan in his mind. He felt as if he were free of the problem outright. He got upfeeling refreshed, and entered his parents’ bedroom in cat’s paws. Then, he turned the pillow over cleverly. There he found a diary, his father’s. He picked it up, and fluttered all the pages as fast as possible, but did not find anything there. He repeated the action again, but slowly this time. He found only the pages of the diary with his father’s handwriting. He did it again, the third time. However, he did not find any note of rupees as per his expectation. Then, he put the diary back under the pillow, and diverted his search to other possible places. He did not have anything to do with his father’s beautiful handwriting in the diary.
He pulled the mattress up and looked under it without any result. He checked in between the folds of clothes in the almirah and the pockets of his father’s ironed pants and trousers, but found nothing. Perhaps his father had worn the pants with money in pockets.
Pradip was not hopeless, though. He ran his hands along the niches of the dressing table. Nothing again! Now, he was thoughtful- what should he do? His friends were celebrating holiday going to the cinema the following day. Only he was confused and clueless.
Then, suddenly, he remembered his father’s new coat which was hanging on the wall in the corner of the door. Father had worn the same coat when he went to attend the wedding of his maternal uncle as the best-man. He must have got some money there.
Pradip put his hand into the coat pocket and felt it, but it was empty.
“What an unlucky day!” He thought after he had felt both coat pockets, “Coats even have the inner pockets. I must check them as well.”
Lo! Finally, the treasure was found. “Wow!” thought he.
Pradip found an envelope, generally used for putting letter in and sending to others. He had no more patience, so opened it hurriedly. His happiness crossed all the limits when he found two notes: one of five hundred and another of fifty rupees.
“Which one should I take?” He was undecided for a while, “Should I take the fifty-rupee note? It will not suffice for a movie ticket, but father may know if I take the five-hundred-rupee note.” He realized that he had to take the decision as quickly as possible when he heard his grandmother coughing. Maybe she was nearby.
Pradip’s indecision caused himself a big problem. He was not ready to let go off the treasure he had just found after such a hard work. However, a chill ran along his spine when he imagined about the situation he would be in after his father would find out about his theft.
After all, he took the five-hundred-rupee note out of his father’s coat pocket, and put it into his pants’ right-front pocket. His father certainly might not have checked in the envelope and known how much money there was.
He went to bed early that evening after dinner while his mom, dad, and grandma were on their usual casual talk. He could not sleep properly that night, though. He woke up next morning when the sun’s ray fell through the window on his face.
It was a fine Saturday morning, and Pradip had a nice plan for the day. He got up hurriedly and put his hand into the pants’ pocket to feel the money he had kept last night. Phew! It was not there. He felt as if he had got struck by a powerful lightning. It was like a dream for him. However, he was sure that it was not a dream because he could remember everything that he had done the night before.
Pradip searched the note in bed, under the quilt, under the pillow, in the corner, and almost everywhere aroundwhere it had the possibility to be found. He remained clueless for a while when he did not find the five-hundred-rupee note anywhere.
“What are you looking for, Pratik?”
He was startled with his mom’s surprise question. Only then he saw that both his mom and granny were gazing at him suspiciously.
“Do they already know what I did?” he thought, “Now what should I do?”
He shuddered. He could not find a word to reply his mom instantly.
“If you are looking for money, it’s here with me.” Said his mom again in a high tone.
“Oh dear! Now they’re going to kill me.” Thought Pradip, “How could I face them now?”
He could not say anything to his mom and granny because he was too much afraid. He sat with his head down.
Pradip’s father was not home at that moment. He had woken up early in the morning, as usual, and gone on morning walk. “Thank God!” Pradip said to himself anxiously, “Will he kill me once he is back home?”
Mom came near to him. “I had always hoped my son would be a good boy,” she said ironically, “but you are going to be a pickpocket.” Pradip heard that unpleasant remark silently. He was already in remorse for what he had done the previous night.
“Why did you do this?” Mom enquired, “Tell me the reason. … Why?” Pradip did not speak; he just sat onhanging his head down.
“Your father scolds me each time you do something wrong.” Mom started sobbing, “He thinks I teach it to you.”
“Let him go once more.” Pradip’s granny spoke, “After all, he’s a kid. Everyone loses his mind once or twice in life. … He won’t repeat it, will you?” Pradip nodded anxiously, thanking his granny quietly.
His father arrived home after a while. Pradip trembled in fear, and thought of a way to avoid his father – reading loudly. So, he started reading his book as loudly as possible. He usually did not read or write on Saturdays.
His father approached him, and sat on a corner of the cot where Pradip was reading. He had a shaving machine, cream, mirror, and a towel with him. He started shaving his beard and moustache while Pradip was reading loudly to show off his father.
“Why did you take the money out of my coat pocket last night, Pradip?”
Father’s sudden question made Pradip feel dizzy. The view in front of him suddenly went blank, and he saw only a black shade. While he was groping for a word, he heard his father say, “You can ask me if you need money, but never try pickpocketing.”
This new situation was beyond Pradip’s expectation. He became so happy that he could not speak for a while. He just looked at his father once, and nodded his head.
(Parshu Shrestha (1981) lives in Itahari, teaches English, and writes short stories.)