The threat

The bullies are waiting for your flesh.

“Do you think he will come in today?” Akash asked, tapping his ball-point pen on the bench.

“Absolutely not, you threatened to kill him if he sets foot in class remember?” whispered Rudra, glaring at Akash, who was looking  around the classroom.”Well, I hope he does come, he needs to see what I have in store for him,” said Akash.

……………….

“Promise me you won’t go to class today!”  Mother pleaded with her sharp, shrill voice, probably crying from the other end of the line. The nine-year-old, nursing his blackened eye with an ice-pack, replied, “I did nothing wrong Amma.” He kept the phone under the pillow of his bunker, just as Father Stephen walked into the room.

“Good Morning Father,” the boy stood up.

“Good Morning child, I just wanted to have a look at that eye of yours.” Father leaned forward, squinting to take a look at the swelling, and then said “better than yesterday”.

“Are you sure you still don’t remember who it was?”

“No Father, I don’t”

Father clearly wasn’t  pleased with the reply, “Lying is a sin, my child; I believe a crime has been committed and I cannot let this slip on my watch.”

“I have no doubts about that dear Father, I simply can’t strain myself to think that hard, please don’t force me.”

“Alright, alright. Are you going to class today? I have heard rumours that you have been threatened by a few senior students, The guard will keep an eye on you, and in case you want to take rest for the day, I am fine with that too.”

“Father, I need to go to class today.”

“That’s the spirit, have a good day, god bless you.”

He walked towards his class with a tall guard just a few metres behind him. Every student passing through the corridor stared at his blackened eye. On the way to his class, the guard asked him to wait for a minute as he wanted to take a leak. As soon as the guard went out of sight, the boy took off in a dash. Just as he was about to reach his class, Akash and Rudra apprehended him.

“Do you have someone as an escort?” Akash asked,

“Yes, I HAD one, but I lost him on the way; it was irritating to have a tail.”

“You still didn’t disclose our names to Father Stephen did you?” Rudra asked,

“No, I didn’t,” came a calm reply.

Akash took a few steps forward, and hugged the boy. “Thank you.”

Rudra said, “We made a mistake, we didn’t mean to hurt you that night, we mistook you for someone else.”

Akash pulled out a gift wrapped box from his pocket, “This is our way of saying sorry.” As the boy took the gift, Rudra said, “We never imagined that you would come to class all by yourself today. You are indeed very brave.”

The boy replied, “Thank you,”

The End    

Author's Note

Thank you for commenting

Reviews

[alanwgraham]

Good short story and well written with believable dialogue. One thing puzzled - at the beginning rudra said to akash that he's threatened to kill the boy. This didn't seem to square with saying he mistook him and the gift at the end. I may have misunderstood.
It is good when you can give a surprise at the end.
Regards,
Alan

[Ashwin Shanker]

He did threaten to Kill Akash, but they realized later on that they threaten the wrong guy.

[Ashwin Shanker]

Thank you so much for the review Alan, I will be getting to your writing shortly.

[alanwgraham]

Thanks Ashwin. I can see that now!

[emipoemi]

Nice twist. It was quite worth the read to get to that twist. Very charming.

[Ashwin Shanker]

Thank you for the review Emi

[Sami Khalil]

A good story with a nice twist of events. A change of heart, fear of the priests chastisement or trying to protect their reputation are possibilities.

[Ashwin Shanker]

I see you are as cynical about priests as I am :P ... Your understanding is bang on .

[Sami Khalil]

All true. You are welcome. Any time.

[Ghania]

Happy ending!!
The way I like.
A very lovely story. The bullies are indeed like a worst nightmare. But some people do change by your gesture of kindness.
Loved it!

[Ashwin Shanker]

Thank you for the wonderful Review NerdyBeauty

[Ghania]

Youre Welcome. :(

[Chrys Marie]

This was a nice read! You caught me off guard with that ending. Short and sweet!

[Ashwin Shanker]

Thank you for the review Chrys

[Tabby Mac]

Plot twist for sure!! Did not see that coming! Well done! Had me hooked from the beginning! Love the characters you create!
Tabby

[Ashwin Shanker]

Thankk you for the review Tabby, Any suggestions/feedback on the craft/language used?

[Pragati Chaudhary]

Ohhhhhh!
That was such a sweet gesture
I Loved the end!

Thankyou for writing this :)

[Ashwin Shanker]

Thanks a ton for the review Pragati

[Pragati Chaudhary]

Welcome always!

[Kate mccracken]

plot twist! This was a really cute story and I think the way you ended it was very strong.