Friday, February 24, 2012

Held (Part-2)

Story :
Before leaving town, Dan took Lilly to a hospital and the wounds were soothed with ointments and bandages. Then on the same night, he left the town by train.

The train was mostly empty. When the train started moving, Dan felt like they were the only ones in the compartment. Dan sat near the window and he did not let Lilly sit; But let her sleep on his lap. As the train wheels jerked into faster motion, he caught her shoulder for the fear that she might roll down. Holding her, he was looking outside, into the darkness.

Lilly - "Dan"
Dan - "Yes, darling"
Lilly - "Is it because of the wounds that you are not looking at me ?"
Dan - "No, my dear"
Lilly - "Then why are you looking outside ?"
Dan - "Go to sleep"
Lilly - "You didn't answer my question. Tell me why ?"
Dan looking into Lilly's eyes - "I was looking outside so that you would go to sleep, and forget the pain being caused by your wounds"

Dan with a smile - "Any girl wouldn't try to torture her boyfriend on the first day of eloping"
Lilly smiling- "It will always be like this, not just today"
Dan - "Yeah, what ever it is, that goes into each one of our minds about other, it should be expressed and clarified"
Lilly beaming with joy - "Rather than fuming inside oneself, and getting filled with prejudices"

Anon, Dan kissed her on the fore head. Lilly looking at Dan, slowly went to sleep. Dan also slept after some time, sitting. Morning came, and both opened eyes at the same time. They did not leave the train, but travelled one more day, so that they would get very far away from Lilly's father. On the next day, they got down and went into a village, where the train stopped. Dan wouldn't know it, but it's the same village where he was initially taken from. With the money he had, he took a house for rent and at the back part of that house, started an Electrical shop. The village situation was same as when Dan's uncle took him away, during his childhood.

The villagers had to go ten miles to another city, if one of their motors stops working, paying a lot more than what is required to pay had they lived in cities. Also, if there is a power cut due to some transformer problem, they would have to wait for a minimum of five days, for the power to be restored. With Dan's arrival, the situation changed. With his dexterity, he used to handle all those problems. Also, Dan used to take very less amounts of money, and if one of the farmers couldn't pay the amount, he used to postpone the payment to a later date. With in a few months, everyone in the city knew Dan, and Dan also trained some of the village youth so that they would share his work. Also, till Lilly's wounds got healed, Dan used to do all the house hold chores. After one and half year, Lilly was completely fine doing the house hold chores herself, and Dan bought the house where he was staying for rent.

The village head observed as all the good things started happening in the village. One fine day, he invited Dan for a Luncheon along with Lilly.

Head - "Dan, I am really happy for you to be here"
Dan - "oh ! It's my pleasure"
Head - "Without you, this village would not have been what it is, today. Very thank you"
Dan - "I should thank you first and your villagers. Even though I am an outsider, you gave me a place to stay, and trusted me in business"
Head - "Just a bit curious, if it bothers you, you needn't tell me. So, where are you from ? Who are your parents ?"
Dan - "No problem. There is nothing to hide for me among the people like you. I don't know about my parents, but as far as I remember, I was left at the home for the destitute, where the superintendent there raised me for some time"
The Head gasped - "Is it MIRACLE - Home for the destitute ? I mean, the place where you were left ?"
Dan - "Yes, it is"
Head - "And you left it when you were 16 years old ?"
Dan - "How do you"

Dan did not complete the question, while the Head's eyes were filled with tears

Head - "You belong to this village. The one who left you there was your uncle. After the death of your parents, he promised to provide you with good education. Taking you along with  all the property of your parents, he left the city. We inquired about you a lot of times sending letters and some times even people, but he gave only absurd replies. There is some land in the village that belonged to your father, but hadn't been sold. The documents of that land were with your uncle. One day he came to the village, and started showing that land to some corporate guy. We caught him, and inquired about you. When he didn't give a commendable answer, we beat him up; He then, revealed that he left you at MIRACLE. Then, we handed him over to the police. We talked with the superintendent of MIRACLE and anon searched for you, but couldn't get you.  It's a miracle that we found you now"
Dan, being filled with joy, taking huge breaths looked at Lilly and then at the Village head's face
Dan - "Finally, I know where I am from, I will be telling my children about their grand parents"

On the other side, Lilly's father came to know about the location of Dan and Lilly. He gave orders to an assassin to kill both of them.

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