The Kite

(Hisham Hashir)

The sun was a beautiful shade of orange. The slow waves were crashing down the shore. A few people could be seen dipping their feet in the slow and steady waves. The beach had a very silent and quiet atmosphere. It was the perfect place for enjoy the natural beauty, with the sparkling water, the shades of the sun and the clear orange sky adding a mesmerizing effect. When one visits during this particular time, they would be completely absorbed into observing the natural beauty around them.

Not far away from the young couples who had come to enjoy and mingle at the beach, stood a boy.

He looked to be around an age of six to seven years. His skin was largely tanned, giving it a light bronze appearance. The boy was in tatters, wearing a tattered white banyan and a loose khakhi short which barely fit him. He had brown curly hair and he looked like it had been many days since he bathed. His body was badly malnourished, making him so very thin.However, even all of this did not stop him from giving off the cute appearance that all children have.

He was holding a beautiful dark blue kite in his hand.

He took its thread and threw it in the air.

“Fly” the boy said.

“Fly like the wind”.

……………..The kite didn’t even hover in the air. It still laid on the ground, pretending as if it had not heard the boy.

The boy’s auburn eyes showed signs of frustration.

Once more, he took the feeble thread in his hands, and he started running like a madman.

It was truly a funny sight, causing many of the people who were nearby to take a glance to check out what this strange boy was doing.

When they saw it wasn’t anything worthwhile, they shifted their attention back to their previous business.

The kite didn’t even rise up. It just rose up just a little, and then it fell down again, ignoring all of the boy’s earnest efforts.

The boy ran up to the kite and held it tightly in his arms. Before he noticed it, a stray tear fell down his eye. Then, everything the boy bottled up came out together. He started to cry. He cried and wept the most in his life that particular day.

Some people, who saw the boy crying, just carried on doing whatever they were doing in the first place. Some felt really conflicted on what to do.

The boy didn’t really care if they ignored him because he was just a poor and homeless boy, this had made him quite used to spectating eyes.

The boy too had decided to ignore them during some part of his short and brief life.

The boy felt felt more and more salty tears fall down his face, his throat even went sore from all the weeping.

……Even though all of this had happened , tragically, the kite didn’t rise up.

The cruel, cold wind didn’t carry the kite upwards, allowing it to soar majestically in the air..

The boy felt felt despair crawling up his body.

His heart felt really heavy……..

It felt like it was going to explode any moment!

The boy weakly moved his malnourished arms to get out of the crowd that had gathered around him.

He slowly moved towards a desolate spot near the sea.

The boy kept the kite down on the sand with a heavy heart.

He proceeded to sit down on the sand, and allowed his head to rest upon his hands.

He was staring at the beautiful and royal sea, where the waves splashed against each other playfully. The sun was about to set, so the sea too had taken on an orange shade. It was a truly grand sight that would melt away all of one’s worries.

The boy too lost himself in the majesty of the sea.

He subconsciously felt his pockets to check whether the seashell he had picked up during the day was still there. Content to know that it was where it was supposed to be , the boy took it out.

It was a huge sea shell with swirling curls decorating the top and a brown shade in the bottom.

The surface was jagged and rippling.

It was a very beautiful seashell that would make one admire the creativity of nature.

He kept it back into his pocket.

The boy stood up and walked towards the sea, leaving the kite there.

He slowly moved deeper and deeper inside until he felt satisfied. The waves crashed down the boy’s knees and pushed him backwards. The dirt accumulated on his knees had seemed to reduce after water had touched it. More and more water splashed down his knee, though the boy did not notice it.

He was lost in thought.

The boy subconsciously looked towards where he kept his kite.

He had bought a kite for the very first time after much desire and it was the very first time he flew it.

He had always envied the other children who were always able to afford buying kites. He envied their happy expression when they flew it. He envied their joy.

The boy too wanted happiness and joy obtained from flying a kite.

He gradually began to feel that his life wouldn’t be complete if he hadn’t flown a kite at-least once in his lifetime.

So you can easily imagine the happiness that he felt when he was finally able to fly a kite.

He felt like his life was complete.

The feeling the boy got when he flew the kite was simply indescribable!

…..But sadly, that happiness wasn’t meant to last long.

Another kite crashed into the boy’s kite and both of them fell down.

It wasn’t even the boy’s fault.

The other boy who was flying the kite had lost control over his kite and crashed it into the boy’s.

When the both of them fell down, they both broke.

The boy was completely torn up at the moment, but the other kid didn’t even have to be sad : he was a rich one.

He merely had to ask his father for a new one, and voila! He got a new kite…….

But, what about the boy? He was left all alone, without a proper kite.

After all, who would buy him a kite? No one, especially when his father had passed away.

*Crash*

A huge tide came up, crashing on the boy’s feet. He almost lost his balance, but he managed to regain it.

This had knocked him out from his daydream.

The boy had found out to his surprise that he was completely drenched from the neck up.

The boy slowly moved back up to the shore and waited for his body to dry up from the last splash.

When it was finally done, he put his clothes back on, and he noticed that it was almost past evening. The sun had already set, but the light was still there.

The boy looked up – the sky had taken on a really beautiful shade of orange hue mixed with a few patches of black. That wasn’t the only thing that was beautiful, something made the already perfect sky, even more beautiful.

You might ask what enhanced the beauty of the already perfect sky.

Hundreds and thousands of kites could be seen soaring in the sky.

Purple, pink, blue, red, black, yellow and many more colors could be seen intermingling with the sky.

It was a very beautiful sight.

…..But when the boy saw it, he unintentionally took a glance towards his hands. He saw his broken kite.

A sad feeling eventually washed over his heart. His chest felt heavy.

‘I too want to fly a kite’, the boy thought.

Before he knew it, fresh drops of tears once more started falling down his face.

Maybe the boy was a crybaby, but he didn’t care.

The boy kept the kite in front of himself.

He was a pretty religious person. He has always heard his Mother say that god was the most supreme and benevolent.

“Then, surely he can fix my kite can’t he?” that was the boy’s current line of thinking.

“After all, what is it for him to fix this kite when he always gives me food to eat and water to drink?” the boy justified his line of thought.

……The boy’s earnest pleas had no effect. The kite was still broken when he opened his eyes.

The boy once more began to weep.

“Why didn’t God help me?” the boy asked himself.

“God….Please….. Please let me fly a kite”The boy emotionally cried out.

“Arnav” A voice that was very familiar to the boy called out. He appeared to be startled for a while.

It was the boy’s mother.

The voice belonged to a middle aged woman who had streaks of gray here and there in her hair.

She was wearing a loose brown top with a light blue shawl wrapped around her head. She was of a moderate build.

She was much more malnourished than the boy as she used to give away whatever food she got to her son, Arnav. She too looked quite worn up and beat up. There was a look of dullness in her eyes, and one could understand the only reason she was living was her son; She was sick of life.

The boy suddenly became very scared.

She was right in front of him.

Arnav tried to throw away the kite before his mother saw it.

Unfortunately, she caught him in the act.

“Where did you get that kite from?”She asked him with a suspicious glare.

“I….I….I…..” Arnav stammered to make some or the other excuse.

“Tell me the truth” Her suspicion soon turned into anger.

The boy’s mother rarely got angry. So, naturally he became very scared.

The earlier statement caused many of the surrounding people to look towards them.

“Not now Ma” Arnav tried to convince her.

“Not now? Let everyone hear. What’s wrong with it?” She angrily retorted.

Seeing that the boy had no reply, the mother pinched him.

It hurt the boy a lot, and he started to cry again.

‘I’m a real crybaby’He thought.

“From where did you pinch the money? Did you decide to follow in your father’s footsteps?” She asked him furiously.

“…….Did Ma really think of me like that?” The grief in the boy’s heart was indescribable.

“For her to think that I would follow in my father’s footsteps?”

“Do you too want to be put in jail? Do you to want to be put to death?” she asked me.

The already indescribable feeling in the boy’s heart increased.

“Where did you pinch the money from?”She once more asked.

He decided to tell her the truth.

“I didn’t pinch the money from anywhere” Arnav said.

“Then?” The mother looked confused.

“I ……worked for it. I sold peanuts in this very beach to buy a kite. I saved up all the money I could. I….I…..I didn’t want to bother you to buy me a kite, when you’ve been barely buying me food and water. I know you don’t eat much. You always give me your portions, and only eat something rarely…….” The boy said.

He wanted to continue, but he couldn’t as he was wrapped up in a big hug by his mother.

The mother’s eyes became very moist. Her grab on the boy tightened and she started to weep her heart out: Laying down all of her worries and the shackles in her heart. She cried everything out.

The boy started to wonder why his mother was crying.

She suddenly took the boy’s arms and started to caress the part where she pinched him.

“I’m so sorry for pinching you Arnav. I’m so sorry. Your mother’s an idiot” she said emotionally.

“I’m so sorry for letting you down”.

The boy found the hug really uncomfortable. And why was his mother even crying? Shouldn’t he be the one to apologize?

Suddenly, most of the audience disappeared.

Some still stayed back.

Amongst them was the kite seller from whom the boy bought his kite.

He was a short, round bellied man who had a fair complexion.

He took a kite from among the many bundles he had and held it out to the young lad.

“Take it” he said.

‘I guess he heard everything huh?’ the boy thought.

He felt ashamed.

“No thank you uncle. I don’t have enough money to give you.” The boy rejected his kind offer.

“Just take it” he tried to coerce the boy.

“No, I don’t need it” the boy once more rejected his offer.

The boy’s mother looked like she was about to say something.

Seeing this, the man said, “Then why don’t you give me something else? I’ll trade you the kite for it.”

The only thing the boy had of some value with him was the seashell.

The boy took it out of his pockets and held it out.

The man took it without saying a word.

He took out the kite and gave the boy its thread, tightly wrapping the boy’s hand around the thread.

“Thank you very much”,The boy gave him a very wide smile that was enough to melt a lot of hearts.

It looked much more heart warming as there were tear drops still rushing down his face.

The boy happily ran with the kite, with it soaring into the skies. It eventually joined the multitude of colors in the sky.

The boy gradually began to feel that his life was once more complete.

However, he forgot a single thing: That he was able to fly a kite.