His Sketch:

His sketch:

He always sat there on that bench-waiting for a passerby, who was willing to pay to get himself sketched. He was always ready with his weapons. By the daytime, he would sit there and sleep on the same bench at night.

He had some money with him and managed his activities with whatever he got from the value of his skills. He often looked shabby, long beard, torn clothes; in short-a vagabond.

That evening, a beautiful woman walked down the street. The artist called out to her- “Excuse me mam!”

She looked at the man lying on the bench. “Yes?”

He took his sketches and sprinted down to her. Showing her his sketches-“Mam! If you’d like to get sketched.”

She looked into his eyes. He looked into hers. There was a moment of silence- “alright” – she agreed.

She sat down on the bench, as he adjusted his board and put up the paper. He sharpened his pencils, and was ready to go.

He was real serious about his work. He didn’t speak. He looked at her and then at the board. He was a complete professional. She felt the awkward silence pinch her. She wanted to break that silence desperately.

“So you’re from this place only?” -She asked.

“No!”- he said, still so engrossed in his work.

She expected him to talk to her, but he didn’t.

“Then where?”

“reglanze!”

“alright! But I’ve heard that it’s real far away from this place. Then how come you’re here?” she asked, willing to give some momentum to the conversation.

“I wanted to be as far as possible from that place.”

“May I ask why?”

He looked at her and gave a little smirk.

“Here! Its ready!! Have a look…..”

She stood up from the position she’d gotten so used to and went close to him. She looked at the sketch. It was good but not born of a professional’s hands.

“Superb! This is great!”

She asked how much that was for and gave him the money. He happily tucked it into his pocket.

“So can I sit down here with you for some more time?”

“Alright!”

And they both went and sat down.

“So you said you wanted to be as far as possible. Why?”

“I was cheated upon by my partner.”

“Partner?”

“Ya! My business partner! We had this small company that designed graphics for the local companies. The man was selfish, impulsive and even violent at times- but he was my childhood friend too. And he’d always been gentle with me atleast. We were doing well together.”

He paused.

“Then?”

He continued slowly- “he fell in love with my wife.”

“O I’m really sorry!”

“I don’t even know if that was love, but he wanted her, and my wife told me her fantasies about this man. Can you believe this?? My own wife talking about this other man! I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t have been aggressive like him. Before I could think of anything, he took control. He cheated on me- my business partner. He took all finances under his control and kicked me out of the company we’d built. I took whatever cash I had with me and had to run away from the place. I ran, and I ran and one day I woke up here. I don’t know how much time has passed since then but I like it here!”

Tears in his eyes, he sat there with her.

She held his hands and caressed them gently. His eyes looked at her. He moved towards her and they kissed. His hands cupped her face and she gently rubbed his back as their lips glided smoothly over each other’s.

He got up as soon as they stopped.

“You want to see how that bastard who spoilt my life looked like?”

She was not sure about what he was saying. She couldn’t think of anything else to do, so she nodded.

He jumped up to his board and was at work instantaneously. He was completely involved in it and some external power had taken control.

He didn’t blink and his hands didn’t stop until he was done.

He held her hand, picked her up and brought her to the sketch.

She looked at the sketch.

 She kept looking at the sketch as he impatiently waited for an answer. His eyes glittered and his heart was pumping faster than ever- he was moving about like an impatient child.

“Why?” Her nervous mouth spoke- “But! But that’s you!”

“Me? Are you crazy? That’s him. The bastard who cheated on me. That violent bastard who took my wife away from me.”

He was shouting as hard as possible and he was sweating and his hands shivered. “I lost her because of him. This man! This very man! And he fainted as he spoke those last words.”

Holding her tears back, she shouted- “stop running away from yourself mike! Stop doing that!”

 And she walked out of the bedroom, with her face hiding behind her trembling hands.……….

 By 

Siddhant Gupta

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What happened in the story???
Read it again, note what the highlighted lines "want to" say .......


Story behind this story:

One day I began to narrate this story casually to my dad while he was driving. I didn't tell him that I had written it because I knew then his reaction wouldn't be unbiased. His interest in the story grew as I narrated it and he was really happy with the way the story ended. We had reached home by now. Then he asked me- where did you read this- Oh you saw it somewhere? I said- no- I've written it myself and I gave a big- big smile. He really felt proud that time-( I think- may be- I'm not too sure though).....hehehe...... 
I really have no idea what will be "your" reaction to the story, but writing this story was a great experience in itself for me- hope you liked it--- thanks......