As Mohit came down for the breakfast, he noticed his father had already left for the office.
“Mom, why did papa leave so early today?”He enquired.
She smiled, “How could you forget about the special occasion? Today, he is going to receive an award for winning the group challenge of losing the maximum weight in 21 days. He was so excited that he skipped his breakfast! Don’t forget to compliment him for his new shirt.”
“Oh! How could I? He was so happy when he had cracked this news. Yes Mom, I will. He underwent drastic transformation in these 3 weeks.”
“Sure. Today, you take the scooter. Since he had to leave early, he decided to catch the local train and left you the scooter.”
Mohit’s school and his dad’s office were close by and they used to go together but today was an exception.
In afternoon, news of a road accident at nearby local train station spread across the school.
Initially, Mohit didn’t pay much attention but soon he realized that today his dad had to come by train and around that time only he comes back!
An anxious and nervous Mohit soon reached the site of accident. The body had been shifted and few policemen were standing there.
“Sir, may I know about the details of the victim?”asked a scared Mohit.
“We don’t know about the identity yet. The body was damaged beyond recognition. But we have the pictures of his belongings. Check, if you can identify?”
His hands were trembling as he took the phone. He sighed a breath of relief as he saw the first picture of the victim’s body. His father didn’t have any such shirt.
“Don’t forget him to compliment for his new shirt.” The words reverberated in his ears. He recalled something noticeable in one of the pictures. A shaken Mohit requested the constable again for the phone. The tears rolled down as he saw that shield with words “Winner of 21 days weight loss challenge” inscribed on it.
The sense of doom grappled him. The ringing of his phone interrupted his chain of thoughts. The number on his screen frightened him even more; it was from home.
‘What will I tell Mom? How will I face her?” He mustered all his courage to answer the call.
‘Hellooo..’His voice was shaking.
“Mohit, why aren’t you back yet? We are worried.” Mohit was exhilarated to hear the voice; it was his dad.
Without answering further, he rushed to his house. As soon as he saw his father, a weeping Mohit hugged him for long.
After some time, he narrated the whole incident to his dad.
His dad replied, “Oh! I just received the message from office. One of our office employees was run over by a truck. Mohit, that shield was his. We were part of that ’21 day Group challenge.’
Mohit felt bad for the accident victim but felt relaxed.
“Dad, you look great in this shirt.”Mohit couldn’t help complimenting him.
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Small yet captivating
I liked the story
This is such a beautiful and gripping story, which can let the reader imagine the whole scenario. Loved it a lot
Loved it!!
Well narrated story. The relationship depicted of the son and father is quite emotional. The climax is also captivating.