The Wish Granting Day

On a globe there were so many countries. In one of those countries in one of its many states, there was a small town. There was a small house in one of the societies in that small town. Inside a little room in that house there was a little boy, Rishabh.

The boy was crouched on his bed. And he was a little scared.

Today his class teacher Miss Priya told him that she is going to check his notebooks for every subject, no excuses. Because she knew that the boy was making excuses.

That’s why he was scared, because he had not written a single word in any of the notebooks.

And he prayed to God, “God! Please make Priya Ma’am fall sick. Please make her forget about the assignment. I promise I will complete all my notebooks by Monday.

“God, please make it a holiday tomorrow.”

…………………….

There in the same town in a different society there was another small house. In that little house lived a young girl- Priya.

She was an independent girl living alone, five hundred kilometers away from her real home.

Priya was a little scared too.

She was scared because her longtime boyfriend Neeraj, who lived in a different town, was not picking up her phone since last night.

She was scared because her father had just informed her that he had found a guy for her, and he wants her to marry him. She was scared for her independence.

And she was scared because she was pregnant, and didn’t know what to do.

Her boyfriend visited her last weekend. The unexpected happened without any walls in between.

And even after all that had happened, all that she asked was- “Why isn’t he picking up the damn phone? How are ‘we’ going to handle this? ”

And she thought to herself, “I wish I be dead by tomorrow.”

She didn’t think about school at all.

………………..

In that same town there was a small hotel. And inside one of the rooms there were five people sitting around a round table.

They were having a lavish dinner. No one said a word and everyone looked so serious.

They didn’t belong in that town. They were from a different town of a different state of a different country. And they were sent on an urgent project.

They didn’t look scared in group. But each one of them was as scared individually.

They didn’t have much in common, but each of them had the same thoughts: “I must be brave. I must be confident. Tomorrow I am going to make my boss happy. ”

Those were only superficial thoughts.

But deep down each one had same questions –“What if we fail tomorrow? Have I chosen the right career? What does my family think of me? Oh God! Please make tomorrow the best day of my life.”

………..

The next day came!

The little boy was making a fuss about not going to school. He pleaded to his mother: “Please Mumma, I don’t want to go to school today. Please… please… please…”

And his mother shouted and scolded him, “ENOUGH OF YOUR EXCUSES, RISHI! You are going to school in any case. GET READY NOW!”

School starts at 8 AM in the morning. But Rishabh was in the second shift from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Priya was already in school.

But she had no class. Her first class starts at 10. She was in her office going through some notes.

Usually, she looks cheerful in her traditional attire, a light shade of lipstick, flat heels, and a pony tail. But that day she looked distracted. And her swollen eyes were proof that she had been crying all night and that she hadn’t gone to bed at all.

Rishabh was ready to go to school, but he was really scared now. And he was also a little angry.

He was in car with his father who dropped him to school every day while going to his office.

On the way he continuously prayed- “God! Please make Priya Ma’am fall sick. Please make her forget about assignment. Please make it a holiday today. Please… please… please…”

……….

They were on the way and about to reach school when a sudden heavy rush broke on the road.

The traffic was jammed. And all around were cries of horror and desperation. People were running without knowing what to do.

As the car reached near to school, his father pulled on the breaks.

There he saw a hotel turned to ashes on one side of the road.

It was the same hotel where those five young men from a different world stayed last night.

And on the other side huge flames of fire were rising from the only building. It was Rishabh’s school.

The little kid who was lost in his own thoughts of assignment and Priya Ma’am, and his prayers for her sickness - A smile of happiness skipped his lips for once as his eyes fell on his school.

But as he came back to his senses and the reality hit him- he realized what he had done! 

Did he really pray for his teacher’s death?

Did he really destroy his own school just for a day’s holiday?

He was just a little boy. He didn’t understand what had really happened.

All he could think of was - his horrible and selfish prayers to God.

Someone must have been in a very good mood that day.

That day everyone’s wish was granted.