"The day's over! Come on kids pack your bags, your parents are waiting outside!

" Cheered the teacher

watching the kids hurriedly tossing stuff in their bags. Rushing upto the front gate they all assembled in
a line slowly moving out of the class. However, there still was a child standing at the corner of the class.
"What happened dear?" Queried the teacher as she saw the child getting stressed. His face was thin and
pale and in his eyes laid a dull look. "M-my er- eras-eraser got l-los-lost!" The teacher gently embraced
the kid patting his back trying to calm his uneasy self. Holding his shivering hands she looked into his
eyes as to calm him down. "Don't worry, Zuri!" Taking out an eraser from her pocket she puts it in his
hands. "Here take it! Try to smile a little more, Zuri dear!" Zuri nods as a slight grin waver across his
small face. "Thank you ma'am!" Waving a goodbye to the teacher Zuri dashes towards the front gate,
just before he left the classroom he took one a glance at the smiling teacher providing warmth to his
little heart. Slowly walking through the corridors Zuri gazed at the paintings hung on the wall. "Must be
nice to draw; so pretty!" Amazed by the paintings the eight-year old continued to walk. Strolling out into
the school grounds he saw some children at the cafeteria blissfully eating snacks as their parents stand
beside them. "Must be nice to eat those!" Having saying that Zuri turned towards the school gate. On
the left were grown rows of multicolored flowers while on the left stood a few buses with children
hastily rushing into them. "Gotta reach home quickly!" Whispered the kid to himself as he passed by the
comely bunch of flowers. Walking past the gate he saw a friend of his waving at him. "Bye-bye Aarav."
Zuri too waved his hands. The kid slowly slipped out of his eyesight as he too went his way. "I want to
live a normal life!" Uttered Zuri stretching his hand out in the sky. Glancing at the sun he put it his hand
right in the middle of it once again mumbling, "Normal is enough!" Looking at the street, he waits for
the signal to turn red. Now placing his eyes on the other side of the road he sees a few shops, some
showcasing toys while some equipped with literary accessories. But the boy's vision was stuck at the
shop in the middle, one with different school bags hanging mid-air over a wire. Zuri was fascinated by
their mere look, his eyes sparkled but then the signal turned red. Shrugging his shoulder his eyes
lowered towards the ground as he passed by the road. "Would be nice to have a bag like that!" Zuri
thought taking one last glance at those bags. Walking straight for around fifteen minutes he now turned
left heading into a narrow gulley. Unlike the city, this area was rather poorly built. Too many houses
were crammed in a very little space leaving hardly enough width for lanes to be constructed. Houses too
were weak, being made up of tins and sheets their roof would often get damaged during monsoon. The
alley was too thin, having hardly a width of one and a half metre no vehicle could hope to drive through
that lane. The lane too itself was abjectly built, cracks kept arising after every few yards; dust laden on
the surface tardily flew into the air as a gentle gush of wind greeted the street. Some of which seeping
through holes entered into the houses. On the edges were sewers left exposed. The water was black,
flushing ahead in the sewers whilst a considerable amount of algae floated atop of it veiling the entire
area in an unpleasant rotten stench. Zuri slowly moved ahead passing by the several houses. Walking by
them he saw inside one of those houses, spotting a child sitting on the floor joyfully being fed by the
tender hands of his mother. "So nice!" Whispered Zuri strolling ahead the street. Avoiding stepping on
the heap of garbage he carefully moved ahead waving his hands in air to drive out the flys out of his
way. A few people sat in front of their houses aimlessly gazing the streets while a few stared down every
passerby going through the gulley. Zuri too could feel a gaze or two directed at him. Quickly ignoring the
looks the kid rushed his way forward. Avoiding stepping on the sludgy puddles, the kid accelerated his
pace. Taking a swift turn the kid now entered a relatively larger yet a narrow backstreet. All of a sudden
Zuri started trembling, his fingers couldn't keep still as he slowly carried himself ahead. His face turned
pale, the look in his eyes dulled; his eyes were greyer than ever. "Why!" Whispered the kid steadily
approaching the end of the street. In the end laid a relatively larger house, made of bricks and equipped
with a wooden gate. A wild breeze hastily grazed the top of his skin as he saw a couple of leaves swirling
mid-air. Now directing his eyes at the sky, he saw dark clouds slowly covering the skys; masking the
entire city in a shade of dull grey hue. "Going to rain, huh!" Reaching at the front of the house Zuri
knocked on the gate. "I'm home!" A minute passed and there was still no response. Once again knocking
on the door Zuri announced his arrival. "Mom, I'm home!" "THUD THUD THUD!" The sound of footsteps
gradually reached inside his ears as now the creaking of the door newly stole his attention. Driving his
eyes forward the child saw his mom returning back inside without even taking a solitary glance at him.
"She won't look at me!" His voice broke as his hands were tightly clinging on to the fabric covering his
chest. Setting his foot inside the home Zuri closed the door before removing his shoes. Directing his
eyesight at one corner of the room he found a pile of clothes lying beside the washing machine. Rushing
over the spot the child removed his clothes and then threw them into the pile. Going into the bathroom,
Zuri turned on the slightly tarnished tap. Collecting the water in his little hands he splashed it across his
face. Drops of water kept dripping out of his hair to the skin on his face tardily flowing it's way down to
his lips before dropping itself to the floor while the kid's pearl grey eyes were glued to the mirror.
Intensely glaring at his reflection Zuri observed every detail in his face. "It's normal, then why?" Said the
kid resting his palm atop his eye. "A mistake, a mistake; why?" Hurrying his way out of the bathroom
Zuri entered his room; dressing himself up the kid sat down on his table. Resting his head above its
surface the boy pondered about those children, children who smiled around their parents. Getting up
from the seat he turned to the switchboard, switching on the fan Zuri laid on the bed glaring at the
ceiling as the cool gushes of wind slowly graze past his skin. Suddenly moving his sight to the door he
saw his dad standing there, dressed in a sky colored lungi and a white vest. He had a plump like
physique, arms big and round, belly out and hair were quite less on the scalp. Standing there bathing in
sweat he without any word just stared at Zuri, his maroon eyes were fixated at the sight of his son.
"Who am I? He wonders probably!" Thought Zuri shifting his sight again at the ceiling. However his
father's sight carried no emotion, there wasn't a single speck of feeling within his heart. Without
muttering up even a single word the man walked out of the room. Sitting on the dining table he picked
up a bottle of wine galloping it concurrently gazing at his wife dozing off on the sofa. "Ah!" Sighed the
man as he chunked down the whole bottle. Slamming his head into the table he threw down the bottle
on the floor. "SMASH!" The bottle broke apart into dozens of tiny pieces scattering all round the floor.
Abruptly getting up from the seat he hurried towards his wife. Standing sedentary beside her he
scratched his hair as he said, "Wake up!" The woman turned inwards ignoring the man's call. Scratching
her back she slowly put the blanket till her neck. The man stood there silently glaring at the face of her
wife. An unusual feeling took control of him, frustration and vexation reflected in his eyes as his whole
persona sunk in a shade of displeasure. Anger diffusing out of his very soul, the man at last couldn't stop
it. He raised his hands in air, for an instant looked at the face of his wife and in the next grabbed her
head by the braids of her hair and slammed her onto the ground. Kicking at her guts the man lowered
his head down to the lady's level smiling seeing the terror surging in her little eyes. "Ahh! Wh-!" Before
she could speak he smacked her face; grabbing her neck the man laid her on the sofa and proceeded to
touch her lips with his. Before she could even get a moment to think, an instant to breathe her body
now laid defenseless on the ground being harrassed by a maniac. "Ahh, please-pl-please don't do this! I
will obey next time! I'm s-ss-ahh!" Alarmed by the sound of her mother's screamings Zuri rushed into
the living hall only to found his mother being abused by his psychotic dad. "M-mo-mom!" Not being able
to stop his tears, a frail cry escaped his stuttering lips as his whole self drowned in an ocean of guiltiness.
Seeing the state of her mother the little boy can't help ut blame himself for how helpless he is. "Why
didn't you listen to me at once?" Shouted the man as he kept abusing her. "I'm sor-sorry! Pl-please-"
Suddenly her mother's eyes met that of his son, she looked squarely at his face as a sudden rage
surfaced within her looks. "If only you'd never been born, I could've had a much better life. Why do I get
to suffer like this? This is all because of you!"

Zuri's whole presence got static, for that moment in which her mother's voice reached his ears he got
horrified. Horror imbued his startled face as he couldn't even help to move even a single finger of his.
"Mom" He let out a slight cry only for his whole self to be gobbled up in a state of triviality by the words
his mother would yell next. "If only you'd never been born!"

"That day the constraints on my self-effacing mind were unfettered up."