Hello everyone😊.
I manged to take a break to write a story inspired by a brilliant movie I just watched. And this is not exactly a sequel as in it is not a continuation of the previous story. Shall i say its a part of a franchise?😆
Jokes apart the title and the genre matched and so this is MAN ON FIRE,AGAIN.
It features my favourite Arjun-Anjali, thoughthe setting and the characters are slightly altered. Hope you enjoy it!PART 1: A piercing darkness. A deafening silence. A flickering bulb lighting a scarred body, lifting weights. The sweat dripping from his body was pale in comparison to the fire emitting from his eyes.
Mr. Arjun.S. Rawte. Or the man with no past' as called by the neighbors. And not very unfairly. Because it had been a while since he had moved into the underbelly of a dingy town in the outskirts of Delhi and he had yet to strike a conversation with any outsider. He lived on the second floor, running a small in-house utility and repair store . And his disheveled appearance,combined with his long,untidy hair earned him the suspicion and fear of the neighbors. All, but one.
Anjali. She lived next door with her drug abusing mother-Maya. Neglected and lonely, yet brimming with innocence of childhood,leading to a natural affinity for a father figure.
"Mr Arjun...Can you fix this camera for me?" She peeped through the bars of the shop counter.
Arjun turned around impatiently. This had been the fourth time in two days that she had arrived with a broken object.
"Ask your mother to come and clear her bills for the purchases she had made last week"
"She is not at home and nor has she left the keys for me".
Arjun stared at her silently, not missing the pain in her voice. "Put the camera with its cover on the table. Collect it tomorrow."
"Ah..can I..eh...you see...can I share your dinner?"-she blurted out looking at the locked door of her house.
Arjun lowered his gaze and muttered a come in'.
At the dinner table:
"Do you eat Maggie everyday?"-she attempted a conversation in vain.
"You know I did this nail art" she displayed her 10 fingers before him. " And I am the best in my class at this".
Arjun silently poured a glass of water for her. She noticed the scars of wounds on his fingers.
"Are you really a gangster?" she asked with hesitation.
Arjun looked up with surprise.
"Everyone says you did something wrong in your past and you are hiding here.Everyone is scared of you".
Arjun had a faraway look, a crop of hair covering his eyes. " And you?"
"Well, you do look the prison breaker type. But...she thought pensively. " I am not scared of you".
They shared a glance,
Just then some noises could be heard outside.
"I think Mom is back" she cried running out. Maya indeed was back but not alone. There were two bottles of alcohol, three drunk men, two girls and a lot of syringes.
She looked at Anjali and said in a drunk voice-"Go to your room and sleep".
Anjali locked herself up in the room but could not lock the music,the screams and the filth being carried out in the hall. She quietly moved out of her house and knocked at Arjun's door.
"Ah..I promise to go once mother's friends are gone".
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