ROSID FF: UNDER THE SKY LANTERNS by Archana Vinod - Page 9

Lovely update Archana . Looking forward to the next update Sid with secret.. . what it is please update soon😃

looking for ward for next update

Please bear with me guys. I'll give the next update as soon as possible. Got a mind bogging internet issue at my end which needs to be resolved. 😭

UNDER THE SKY LANTERNS - PART 24
An original story by Archana Vinod


Roli watches him anxiously. There is a lot of fear and worry etched over his face.

"No," he says, "this is my first job. I haven't worked anywhere else."

To his surprise, Roli just leans back casually, as if what he just said is perfectly alright.

"Chalega," she replies, "there's nothing wrong with it. Why do you have to be so afraid to spit it out?"

An uncomfortable pause.

"Because I lied," he replies with much hesitation.

"What?" she asks in disbelief, "what do you mean?"

"I didn't have a choice," he says in a low voice, "I needed the job. I had to stand on my feet."

"So you lie about your experience?" she asks in a raised voice as she gets more and more worked up by the minute.

"I told you," he begins to regret confessing to her, "I didn't have a choice."

"I don't believe this!" Roli is furious now, "Siddhant! Do you realize what you've done? How did you even get through the interview?"

"I don't know," he replies, "I never thought I would. But I did."

"What?" she is more surprised as more and more of Siddhant's buried secrets emerge, "I don't believe this!!!"

"Please," he begs, "please don't tell anyone."

"What the hell yaar," she blasts at him, "aren't you ashamed of yourself? We have put in a lot of hard work to reach this post! I worked for two years before I got here! Do you know that? And you? All what you do is put in a fake CV with a bunch of lies and snatch the job away!"

"Please be quiet," he begs her, "please."

"In that case I should get an A grade job," she snaps angrily, "like a CEO or something!!!"

Siddhant is in pure dilemma. He regrets confessing to her. Has he made a mistake?

"Roli..." he says desperately to hush her down. But she's hopping mad. To his horror, she jumps up from her chair and prepares to leave.

He too jumps to his feet and holds her back.

"Roli, please..."

"Mmm!!!" she moans furiously. Her eyes are red and teary.

"Please just listen to me," he begs.

"Mmm!" she moans again, "wait!"

"Let me just explain," he goes on.

"Idiot!!!" she snaps, "My throat! My tongue!"

"What?" he doesn't get it.

She shakes his hand off, grabs the water and gulps it down greedily. He gawks at her.

"Oh God!!!" she plops down into her chair and struggles to calm down, "I ate that chilli sauce! It was too hot! Oof my God!!!"

Roli fans her tongue furiously. She's all sweaty!

Siddhant doesn't know what to say. For one godforsaken moment he thought that she was going to march up to Vikrant and blurt it all out. He sits down and gives her a toffee from his pocket.

She grabs it eagerly and munches it down fast. She looks much relaxed as the sweetness of the toffee takes over the flaming hotness of the sauce.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly.

But she holds up her hand and gestures him to stop.

"Now tell me," she mumbles with a mouth full of toffee, "what's the big idea? A big pay from the start?"

"No..." he replies, "well, sort of..."

"Be clear," she snaps sternly, "I hate it when someone fools around!"

"Okay," he sighs and continues, "it's all part of a challenge set by my father. A game..."

"A game?" she asks, "what game?"

"It's called as how to be a successful business man'," he replies, "a business man with guts."

She listens to him carefully, interested and puzzled at the same time.

"Is this some kind of reality show?" she asks him out of the blue.

"No," he replies, "and maybe yes."

"Oof!!!" she hisses, "again!!! I'm warning you! Stop fooling around! Be clear!"

"Okay," he says quietly, "I'm sorry."

"You na seriously," she nods angrily, "either be straight or just shut up."

"Can I talk now?" he asks her in a low voice.

"Hmm," she mumbles irritably.

"Papa gave me just five thousand bucks to breathe," he goes on, "I have one year to triple it. It's sort of like a challenge."

"So you fake a CV," she snaps, "and lie about your experience!"

"Not really," he replies.

"I don't get it," she blurts out, "why not just go and invest it somewhere? Why join this company?"

"There's a reason," he replies, "and my CV's not all lies. I did work for around 6 months under Papa. But it didn't work out. He says I'm not ready yet."

"Actually what does your Papa do?" she asks him, curiously.

"The Bharadwaj Group," he replies, "ever heard of it?"

"Haan," she nods, "who doesn't? Wait a minute. Hang on."

Siddhant watches her expression. It's clear that she gets the whole picture.

"Rajendar Bharadwaj..." she gasps, "is your father?"

Siddhant nods, yes.

She cups her open mouth in disbelief. "Oh my God," she gasps, "I don't believe this!"

She leans back on her chair, her eyes dart back and forth in utter surprise. Siddhant just watches her quietly. He waits for her to compose herself.

"Okay," she breathes as she still struggles to recover from her shock, "your father's a businessman. Owner of a multi-billion dollar business empire! So what on earth are you doing here in this tukda company?"

"Working," he replies, "trying to be a man."

"Huh?" she smiles. She still can't believe that she's sitting in front of Rajendar Bharadwaj's son! And a dashing one too! Yeah, but a hell lot timid!

"That was the next challenge," he answers, "I had everything to take over Papa's business empire. A good education, charm, whatever... I had everything except the guts and confidence. So he thought that I should go out into the world and seek for it."

"Hmm," she mumbles, "so you're trying to train yourself?"

"Yes," he replies.

"Without any luck," she adds.

He just looks at her. She's right, he thinks. I'm still not able to overcome my fear.

"So how is it a lie?" she asks him, "you do have work experience."

"Yeah," he replies, "but not a satisfactory one. I never learnt anything. Moreover, Vikrant has been told that I worked elsewhere. He doesn't know everything about me."

"So why tell me then?" she asks curiously.

Siddhant is quiet for a moment before he replies, "because I feel so good with you."


... TO BE CONTINUED

UNDER THE SKY LANTERNS - PART 25
An original story by Archana Vinod


Roli watches the light emerge from the shrouds of darkness in Siddhant's eyes.

"I don't feel afraid," he adds, "I feel at peace. I don't know why but I feel that I'm with a very good friend."

Roli just listens to him quietly. She is touched by his words.

Their food is still untouched, but they don't seem to notice it anymore.

"I have this overwhelming sense of dread that keeps haunting me," he trembles in a low voice, "I don't know why. I feel like running away. I'm trying my best to fight it. That's why I'm here in the first place, but still... By now you probably know it."

Roli smiles and searches his eyes for the key to his fear. They are incredibly deep and frightening! His broken spirit seems to be trapped and screaming for help in the depths of that spine tingling darkness. The scars are old. They never healed.

"Why did you run away?" she asks him in a low voice.

He looks up at her in shock. Run away? Haunting memories come flooding back to him. How does she know? Can she really read my mind? Can she really see through me?

"I don't get you," he tells her quietly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she replies, "why did you run away from your hostel?"

The word hostel' pounds him down with an unbearable sense of panic... a feeling of being trapped and helpless... He struggles to cover himself up.

"Sorry," he replies, "maybe you've got it all wrong."

"No," she answers, "I haven't. Everyone knew about it then. Your Papa was an emerging industrialist at that time. The case of his missing son was all over in the news. A week later you emerged looking like hell. What happened then?"

Siddhant seems to be breathless. He simply looks away.

"I just don't want to talk about it," he mutters and prepares to leave.

But Roli pulls him back down.

"You must Siddhant," she holds his hand tight, "it's long enough now. Let it out."

Siddhant struggles to look into her eyes. The warmth of her touch is comforting... like medicine.

He slowly settles down and takes a deep breath.

"I was afraid," he says at last, "I wanted to get out of there."

"Why?" she asks him.

Siddhant begins to narrate the incident which haunted him all his life.

FLASHBACK SCENE - TWO DECADES AGO

Siddhant's most terrifying memory, the hostel in which he stayed looms in the background - a long stretch of three storied rectangular block with many rooms. The path to the hostel is hilly and crooked.

In the hostel's lobby, a ten year old Siddhant hugs his parents and cries on their shoulder.

"It's only for a year beta," Sujata consoles her son with warm strokes to the back, "it'll be over soon. Then we'll be back!"

"With lots of chocolates," beams his father, "and toys! Have you seen that remote controlled flying helicopter?"

But all these don't tempt him. "Take me with you," he cries.

"Please try to understand beta," says Sujata, "we will take you at a later stage. At this point of time, it's not possible."

"Leave me with Mataji then," he cries.

"How is that possible son?" asks his father, "Mataji's house is very far away from school. How will you..."

"I don't care," he snaps, "I want to go from here."

Somehow, they convince him to stay there.

He stands at the door and watches them tearfully. His parents smile and wave at him from their car as they disappear into the horizon.

Suddenly, a harsh voice from behind snaps him out of his thoughts.

"Why are you still around?" the voice booms.

Siddhant turns around and sees a very grim man in his 50's. His eyes are red and bulging. He's thin and frail with a large moustache. He holds a cane behind him. It's the warden.

"What are you doing here?" he asks in a very unkind tone.

"S-sir," Siddhant stammers.

"Haven't you read the brochure?" the warden asks in a loud voice, "don't you know the rules?"

"Y-yes sir," he stammers fearfully.

"Then?" he blasts, "what are you doing here?"

"Papa..." he shudders.

"It's 6 PM now," shouts the warden, "what are you supposed to do at 6 PM?"

"S-study h-hour," he stammers.

"Then what are you doing here? Hmm??" yells the warden, "GO TO YOUR ROOM THIS INSTANT!"

Siddhant bursts into frightful tears and runs off to his room.

We can hear Siddhant's adult voice narrating that frightful phase of his life to Roli: His name was Sanjay Desai. And he was a terror. The kids were all scared of him. He was a perfectionist.

A WEEK LATER, IN THE WARDEN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Siddhant's voice: It got worse by the day. He expected us to be the best. Nothing was good enough for him.

Siddhant trembles as he stands before his warden.

Desai browses through Siddhant's test paper and looks displeased.

"Is this the best you can do?" he asks grumpily.

Siddhant is dumbfounded. He can hardly talk.

"90 out of 100?" blasts Desai as he waves the test paper in front of his face, "what about the remaining ten? Who will bring that? Your father will bring!!?"

"But teacher said," Siddhant stammers.

"Teacher said what?" he snaps.

"Teacher said," Siddhant's knees knock together, "teacher said that I did well."

"Your teacher's crazy," he barks, "90 out of 100 is nothing. Hundred is there for a reason. You know that?"

Siddhant is tearful and confused. He fights the temptation to let go.

"Hundred is meant to be hundred," he booms, "not ninety. Not eighty! Not fifty! Get it? Now show me your hand!"

Saying this, he gets up from his chair with the frightful looking cane.

"W-why?" Siddhant shudders.

"I want you to be the best!" he replies, "I want you to make your parents proud. For that, this ninety is not enough!!!"

Siddhant is petrified as Desai grabs his hand and prepares to strike him.


... TO BE CONTINUED

what happen next. Pls update soon

Hey guys. I've decided to bring about a little change in the way I write dialogues. From henceforth, will try to write in conversational or script form (like all you guys do) instead of the usual prose form. I feel that it's easier to write and what's more, easier to understand (and less confusing). Moreover, one of you had even suggested that it was a bit hard to understand who's talking to whom. I believe this change should help you to enjoy the story more. Do let me know how you like the new and improved' form. Thank you so much guys, love you all

UNDER THE SKY LANTERNS - PART 26
An original story by Archana Vinod


WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

Desai strikes the boy mercilessly... brutally!

Each strike sends explosive jolts of blinding pain and humiliation through him.

DESAI: Other hand!

Siddhant is speechless.

DESAI: Hmm! Come on!

Desai grabs the boy's untouched hand and begins a fresh bout of fierce lashes!

Siddhant howls in pain. He struggles to break free like an animal that is inches away from the blade. But Desai is relentless and doesn't let go. He continues to lash the boy without remorse.

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

SIDDHANT: Nooo! Pleeease! Stoooppp!!!

Siddhant's tortured cries fill the room and corridors.

Finally, Desai lets go.

DESAI: Do you understand what this is for?

Siddhant sniffles and cowers as he cradles his tortured hands.

DESAI: This is to motivate you to try harder. To remind you that you can be the best if you want to. But you're just lazy. You take things for granted! So from now on, I want you to push yourself. Each point you miss out on is the biggest proof of your utter failure! Understand?

Siddhant simply sniffles as an answer.

DESAI: (raises his voice) Yes or no?

SIDDHANT: (sniffles) Y-yes sir.

DESAI: Good! To your room now!

Siddhant hobbles out of the room, broken and humiliated. Tears of shame, fear, pain and worthlessness roll down his cheeks.

He finds the next frightened boy waiting outside the warden's room.

DESAI: (his voice booms from the room) Come in Patnaik!

Patnaik bursts into a frightened squeal even before he can go in.

The sound of the cane hitting the boy's flesh ram into his ears as he stumbles to his room and onto his bed. His whole world seems to reel around him. The pain, fear and shame are unbearable. The overwhelming feeling of worthlessness consumes him. He just wants to die. Disappear into the bed. He buries his face into the pillow and sobs his heart out.

2 MONTHS LATER

We see young Siddhant in his hostel room sitting at his study table and lost in thoughts. His books are open in front of him, but nothing interests him. He gets up, walks towards the window, clutches the bars and stares longingly out into the barren distance... hoping and waiting for that someone who never seemed to turn up.

SIDDHANT: (narration) My days there became an endless wait. I kept counting the days... ticking them off the calendar. All what I wanted was for this year to end. But I didn't think that I would last that long.

Suddenly, a boy of Siddhant's age pops up at his door.

THE BOY: Siddhant! Your grandmother is here!

The word grandmother' snaps Siddhant out of his trance. He turns around in disbelief and then with sheer joy. Mataji? Mataji came? To take me home?

He bolts out of the room, along the corridors and downstairs to the lobby. He stops dead as he finds the kind, caring face he had been dying to see for what seems like ages - Mataji.

MATAJI: (gets up from the couch, walks towards Siddhant and pulls him into a hug) Siddhant beta...

Siddhant hugs his grandmother and breaks down crying.

MATAJI: Arrey! Why are you crying? (she pulls him off and wipes off his tears) Don't cry beta. See look what I've got for you?

She kneels down before him and shows him a bag loaded with some of his favourite sweets and yummy snacks.

MATAJI: (smiles) I made them especially for you. See?

SIDDHANT: (cries) Please take me away from here. I don't want to stay here.

MATAJI: Arrey! Then how will you go to school beta?

SIDDHANT: I don't want to go to school! I want to go home!

He hugs her and starts sobbing hysterically.

MATAJI: (strokes his back gently) Na beta! Na! (pulls him off gently) You're a good boy, hai na? Then why are you being so silly? See listen, good boys don't cry. Good boys are strong and brave. My Siddhant is a brave boy. Isn't it? So that's why... I want you to study well and be the best! Just imagine how happy your parents will be!

Her last words send an eerie sense of dread pulsing through him. Be the best'. Happy parents'. The same words said by Desai... If Mataji knows that I did so badly in the test, even she will be angry. No... I won't tell her about it. No...

MATAJI: (notices that he's lost) You agree with me, hai na beta?

Siddhant simply nods.

MATAJI: (hugs him lovingly) Very good! Very good!

SIDDHANT: (narration) But as days passed, it got worse.

ONE NIGHT

The tortured howls of a frightened animal fill the entire hostel, an animal that knows that its untimely end is at hand.

It is Siddhant!

Desai drags the boy mercilessly across the floor.

Frightened boys stand and watch on, helplessly. None of them move an inch. None of them even dare to breathe. They're all petrified.

DESAI: (mumbles breathlessly as he drags Siddhant) I'll show you! You think you can hide huh?

SIDDHANT: (writhes uncontrollably) Nooo!!!!

Desai drags Siddhant into the warden's room and flings him across. The boy topples head over heels into a corner as Desai steps in, locks the door and turns around.

Siddhant's knees are bruised from all the dragging and throwing. He shudders in the corner.

DESAI: (shouts) At least have the courage to accept your failure you measly coward! I thought I knocked some sense into you the other day! And yet you come back with a worthless 82 on 100. You shameless wretch!

SIDDHANT: (wails) I'm sorry! I'm sorry sir!

DESAI: Ptoo! You!!! Not a word!!! Sorry? You loser! On top of it all, you dare to hide the fact from me! You dare to go and hide! You loser!!!

What happens next shocks the daylights out of Siddhant. This time, it's not the cane which is in store for him.

Desai removes the heavy buckled belt from around his waist and advances in on Siddhant. He wraps the strap around his fist and lets the buckle hand loosely by his side.


... TO BE CONTINUED

wow..akka..thanku..so much..i only..told..not understanding...who is talking..to whom...but i am really..very..happy...u implemented..it...

so cute..story...nice..continue..akka..fast...don't..keep suspense...

Originally posted by: sowmya567

wow..akka..thanku..so much..i only..told..not understanding...who is talking..to whom...but i am really..very..happy...u implemented..it...

so cute..story...nice..continue..akka..fast...don't..keep suspense...

Thank u dear. 😊 Yes. Now I remember. It was u. Hehehe. But I'm glad that you're able to enjoy the story more in this new format.

I'm workin on the next part now. Will upload in sometime.

UNDER THE SKY LANTERNS - PART 27

An original story by Archana Vinod

SIDDHANT: (crawls back into the wall) No-no-no! Please-sir-please! No-sir-please! I won't do it again! I promise!

Desai lashes out at Siddhant, but he ducks and shoots to another corner of the room.

SIDDHANT: No sir! Please! I won't do it again! I'll do better next time!

DESAI: Come back here!

Siddhant howls and squirms as Desai gets hold of him and drags him to the window.

SIDDHANT: No sir! Please! Listen to me! Please listen to me!!!

Desai pays no heed and ties Siddhant to the window bars with a strong cloth. Then he opens the door and steps out into the corridor. The frightened inmates of the hostel quickly scatter into their dormitories.

DESAI: (shouts) Where do you all think you're going?

Pin drop silence. The boys shudder violently in their rooms. They're all shaken from what's happening! They're chilled to the bones.

DESAI: (shouts) Let this all be a lesson for you! You can run! But you can't hide from me! You can't hide from the truth! And if you do, this is what will happen!

Saying this, Desai walks back to Siddhant and raises his hand to strike.

SLASH!!! SLASH!!! SLASH!!!

He whips the helpless boy mercilessly.

SIDDHANT: (writhes and squirms) Nooo!!! Nooo!!! Ammmaaa!!! Papaaa!!! Matajiii!!!!

SLASH!!! SLASHHH!!! SLASH!!!!

DESAI: (shouts) Will you hide again? Hahhh!!

SIDDHANT: Nooo! Nooo!!!!

DESAI: Say it out loud!!!

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!!!

SIDDHANT: Nooo! Papaaa! Maaa!!! Matajiii!!!

His tortured screams for help shake the foundations of the hostel. The frightened inmates cry themselves to sleep. They are scared and hurt at what is happening! They want it to stop! But there's nothing they can do other than block his cries out from their head.

SEVERAL WEEKS LATER, IN A CLASSROOM - DAY

All the boys seem to be tensed as they pour their full being into the answer paper in front of them.

SIDDHANT: (narration) Then the exams came on...

Siddhant sits in front of his blank answer paper. His surroundings seem to reel before his eyes. A ton of questions and self-critical statements buzz in his head.

Is that the answer?

No!

But I think it is!

But what if it isn't?

Then Desai will beat you again... like that day...

Somehow you must get a hundred. Loser!

No... No... No...

Siddhant is drenched in his own sweat.

SIDDHANT: (narration) But I couldn't write a single word. I couldn't even think!

TWO WEEKS LATER, CLASSROOM - DAY

The class sits tensed as the teacher distributes the answer papers.

TEACHER: Patnaik...

Patnaik comes forward, takes his paper and smiles in relief.

TEACHER: Very good Patnaik! Keep it up! Next... Siddhant!

Siddhant gets up from his place and trudges up to the teacher. She looks at him in pity.

TEACHER: (in a low voice) What happened beta? What happened to you this time?

He looks up at her with fear and confusion in his eyes.

TEACHER: You were a very good student. What happened to you? Each time you keep getting lesser and lesser. What happened? Any problem?

But Siddhant doesn't utter a single word. He's scared to death now! What does she mean? Didn't I score full marks?

TEACHER: (hands him the paper) You got only twelve upon hundred this time. What happened?

Siddhant is shocked beyond belief! 12 upon 100!!!! No... no...

TEACHER: See beta. If you need any help from my side, don't hesitate to ask. Okay? Why don't you see me this weekend? We'll work out on the problems. What say?

Siddhant just nods. That's all what he can do. He is senseless with shock and fear as he takes the paper and heads back to his place. He shudders as he looks at the marks... 12/100...

Tears well up in his eyes and roll down his cheeks. Today Desai will kill me. He will kill me today! He will beat me till I bleed! No... No...

He struggles to control his tears.

SIDDHANT: (narration) I didn't know what to do. All what I knew was that Desai would kill me that night. I knew he would strip me down and lash me. I was afraid. Afraid to go back... And then, I didn't think further...

OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL, MUCH LATER

It's the end of the day. The kids swarm out of their classrooms happy to be free once again.

The day scholars and boarders form different lines. But... someone steps out of line, unnoticed. It's Siddhant...

He tries to keep a low profile as he moves out of the school's gates with the day scholars. He doesn't look back. He doesn't think! He breaks into a furious run!

SIDDHANT: (narration) I decided to run away...

He hurtles across the crowded city streets, shoulders past towering grown-ups on the footpath.

The huge vehicles on the road don't stop him. Nothing can!

He runs... and runs... and runs... with no clue of where he is headed to!

SIDDHANT: (narration) I didn't know the way... I didn't know where to go... All what I knew was that I had to get out of there! Go home. Be in my parents arms again. Far away from that morgue.

... TO BE CONTINUED