One
The black rubber shoes made the brown stagnated rain water to cause a flash, the shoes moved slowly and lazily. Their movement indicated a lack of interest to return home especially after tiring but intense football game.
It wasn’t exactly a ninety minute game but for twelve year old Ramesh it was exhausting but the need to play more still persisted, wiping previously unnoticed sweat the boy stepped into that small street the smell of which accentuated due the slow dripping of heavy rain drops which were just beginning to reach the earth.
The street wouldn’t be preferred otherwise, if only it had not offered a cut in time to reach the rows of bungalows that stood on the far side, barely visible from Ramesh’s school.
Unknown to the boy, a van waited in silence. The occupants closely watched the footwork of the boy lost in thoughts about the football game, it was not his fault even an adult would have failed at noticing the van in that weather. It looked perfect for a long spell of rain, and perfect for the kidnapping of the school boy.
Two
Detective Inspector Maran stretched his legs in his medium sized living room; he called it the ‘TV’ room because the only thing he did there was to watch television.
It was a couples program, the one where the anchor goes around in a much neglected theme park and asked creepy couples, their opinions on love and their favorite movie. The short interview was often followed by the latest hit song which somehow also happened to be the favorite song of the suddenly bashful girl.
Maran chuckled, all channels had such a show on select evenings and he missed them not. He liked them; he especially liked to look at the expressions of lovers coming into the open; the boy seemingly brave and open and the girl still under the shadow of fear from her household.
According to Maran, the show acted as a tool to bring young lovers into the open, he secretly wished that the channels would do a follow up on the couples and whatever happened once their parents got to know. From experience he knew, or he thought he knew the sons and daughters came from not so liberal families. He chuckled even more, the things people do for love.
The mobile phone on the ornamental teapoy which looked alien to the surroundings came to life.
Read Part Two
The Lowly Laureate 