Tuesday, 27 March 2018

The Walnut Boy (Short story by Esha Babla)

There he stood in his grand stature, golden brown in colour, his little hands clenched in tight fists at his waist, glaring at the setting sun. He’d had enough of being treated like a little boy. He was a grown man now, having broken open and escaped from both the shell-man and the green husk man where he had been held captive. This was all of two days ago, but his mother refused to let him out of her sight, stating that he was still too young to face the world. But he knew better. He knew he was special and had powers that would empower the human he chose to be his special friend. Together they could save the world! 

Daydreaming about solving complicated equations with ease, he doesn’t hear his mother yelling out for him. She grabs him by his ear and pulls him away from the tree branch, scolding him for standing at the edge. He could have fallen and broken himself. Yelling, he asks her to let go. He needed to head out to look for his special human friend as they needed to save the world. His mom stops in her tracks, and visibly softens in her stance. She lets go of him and gently tells him that he needed to wait till he was at least 4 days old before he headed out into the bad world. He needed to be old enough to be able to tell who could be his special friend, and wouldn’t just throw him away. They were a type of nuts that not many were fond of, and so he had to be careful in finding that human who just wouldn’t throw him away. He didn’t want to end up in a food dish, being ground or worst, catch a fungal infection that would lead to his death!

He calms down as he listens to what his mother has to say. She tucks him into bed, and kisses him on his favourite bump on his head. As she walks away, he sits up straight in his bed. He knew what she had to say could be true for other walnut boys and girls, but not him. He knew from every bump on his body, that he was special. He only needed to find his person! He waits till the house goes silent, before quietly climbing out of his blanket. It’s a chilly night, and he breaks out with goosebumps, both from the chill as well as the excitement coursing through him. He quickly heads to the branch where he’d stood just a while back. Just then he remembers something, banging his fist to his head and rushes back to his room. He emerges wearing a red cape around his neck. Now he looked just like his favorite superhero.  Sliding down the loose branch, he lands deftly on his feet, his cape swinging around him. He stands proud, with his hands on his waist and shouts out loud, “Wally, The Walnut Boy is ready to save the world!” before running straight into the darkness.

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