Vision - A Micro tale

 Like every other teenager of this generation, Avi went to sleep at an unreasonable hour. So you can imagine his frustration when he was woken up with the sound of a gunshot at 9am. A plethora of scary thoughts ran through his mind as he tried to figure out where the sound came from. Due to the drowsiness that consumed him, he had forgotten that his father was a police officer, and practicing his aim was a regular activity in this household. While chastising his own stupidity, he freshened up and checked his phone, only to see the low battery sign staring right back at him. This day was getting more and more terrible by the second and Avi couldn’t even imagine what misery lay ahead. 

The only thing that distracted Avi from this situation was the thought of the interesting girl who caught his eye in the cafe he visited daily. As he finished the mango milkshake his mom had prepared for him, he thought about ideas to strike a conversation with the mystery girl.

The Rajas were an honorable and peace-loving family. Sitanshu Raja, the father, was a chief deputy officer. His bravery knew no bounds yet he suffered from ailurophobia; a fear of cats. Avi was the only son of the Rajas, and hence was pampered and showered with a lot of love and affection. Everyone expected Avi to follow in his father’s footsteps, but Avi loved nothing more than getting lost in the world of literature. Avi had an aura of confidence and energy, but that aura instantly faltered when he came in contact with a girl. 

After breakfast, Avi was on his way to the cafe he spent hours in. He sat in one of the empty booths and ordered a ginger tea, as per routine. He opened up his laptop and pretended to type something as he sneaked glances towards the door to see if the girl had arrived. Soon enough, his mystery girl walked through the door, with her eyes glimmering and her head held high. She was tall and young and there was something indescribable about her that made her stand out amongst a crowd. She had a pixie cut and a nose ring; all Avi could think about was how captivating her personality may be, and he was willing to go to any bounds just to get a chance to get to know her. Suddenly the girl looked towards him and he realized he had been caught staring. She gave him a soft smile which he sheepishly returned, and they maintained eye contact for a few seconds before it got too awkward. Avi felt a sense of confidence as now she was finally aware of his existence. 

Out of nowhere, a bald man wearing a black leather jacket and combat boots entered the cafe and demanded money. When no one paid him any attention, he pulled out his gun and flared it loud. People were cowering on the floor, hurriedly emptying their wallets and praying that they’re spared. Avi couldn’t risk losing an entire month's worth of pocket money over a petty thief. Anger rushed through his veins as he threw his hot tea all over the bald man’s face and attempted to snatch the gun. The man yelled in pain as the tea scalded his face, and momentarily lost control of the gun which fell on the ground. Avi was quick in his actions and he instantly grabbed hold of it. In a flash, another customer got up from the opposite side of the cafe and shot Avi; he was an accomplice of the bald man, who sneakily dressed up as a regular person. Avi lost his stability and fell on the ground as his hand bled profusely. The girl immediately acted upon her instincts and stabbed the accomplice in the abdomen with a pen before he could shoot again. The accomplice lost consciousness a the blood flowed out of his body at an alarming rate. Another customer had already called the police which finally arrived at the scene a few moments later. The girl approached Avi and wrapped her scarf around his wound until the medics appeared. Sitanshu Raja had also gotten an update about the scenario and he rushed to the crime scene. Sitanshu hugged his son tightly and applauded him for his quick thinking. Neha, the mystery girl, and Avi started conversing as they walked back home, and she was every bit as interesting as he had imagined her to be. Suddenly, one of the robbers jumped out of the moving police van and tried to run away. Sitanshu instantly shot the robber in the leg. Sitanshu looked at Avi, dead in the eyes, and yelled “run” in a terrified tone. Sitanshu’s pupils dilated and radiated pure fear. Avi, a bit confused and fearful, was walking towards his father when suddenly Sitanshu was shot. The bullet pierced right through his heart and Sitanshu fell to the ground in an agonizing manner.

Avi’s eyes opened in a flash and he groaned loudly as what was supposed to be his moment of glory, turned out to be just a dream. Avi was lost and disoriented when suddenly he heard the gunshot of his father practicing in the backyard. Dismissing it as a weird coincidence, he picked up his phone to check his notifications. As the screen lit up and showed the low battery signal, Avi tossed his phone away in absolute horror. He tiptoed towards the kitchen, and his eyes popped out of their socket when he saw the jar of mango milkshake staring right at him.