Dragghar Ignacio

Abstract Drama Tragedy

3  

Dragghar Ignacio

Abstract Drama Tragedy

A Simple Law

A Simple Law

5 mins
155


It was a bright and windy morning. The entire village had come to the river banks today to have a glimpse of one person. It was the eight-year-old prince who was travelling on a riverboat with his entourage. Whenever a prince reached the age of eight, he journeyed the entire kingdom to learn of his family's expanse and influence. As the riverboat approached the banks, the crowd began cheering the words," All hail the prince! Our Lord!" louder and louder.

The houseboat moored and, a gangway descended from the deck. A kid, same age as the prince, shouldered his way to the front of the crowd where he stood with his friends. He looked at the staircase with intense curiosity. He wore a brown loincloth that was pure white a couple of weeks ago. He also wore a pendant of lapis lazuli around his neck. The rock was a little larger than shrapnel; on a bright day, it shone so brightly that it caught people's eyes from a distance.

The prince, draped in expensive attire, descended the steps with big burly men who sported tulwars on their belts. They were grim-faced and contrasted the prince's bright smile. With them was a centenarian in priestly clothes who had been bent forward by age. He whispered into the boy's ears and, he giggled. Two of the guards stood on either of the gangways with their hands on their hilts while the prince and the priest stopped on the last step.

Everybody bowed their heads in reverence. Initially, the kid stood rather nonchalantly, smiling back at the prince who was returning the same. Just then someone grabbed him by the back of his neck bent him forward and croaked," Bow you, idiot!" Everybody remained in this position for almost a minute until the prince ordered," Get up!"

The kid took a deep sigh as he stood straight again. He turned his head to see the others only to realise everybody was looking at the ground. His friend who stood beside him whispered," Look at the ground! You'll get killed!"

He asked," Why?"

The boy rebuked," He's the prince idiot!"

He asked," So?"

But before his friend could enlighten him, the prince called," Hey you! Come here!"

The kid turned his head to see the prince was pointing in his direction. All eyes were on him now. He asked," Me?"

"Yes. Yes, you. Come here!"

The kid walked straight up to him and, looking him in the eye, asked," What?"

"This gem here, where did you get it?"

"My mother gave it to me before dying."

"Can I have it?"

"No, you can't! That's mine!"

The prince looked dejectedly at the priest. The priest calmly reassured the prince in a foreign tongue that the kid had never heard. Then he grinned at the kid and asked," Why don't you give it to the prince for one day. He will return it to you tomorrow."

"But my mother gave it to me before dying."

He turned his head back to look at the village head- the Sarpanch. Nobody dared to make any decisions when he was around. The Sarpanch smiled at him and said calmly," He will return it to you, my boy. Please give it." The others took the Sarpanch's side and insisted he part with the object. The kid turned to look at the prince beaming at him. He frowned at the priest and untied the pendant.

He handed it to the prince but, a guard took it and said," We'll wash it first."

The prince said in a sweet voice," Thank you so much."

The priest then ordered the kid to go back to his position, but he had run away into the crowd before he could finish his order. The prince went back into the riverboat with his entourage and departed.

The kid remained awake the entire night thinking about the pendant. The next day, he went to the river bank and sat there waiting for the riverboat to return until the sun went down the horizon. When it was dark, the kid went crying to the Sarpanch's door and rapped at it until he opened it. The kid stood there with a sullen face. The Sarpanch, expecting that to happen, asked," Why are you crying?"

"When will they come back?"

The Sarpanch knelt and brought the boy closer to him. He rubbed the tears off his cheeks and asked," Oh, it will be soon. Princes have a lot to do."

"More than me?"

"Yes."

"What does he do that I don't?"

"All sorts of things. Reading books, riding horses, hunting in the wild, warfare, reading the sky."

"Can I learn them too?"

"No. You can't."

"Why not?"

"Because he is the prince. He is the son of the king who rules over all these lands that you see around yourself. One day he will own them all and, you will grow crops for him just like how you're father does for his father now."

"What if I don't want to?"

The Sarpanch was silent. Then he said," That cannot be."

"Why not?"

"Because the world is not a fair place. We might think that it shouldn't be that way, but we are just humans who see the world by keeping us in the heart of it. Unfairness is the nature of this world. The deer eats the grass, and the lion eats the deer. We must accept this tragedy and move on." 

The kid remained silent. He looked in the distance at the crepuscular rays that slowly diminished and gave way to darkness.


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