Holidays

‘What a way to spend the Holidays,’ thought Rahul as he sat forlornly eating his breakfast in his new house, in an entirely new town, away from all his friends.

Rahul was still annoyed by his parent’s decision to shift to a new city during summer vacation, don’t they realise how difficult it is to make friends mid-session? Moreover, during this break both his parents were so busy that they were not going anywhere on vacation.

Being in grade 9th his parents expected him to behave maturely but all the loneliness forced some childishness to creep in.

Rahul went outside, he had seen a park nearby, and he could go there to make new friends. But his insecurities held him back instead he started kicking away stones in the untamed garden.

He kicked a stone a little too hard and it sailed over the neighbour’s hedge and then came a shattering noise. Rahul rushed over the hedge with his heart beating loudly. He saw a flowerpot has broken.

Dread filled his stomach as he looked at the broken pieces, he had never had any complaints from his previous neighbours. And this surely won’t make a good impression.

Just as Rahul was deciding to do something, a voice spoke up, “So, why are you not running away?”

The speaker turned out to be an old man with tufts of silver hair on the side of his head and a sparkly moon in the centre, his eyes were twinkling with mischief as he forced his face to give off a stern look.

Rahul jerked and said, “I would not run away. I am sorry for the pot.” The old man’s eyes sadden as he spoke, “Be sorry for the plant and not the pot. The pot is just a vessel, the plant was its spirit.”

Rahul had never thought this way. The old man then spoke cheerily, “Well son, you want me to keep shouting across the hedge or would you come over here.”

Rohan came and sat next to the old man. The old man started to point out at the various plants growing in the garden. Finally, the boy felt comfortable enough to share his own set of woes with the old man.

He told me how these holidays are going to turn out to be his worst ever.

The old man’s eyes sympathised and he said, “Everyone’s lonely at times, when I lost my wife last year, I thought I would never be able to live again all the hope shed out of my life.

I spent my days laying in my bed. One day I looked over at the windowsill and saw my wife’s favourite flowers dying. I got up and watered them.

That day I realised that my wife still lives in her garden. So, being with plants, I came closer to her and back to life. I was able to open up to friends and family.”

Rahul was plunged into deep thoughts. He spoke up, “I want to grow plants too. Will you help me?”

The old man smiled and said, “Well, I did always eye your empty lawn and wondered all the trees and bushes that can be grown there.”

10 Years Later

Rahul came back home from college and his parents gave him a warm welcome. That evening he climbed over the hedge quietly and sat on the bench alone.

The new owners will be coming tomorrow. They were so happy to see the spiralling garden that they decided to keep the entire of it.

‘A swapping of shovels’ as he would say, thought Rahul.

His neighbour died last month but he will live in his garden and in the boy’s memory who spent his best holidays 10 years ago.