Running Away

Sarthak had just returned from a difficult day at his school. Endless bullying about how his father had left them and how his mother was struggling to make ends meet. Somehow he managed to keep his tears away till he got to the neighborhood park. As he crouched near the back wall behind some leafy bushes, he considered his options. He could run away. He loved his mother but he couldn’t take the bullying anymore. He could stand up to his bullies but then they might hurt him. And then his mother would be sad again. But for the life of him he couldn’t think of another option. One that didn’t involve keeping his head down because he was way past that. 

Eventually Sarthak went with the lesser of the two evils. He ran. As he travelled all over the place, he was forced to do things he wasn’t proud of. He made friends but he never stayed long enough. After going through starvation and street fights and more, he finally gave up and returned home.

As soon as he stepped inside his mother wrapped him in a hug. Surrounded with his mothers arms, he realized that maybe life was hard but maybe he could be harder. As his mother wordlessly fed him dinner by the fire he grinned happily for the first time in a long time.