A Strange Happening....

Just yesterday, I was returning from school. The afternoon sun was high in the sky and I walked down the street after getting down fro the bus, with the heavy load of my books burdening my shoulders under the scorching heat of the sun. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, but I wiped them with my hands, hastening my speed.

There were not many people on the road though there were many pedestrians walking across the street. To my right was an ice-cream parlor. I fumbled through my bag to find if I had some money to buy myself an ice-cream in this heat and luckily I had some. Enjoying the sweet taste of strawberry in my mouth, I continued home.

Just after a few steps, I saw a young man in tattered and shabby clothes by the other side of the street. He looked dirty as if he had not had a bath since a few weeks and his hairs were untidy. But his eyes caught my attention and admiration. They were beautiful sea blue eyes which showed the world. The depth and richness in his eyes mesmerized me.

A man suddenly went by him, dropping a coin in his lap. The shabby man mumbled an unrecognizable blessing for the man, giving a toothy smile. He extended his arms and felt around the lap touching the coins with his warm hands and feeling them over, again and again…..a faded smile appeared on his face which began from his alluring eyes and then came to his lips.

Another man passed by him, and the beggar asked him for some money. The passerby stopped and passed a glance at the man. When I expected the pedestrian to put a hand into his pocket, unexpectedly the stranger passed a scorn at the beggar.

Then with amazed eyes, I looked on at what happened! The stranger asked the beggar why he needed money. With unnerving eyes, that acquired sympathy from me, he said, “Sir, the world is all black to me and so are its people. I know I can’t see but I need food to eat and shelter. I’ve been living on these streets since no one kept me for a job and I have not eaten anything but a piece of stale bread offered to me by a kind man.”

The man stared at the beggar with a look of disgust. He broke down after he heard him and retorted, “You are a lazy fellow….and I’ve seen people like you before. You know the way of earning sympathy from others and with your sweet smile, you earn your way into other's heart. You then fool them into giving you money as you think this is an easy way of earning. But I’m not a fool, young man…I know you can see me and hear me, so I say it again, I am not a fool……..” and fuming within himself the man went one without giving a backward glance at the poor beggar.

The expression on the beggar’s face was something of a mix of confusion and fear and disappointment. His deep, beautiful and exotic eyes lingered in my head as I reached home, going over the incident in my head!

After doing my home-work in the evening, I still couldn’t forget what I saw. I went into the balcony and stood in the cool breeze, gazing out longingly. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of him. He now sat opposite my house but as it was getting late, he was stuffing his coin into his deep pockets and suddenly, with a crooked smile on his face and with unanticipated ease he stood up and went on his way…….with no stick in his hand and successfully dodging all vehicles on the road…

I remembered the words of the stranger and not knowing what to do, I silently went to bed while my mind was bewildered and uncertain and my heart cried!

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