The sun was about to set. Its fading glow among the hills was a beautiful sight to behold.

In this beautiful background, a small boy could be seen climbing a small hill. He seemed to be headed to the small village on top of the mountain the way he was going.

The boy was tired of climbing with the bag on his back. He seemed to be coming back from school.

There was no one else taking that particular path beside him. And looking at the condition of the trail, one could make out it was not that widely used or taken care of.

The boy finally reached the top of the hill and headed to his house. Once he reached his home, he put his bag down and sat in deep thought.

It was a simple house with just a single room and a kitchen. There was some sound from the kitchen.

“You seem to have taken your time to get back today.”

An old man having a slight resemblance to the boy came out from the kitchen.

The boy still didn’t respond. He was still lost in his thoughts.

“Anil. You ok?”

“Yeah. Grandpa. I was just thinking about something.”

The old man realized the boy had avoided his question but decided not to probe any further.

“Ok. Go get cleaned up. I’ll get dinner ready soon.”

The boy went in and got freshened up.

Soon it was time for dinner.

Even after dinner, when the boy didn’t speak up much, the old man decided to finally find out what was troubling his grandson.

“Anil. Is there anything you want to talk about? You know you can always tell me anything.”

The boy took some time to reply.

“I was just thinking about life and its meaning.”

The old man couldn’t help chuckle a bit.

“Don’t you think you are a bit too young to be thinking about such a profound thing? You know many scholars have spent their entire life thinking about the same but still couldn’t come up with an answer.”

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“I was just thinking about our life. Whether it even has any meaning. Does the world even care about us? We were born poor, and I feel like the entire world, and everyone in it is bent to keep us like this forever.”

“Now, why would you think like that? You are a smart kid. You have even gotten a scholarship to one of the best schools in the town. Doesn’t that mean something? You know how many kids pray to get that kind of chance. It’s because the Government has reserved a certain number of seats in all the schools for poor people that you were able to get that seat. Even knowing all this, why would you say like that?”

“I know. But it’s not that easy. All the other kids from school come from rich families, and they make sure we scholarship students know our place. Even the teachers don’t care for us much. I can still overlook all of that. It’s just that I feel even if I do well in studies despite all of this, I would never get a good job or a break in life.”

“Now, that’s not true. I know people from our village who went to schools and got good jobs. There are now settled in the city with a good life.”

“Hmm. I know you are trying to cheer me up. But that’s not the full truth. The only reason those people could get their jobs were not because of their hard work but because they were ready to suck up to some of their rich classmates. Which in turn helped them get some basic jobs in their family companies. The world is so unfair. I don’t think there is any place for people like us. No matter what we do.”

The old man couldn’t find a way to cheer his grandchild up. He was really depressed today. Something must have happened in school today.

The boy went to sleep soon.

The old man couldn’t help ponder on what his grandchild had said. It was not completely false. But he could never agree to it as agreeing it would take all hope of a better life away from his grandson. And without hope, there would be nothing left for them. Honestly, the world was unfair.

The old man couldn’t help but remember another kid from the village who had left long ago. He had said many similar things. How the world was unfair, and there was no place for poor people in it. He had also said that he would fight all of it.

It was so many years ago. No one has heard anything about the boy in so long. No one even knew if he was still alive. But the old man was sure the boy must have survived. There was something in him, something special about him. His resolve had felt unshakable. He also had such intense eyes that could possibly burn the whole world in them.

He also couldn’t help but wonder if the boy was still angry at the village for what they had done to him.

He just hoped the boy would have forgotten about all of them after all this time. If not, he hoped at least the boy would give them the chance to explain why they did what they did. He was not so sure about it. But one could always hope. Because there was nothing if hope was lost.

It was getting late, and the old man decided to go to sleep for the day. While drifting to sleep, he couldn’t help notice a faint smell in the air like something was burning. It must be his neighbour burning his trash as usual. But he couldn’t understand why the neighbour would do something like that so late at night.

Anyways he hoped his grandson doesn’t get too depressed thinking too much. He must find a way to cheer him up.

He also planned to talk to his neighbour tomorrow to tell him not to burn stuff at night. These were his last thoughts before he fell asleep.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know that he would never wake up. Neither will anyone else in his village from their sleep ever again.