The shop by the road

I could hardly recognize her from the last time I saw her. The laughter of the lovely little girl who came running into her brother's arms still rang in my ears as I stooped into the small shop.

This was a lonely stretch of road that ran climbing up and down the hill slopes. And you wouldn't find another shop in an hour's journey. I first came here many months back, when our bus broke down near here. A jolly young man gestured us welcome, out of an old shack by the road, while he quickly wiped the only bench with his other hand. The shop had one small shelf, one chair for the guy, and one bench for furniture to boast of. The shelf held an array of plastic jars with pickled mangoes and big gooseberries, some homemade snacks, and fries. A small drawer to the side held a few packets of cigarettes and a few bundles of beedi. Though the shop possessed only a few things, everything were kept very neat and organized.

The guy at the shop, Ravi, was a man of good spirits, with that glow in his eyes. Five minutes with him, and I no longer was a stranger from a random broke down bus. He talked of his mother and his long dead father, the school he once used to go and that a classmate of his owned the big hotel in town, how his mother and he would sit through night making the snacks and that that happened only occasionally as the sales were never too good, that he would once build a big hotel in the town, and most of all he told me about his beautiful little sister. She studied in the village school. He said she would come in running any moment then. He asked me about my own family, my place and college. He asked me about how it was to be in a college. He was very delighted to learn that I too had a sister.

As I was fishing out another piece of mango from the jar, a little girl came running, just as he had told, and let herself fall into her brother's arms. Her hair was braided neatly into two, each with a red ribbon knotted at its ends. she wore neat whites and a sweater. He stood up, picking her up. She laughed hysterically as he did that. Nibbling at the sweet she took out of a jar, she looked at me curiously and let her lips curve into a wide smile as Ravi showed me to her. She was just like her brother, filling out the little space with her cheers, laughter, and unending line of questions. She asked me if I wanted to go with her to their home and I said I would love to. Just then the driver came in announcing that another bus had come and we could leave in that. As I said byes to them, she handed me a candy, and he smiled. She waved vigorously as the bus took off.

I had passed through the road more than a couple of times after that. Each time I would look at the shop wishing to meet them, or at least to wave at her, as I passed, only to find a closed shop which rather looked like a packed box. Today as I saw the shop open, I found myself rushing out of the bus. That little box was no longer neat as it then was, nor were there a shelf that was full with all kinds of snacks. I looked into the shop and found a lady in her forties or fifties, I couldn't make out her age as she had those blank eyes that made her looked much older than she already was. The girl sitting on her lap was only little more than a skeleton covered with skin, she too with the same blank eyes as of the lady. I looked around. There were still a few jars, most of them almost empty. The place was covered in dust. There was a dusty picture in one corner. You could almost make out a wide smile from under the dust. The girl looked at me and I felt like she was looking through me as if I were transparent. I couldn't make myself to ask anything. I felt really sick. I felt like something churning in my belly. I thought I would puke. I asked for a cigarette, which she handed to me and showed me a cigarette lighter hanging from an old plastic string. I felt even more uneasy as I puffed out the smoke. I threw the cigarette away and bought a couple of candies. The candies were old and did not look to be in good shape. I shoved them in my pockets and paid. I wanted to run away but I didn't. I walked far enough to be out of the shop's view and waited till the next bus came an hour or so later. I threw the candies out before I got into the bus.