Head bent low, Shyam's little finger kept on twitching and his eyebrows creased as his every step took him closer to his home. A touch on his back  made his shoulders rise and head jerk up. The widened black eyes met the brown orbs of his brother.

"Shyam, who is that man? Do you know him?" Shyam's head turned towards his porch.  Just behind the wooden fence stood the man, the man from the woods. His eyes were scanning Shyam, pausing for a few seconds as he observed the boy's calves and arms. The sides of his face wrinkled and his cheeks became fuller as he turned to open the small wooden door to the verandah. He marched up to the front gate and rang the doorbell to the their house.

Shyam was perhaps glued to the ground as his mother opened the door to the stranger. It was just about then that Shyam comprehended the emotion on the man's face as a smile; as genuine as any he had seen. His mother folded her hands and welcomed him in. As her eyes set on the boys, she called out to them.

Ram ran into her arms. His broad back once again guided Shyam to do the same. Soon, the door was closed and all were seated on the mat.

The brothers stood up and bent low as they touched the feet of their father who had just entered the room. With hands on their head, he made them rise up and guided them to the sitting area. He too folded his hands and greeted the stranger. With a smile on his face he asked, "What is it that I can do for you, saheb?"

"I am drawn towards the forest, towards nature. I as a result was well aware of a game the boys used to play. To be honest, I never thought much of it and none of them ever really caught my eye. Today however, I saw Shyam run. It was magical, he seemingly drifted across the forest as his calves carried him efficiently."

The boys looked at their mother and coming under the gaze of her widened eyes, reverted their's back to the ground as the man continued. They wouldn't be going to the forest anytime soon.

"His calves are muscular, he is fit and seemingly, he has good instincts. As you know sir, this trip was merely an out of the grid pleasure trip for me. However, it seems that I was able to scout a potential talent here. I wish to coach your son in badminton, sir."

Their father's eyes twinkled for a second before he closed his eyelids and opened them again sucking in the teardrop that threatened to fall.

Over the years, his face had sunk as he worked under the blazing sun with a sweat caked face. As he looked up at the skies and prayed; as a smile settled on his face, as a frown adorned it, he always thought of his sons. Every action of his was well thought of. Yet when he looked into the sparkling eyes of his children, he always knew that providing them with quality education would without a doubt be a dream. They would toil like him in the fields, work hard and worry about their future. That was what lay ahead of them, life imprisoned within the the village.

"Take him. Teach him all that you know."

Shyam's father had lowered his head, his voice was merely a whisper as he spoke to himself , 'Help him escape his fate.'

Shyam bore holes into his father's back. He knew he would not have a say in the matter. His lips were caught between his teeth as bit into them. A metallic taste danced on his tongue as he listened further.

"I will give him basic training while I am here. If he shows potential, perhaps I can take him to the city, make him enter a few competitions and climb up the ranks. I will teach him for free. However, travel expenses, the cost of a racket have to be borne by you. I will try my best to get him sponsors but the initial costs cannot be avoided" the man said.

"H..how much will it cost us?" their father asked.

"Let me start basic training. If, and only if, he shows promise will you have to worry about the cost. I reckon we'll need about twenty thousand rupees to the very least."

Their father closed his eyes. Lines were etched across his forehead as he thought of the costs. He worked for fourteen hours in the fields every single day. Yet all he could bring back to his family was food and about five thousand rupees. Savings were a far fetched dream. He was blessed for his family never complained and always lifted him up with their smiles. He would beg he decided; self respect was something he could give up for his son.

"Take him sir."

The man got up and patted his pants. He joined his hands together and smiled.

"Shyam, we start tomorrow. Be ready at 6 am" he said as he left the house.

Shyam crossed his arms and tapped his feet. He knew that this was an once in a lifetime opportunity yet as heard the adults talk as if his opinions couldn't matter less, it hurt his pride. He was angry but there was nothing he could do, no way he could rebel without endangering this opportunity. He would suck every inch of knowledge out of that man he decided as he closed his eyes and felt the air enter his nose disappear and then leave. The sun soon gave way to the moon and before Shyam could will his eyes to shut, the Sun greeted him again.

It was six am, Shyam had his hands wrapped around his body as the cold wind made him shiver slightly. He turned to his right and saw the man approach him .

"I believe I am yet to introduce myself. I am Raghav. We can get to the pleasantries later on. We'll begin with 5 rounds of the village outskirts. Now, get going."

When Shyam finally saw the pine tree in front of his house for the fifth time, he stopped. His chest rapidly moved up and down as his open mouth took in gulps of air. He was just about bend his knees and sit down for a moment when Raghav beemed at him.
"On to the next task, young man" said the thirty year old.

They soon reached a ground. The mud had rectangles and lines etched across it with two wooden stumps on the edges of a line that cut the markings into two equal halves; it was a makeshift badminton court. Shyam's eyes were shining. He had never seen anything of the sort before. He felt his blood racing through his veins and his heart beating. His lips stretched from ear to ear as he gazed at the view in front of him.

That joy was what made him continue, it carried him forward when his legs gave away. Yet, that joy was not meant to last for long. It was dream that was placed in his palm only to be snatched away.
                        *************
PS: 20,000Rs (₹)= 261 $
5000₹= 65 $

**My dear reader, I love writing stories because they have the power to bring out emotions from people I miles and miles away from me. These words are my happiness and to know that it brought out the slightest emotion out of you would mean the world to me. Maybe it just lifted you lip a tiny bit or made lines appear on your forehead, please let me know for that is the sole purpose of these words. Leave a comment, your thoughts, anything. A vote would mean that you enjoyed reading it. It takes seconds and yet means the world to me, the teenager behind the keyboard