dushyant jumped inside his room from the window, he somehow had managed to open from outside, in the balcony. the room was dark, as he switched on the light, only for his mother to appear in front of him. he screamed in horror, caught by utter surprise. 

"mom, apni hi aulad ko kaun heart attack dene ki koshish karta hai!" remarked dushyant, as he sighed in relief, and was starting to calm himself down. 

"jab purvi bhi tumhare liye bahane banane ki koshish nahi karti hai na dushyant, tab aisi naubat aati hai..." responded neelu. 

dushyant seated himself on the foot of his bed, next to his mother, who was sitting on her wheelchair. 

"papa kahan hai? unhe nahi dantna mujhe?" asked dushyant. 

"so gaye woh....keh rahe the daant ka asar tumpe padta nahi, toh kya faydaa.." informed neelu. 

"toh, aap, yahan, kaise?" questioned dushyant, puzzled. 

"agar adha ghanta mehnat karu apni taangein uthane mein toh baith paati hoon khudh.." replied neelu, as a moment of silence crept in, between them. 

"i'm really sorry mom...." repented dushyant, as he looked down, seemed to be on the verge of crying. 

"dushyant..." she called softly, as she noticed it. 

"kyun bachaya aapne mujhe? yeh haalat meri honi chahiye thi..." rebuked dushyant, as his eyes moistened. 

"kyun hataya mujhe raste se! kyun aayi truck ke saamne! marne deti na mujhe!" yelled dushyant. 

"dushyant!"raised neelu her voice, in order to stop him. 

"bike leni ki zid maine ki thi, uss din aapke mana karne par bhi maine aapko apne bharose bithaya, galti meri thi..." recounted dushyant, as he broke down in tears. 

he murmured, 'yeh meri saza thi', in an inaudible tone, as he cried heavily. 

                                                                   ***

it was a road in the middle of nowhere, only jungles in both corners, left and right. the road went straight, no rights and lefts. suddenly, the bike stopped. 

"kya hua?" asked neelu. 

"pata nahi, achanak se ruk gayi..." responded dushyant,  as he checked what was wrong. 

"petrol bharwaya tha?" questioned neelu. 

"arre parson hi toh bharwaya tha..." claimed dushyant, as neelu got down from the bike. 

"kharab ho gayi hai kya!" exclaimed neelu. 

"shayad..." replied dushyant, as neelu sighed in frustration. 

"pata tha mujhe, aana hi nahi chahiye tha ismein tumhare saath!"  scolded neelu. 

"mom, thoda chill karogi? abhi dekh raha hoon na, ho sakta koi choti si problem ho, abhi fix ho jayein..." assured dushyant. 

"main tumhare papa ko phone kar rahi hoon, leke jayein mujhe yahaan se." said neelu, as she took out her phone. 

"fantastic! network bhi nahi hai yahan!" exclaimed neelu. 

"mechanic bolana padega.." remarked dushyant. 

"yahan kahan milega mechnanic!" retorted neelu. 

as dushyant pointed to his phone, on which google maps was opened. 

"see, 20 minute ka rasta hai, main jaake bulake laata hoon...aap yahi rehna." stated dushyant, as he start to walk away and neelu stood with her arms crossed. 

dushyant who was looking at his phone, to carefully get a glimpse of the way he had to go, did not pay attention to a truck that was coming at full speed behind him. 

"dushyant! dushyant! dushyant!" yelled neelu, in an attempt to warn him, but it seemed to be inaudible to him. 

she ran quickly to him, as she pushed him out of the way of the truck. 

he landed on the right side of the jungle, hit his head on the rock and lost consciousness, and the truck hit neelu. 

                                                                   ***

"dushyant.." she called softly again, as he bent on his knees in front of her, and buried his head on her lap. he didn't say anything, as those tears told the whole story. 

"beta..." she said, as she lovingly brushed his hair with her fingers.

he looked upto her, but it seemed like even looking at her, caused him pain. 

"tu maaf karta mujhe, ki mere uss din hote hue bhi teri yeh haalat hoti toh?" questioned neelu. 

"kamse kam aapki toh nahi hoti na...." responded dushyant. 

"achi kismat hoti toh dono bach jaate..ab meri kismat buri thi, ismein tu kya kar sakta tha, hmm?" consoled neelu. 

"baat kismat ki nahi hai maa..." detested dushyant. 

"dekh beta, mujhe teri safety ke liye joh theek laga uss waqt, maine kiya...anjaam bahaut acha nahi hua, par hum dono aaj ek dusre se baithke baat kar rahe hain, toh itna bura bhi nahi hua..." explained neelu. 

"maine jhoot bola tha aapse..." confessed dushyant. 

"kavin amritsar mein nahi hai? pata tha mujhe, aur aisa kya hogaya ki dono hi gab the..." replied neelu. 

"ek point mein hostage tha uss aadmi ka...bahaut darr lag raha tha mujhe...humara plan puri tarah se bigad gaya tha, mujhe koi idea nahi tha ki kya karna hai...itna darr lag raha tha, ki mujhe kuch hojaye toh...aur, aapko, bilkul darr nahi laga uss truck ke saamne aane mein..." admitted dushyant. 

"tereko kuch hojane ka darr zyada tha..." replied neelu. 

"kabhi, gussa nahi aata aapko, mujh pe?" asked dushyant. 

"hmm...aata hai, ki abhi bhi tumhe cheek ke bulalo, sunte nahi ho..." joked neelu, as dushyant chuckled. 

"aur tumne aur purvi ne itna wahiyat plan kahan se banaya! kuch hojata tum dono ko toh!" scolded neelu. 

"maa, purvi ko alag rakhne ki itni mehnat ki thi, par aapko toh pata hi hai.." argued dushyant. 

"aur tujhe kya zaroorat thi!" exclaimed neelu. 

"acha sorry..." pleaded dushyant, as he grabbed both of his ears. 

"loh ab toh kaan bhi pakkad raha hoon..." stated dushyant, as neelu just playfully hit him in the head, and they both shared a chuckle. 

"seriously maa, sorry, for just, everything...main bas, nahi aa pata tha aapke paas, bina yeh sab soche and..." apologised dushyant. 

"it's ok.." assured neelu. 

"acha, phir, khaane ko kuch hai? bhook lagi hai.." said dushyant as neelu chuckled. 

"casserole mein roti aur cooker mein sabji hai, savita bana gayi thi.." informed neelu. 

"thanks.." said dushyant as he rushed to the kitchen. 

a smile came on her face, he will be always her son after all. 

                                                            ***