The kingdom of dreams - part 1

It was a chilly night. The weather was getting worse since the past few weeks. The local papers were filled with warnings of an oncoming snowstorm. But oblivious to all such matters, he was busy packing his bag for the school next day. But while his hands performed the mechanical action of clearing his table and stuffing his bag with books for the lessons next day, his mind had started wandering. By the time the last book went into his bag, he was already miles away in the territory he found himself very frequently. The kingdom of dreams, which seemed to attract him like a bee towards honey, was as if alluring him.

As he lifted his bag, his elbow accidentally hit the pencil stand at the edge of the table. The metallic clink of the tin pencil stand as it fell on the floor, brought him back to reality and he was suddenly aware of his mother's voice calling him for supper. He hurriedly scampered out of the room and seated himself at the table before anybody had a chance of screaming at him. He wasnt very hungry but he was afraid of his dad's violent temper which would fare up if he refused to have his food and so he decided to stuff whatever it was for supper, into his little mouth as much as possible, without evoking any unpleasantries.

All he wanted was to gobble up his food and head back to his room. The children's story hour would soon be aired on the radio and he did not want to miss it for anything. It was his sole escape from the dreary reality of this world. He had found this broken radio on his way back home from school one day. He hadnt spoken about it to anybody else. After fiddling with it for a few days, he had got that working. Though it didnt give the best quality sound, it was nevertheless a relief to hear it rumbling in the background. It was his sole companion in times, when woken up by the intermittent sounds of quarrel between his parents, he wished to blank out the voices.

With one eye fixed on the clock over the mantelpiece, he waited expectantly for food to be served on his plate. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could head back to his solitary abode. He also wished that his mother had not prepared a capsicum dish. He hated capsicum and knew that it would be all the more a dreadful task to gobble up the food when he was not even hungry. He secretly hoped that his mother had coooked something else. He wished they could have chocolates and icecream and cookies for lunch and dinner just as the characters in the story he had listened to a few days ago. But then he also knew, his parents couldnt afford that lavishness anymore.His father's unemployment and their poverty which seemed to increase by the passing day was not unknown to him. But he did not want to think of all this now. Later, he told himself.