The Stars that turned-Part-1

Chris Augustus Henry was a vagabond. He was a street-fellow who always found himself alone in the journey of life. He was penniless, hence hungry. The circumstances however, were not so bad since always. In fact, nobody knew he belonged to a family well settled. He had two brothers who were respected in the society. They were always the best in studies and sports. Thus, they turned out to be successful in life. Chris though turned out to be the castaway of the family. All efforts of his father to teach and educate him turned futile. The bottom of Chris’ heart knew he could not study and he told his family about this. But his father and brothers never took his pleas seriously and pressurized him further into more tries. He could not bear this anymore and one night, decided to run away from the family whose members were so harsh on him.

Though he never learnt to read or write, he was extremely well spoken and humble. But this harshness he was tormented with at home caused him great loss. He had lost his humbleness and had now turned into a cold-hearted human with no feelings for anyone anymore. He was rude to everybody who even came near him. This was why he could never have friends to help him in his dark times.

He needed work to feed himself. But being illiterate made it quite difficult to find a decent work to do. Hence, he used to spend his days wandering from block to block in search of a job. And by night, since the body and soul were to be kept together, he used to go for petty thefts. He would break into houses at night and steal all the valuables he could find in that house. He would then use the money he earned by selling those valuables off into buying himself food and liquor.

He lay on a broken cot one night in the ruins on the outskirts of the city with a bottle of cheap brandy and some food on a leaf-plate. The last theft had earned him enough to last for a week. He lay looking at the stars above smiling at his fate. A thought of his family raced through his mind and a sudden fit of anger filled him. How miserably his father and brothers had failed to understand him that had compelled him to leave his own house and comforts. He thought of his mother and a small tear slipped out of his eye. Liquor causes the deepest emotions to ooze out of the heart. It becomes better with one’s company but all he had was his own self. Of all his family members, he loved his mother the most. It was his mother who seemed to understand and love him the most. She had never scolded him for not being able to study. It was always his mother who came to his rescue whenever his father would thrash him for studies. She used to say, “Never feel sorry for being unsuccessful in a field. Never try to fit in when you are made to stand out. If you fail in a field, you will definitely succeed in other.” This made all his miseries vanish into thin air and an immediate smile would appear on his face. Suddenly returning back to reality, he wiped tears off his eyes and turned to his side to sleep.

 

The weekend started. And Chris had to be back in business. He reached the adjoining district which was completely unknown to him. He had to find out whether this part of the new district had any family rich enough to be certified his prey. He roamed the streets, observing the houses on the roadsides. His eyes had already been accustomed to find out the riches by a mere look at the face of the house. Seven minutes into his observation and he was standing before his targeted house. “Oh beauty! The best house I’ve ever seen. Too bad the valuables won’t last longer in there.” Chris smirked. With a hand ruffling through his hair and his mind already making up plans and maps for his next heist, Chris turned around and went away, whistling.

 

To be continued…