The Hero Part 5 – Journey to the Orphanage

Arpit had travelled to his orphanage to meet his best friend Aarav from Dr. Vishak’s house, twenty kilometres away from the orphanage. Arpit had started his journey by walking on the footpath attached to a one-way road. It was the first time when Arpit was travelling alone for more than five kilometres.

The Begger

It was nearly nine o’clock when Arpit reached the bus stop, but the next bus to the orphanage area was scheduled in forty-five minutes. A beggar, wearing old clothes stained with mud, was sleeping at the stop with a begging bowl beside him containing some one and two rupee coins.

Arpit felt terrible for the man and took the envelope from his pocket, which Dr Vishak had given him. He had taken out money and counted it; there were ten hundred rupee notes, ten twenty rupee notes, and eight two hundred rupee notes, which means he had rupees two thousand. He keeps two twenty rupees not in his bagging bowl, thinking that the man’s blessing will help him on his journey and continue his travelling.

Arpit felt terrible for the man and took out the envelope from his pocket that Dr. Vishak had given him. He pulled out the money and counted it, there were ten hundred-rupee notes, ten twenty-rupee notes, and eight two-hundred-rupee notes, which meant he had two thousand rupees in total. He placed two twenty-rupee notes into the man’s begging bowl, thinking that the man’s blessings would help him on his journey and keep him safe as he continued travelling.

He had been walking continuously for the last two hours. After encountering the beggar, he realized that he had actually been walking for more than three hours and surprisingly, he wasn’t tired. The number of people on the footpath had decreased as the heat rose quickly; it was close to twelve noon. He kept walking. There was no one else on the footpath now, but he felt as if someone was following him. However, when he turned around, no one was there. He dismissed the thought, believing that whoever it was couldn’t really do anything to him. He had grown a little careless after gaining some powers.

The Power He Posesses

He stopped for a while, noticing something was pricking him from his left pocket. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a black mask, a folded piece of white paper and a wristwatch with symbols instead of numbers. He wore the watch and unfolded the paper; it was a list of powers that he had written by Dr. Vishak.

They were, more speed, power, strength, and stamina from an ordinary fourteen-year-old boy. And no human, at any age, can naturally possess such a powerful regeneration ability.

The Crowd

While reading it, he saw a convoy of media vehicles. He ignored them and continued walking, soon reaching a city area. He wanted to take a break, as he had been walking for a long time. He was about to enter a small restaurant when he noticed a large crowd beside it and the identical media vehicles he had seen earlier.

Bank Robbery

He went there and saw a big board of SBI Bank. The media were reporting the news, police officers who had pointed guns towards the bank, and so many regular people also. The reporters were reporting that “a robbery had taken place in the bank and also the robbers had taken control of the whole bank; they had guns, and there were so many civilians also; what will be the police’s next action?” 

Arpit understood everything, that was why there was such a large crowd but he didn’t react. He went into the restaurant and sat at a table. He ordered a platter, closed his eyes, and began thinking about it.

When he opened his eyes, he saw two platters in front of him.

He was confused he had only ordered one, yet the waiter had brought two. As he looked up slightly, he saw Amrita standing there!

“Start the meal!” she said.

“So you were following me?” he asked.

“Yes! It was me, but, forgot it. So what is your decision? Shall we go into the bank and teach the robbers a lesson?” she said heroically. Are you serious, girl? They had guns and were holding civilians hostage. I don’t care about us, but because of our mistake, someone could die,” he said in a low voice.

“Oh! Do they have guns with them? So what? We also have.” She said and put a handgun on the table.

Arpit took it imminently before somebody could see it. “Are you serious? You are going to ..!” he said.

“Cool down! It’s not real but just realistic.” She said,

“You, my heart was going to fail! Don’t do such a joke with me again!” he said, throwing the gun towards Amrita.

“The robbers in the bank are playing with people’s lives, and you can do something, but you are not going to help them!” she said thoughtfully. “If you are not going to come, then I will go alone!” she said, standing and going to leave.

“Stop!” Arpit said. “First, finish your platter! Then we will go!”

She smiled and sat down. “What will be your plan?” she said.

“We will enter from the window on the other side of the bank. We will go on the top of this building and jump to the bank; there is a metal pipe on the side of the window, and then welcome!” he explained.

“And then?” she asked.

“You were going alone; what were you going to do?” he asked.

“Err… I don’t know; I was just going.” She replied.

“Then, okay, we will discuss the rest of the plan after watching the situation.” He said.

The Rescue Mission

They had finished their food, Arpit had paid the bill, and after putting on their masks, they were ready for the mission. They were now looking for a way to reach the top of the building. There didn’t seem to be anything that could help them get up there. Just then, Amrita spotted a narrow path behind the building, so they headed to the back.

No one was at the back of the building. More buildings stood opposite, with many metal pipes running along them.

“The metal pipes will help us to go down; how will they help us to climb over a building?” Arpit said. 

“Here is a way!” said Amrita, pointing at a rusted staircase of iron, making the way to climb on the building from the opposite side.

“We will go up and jump to the bank’s building.” She said,

“There is a gap of over six feet between the two; what are you going to do?” he asked, looking up. “The buildings, I could be wrong, are nearly twenty to twenty-five feet taller. If we fall, our limbs will break for sure.”

“Any other way you have?” she asked.

“Let’s do it!” he said.

They went to the top of the building by the rusted staircase. The sun was shining very brightly. There were so many drums filled with water and ropes on which the clothes were hung to dry. “So, who will go first?” Arpit asked. 

“We will decide by toss. Whoever wins, he will go first.” She replied and took out a coin from her shirt’s pocket. “Head or Tails?” 

“Head!” he said.

She had done the toss; it was Tails. “Tails!” she said in excitement.      

“Do you want to do it?” Arpit asked. 

“Yes, of course. I want to become a hero! A superhero!” she said.

“All the best!” he said.

“Same to you!” she replied.

She stepped back to take a run-up, took a deep breath, and got ready to jump.

She ran; the end was coming closer. Arpit was so frightened, and she jumped. Arpit closes his eyes; he hears a bang. He opened his eyes and saw Amrita in the building. “Come on! It’s not so hard! As it seems to be!” She cheers Arpit.

Arpit moves some steps back. Take a long breath. Get ready to jump. He ran. Arpit was getting more frightened as the end was coming closer. He jumped but, having made the mistake, closed his eyes. He was a little far from the end and was going to fall, but Amrita held his hand. “Hi! Are you alive?” she asked Arpit. “Yes! Yes, I am!” he replied. She pulls him up.

“We should go fast! The time robbers give to police to clear the area will finish,” she said.

“Yes, you’re right! We should!” he said.

They reached the top of the bank building by crawling. If anyone saw them, it could turn into a major scandal. They had spotted the pipe and the window as well, but they weren’t sure what was on the other side. Jumping straight into a room full of armed robbers wouldn’t be safe. So they decided that Arpit would hold Amrita’s hand while she checked through the window to see if it was safe for them and the others inside. Arpit lowered Amrita, she looked inside, and then he pulled her back up.

“I have a rope, but it is a little short and not taped!” she replied.

They feel very much in need of the ropes on the other side, but nobody wants to go there again. 

“Nice! They listen carefully!” he explained the whole plan to her.

Arpit removes his racket and cuts some rope; he ties the rest to the racket and then cuts the part on the button to make it active.

First Arpit, followed by Amrita, slid down the pipe and broke through the window. They got inside so quickly that the robbers didn’t have time to react.

Arpit had thrown his rifle towards the man standing at the door. He tried to snatch his gun from him, but a little before, he shouted a bullet, but it didn’t work, and Arpit was successful in snatching his rifle from him, while Amrita had taken a knife from the man while guarding the civilians. The man at the door attacked Arpit with his knife, but Arpit used his racket and blocked it; the man got an electric shock, too. The last one couldn’t do anything and threw his knife down, as the civilians had already broken free.

The civilians opened the door and came out, it was a shock to the people standing outside. They had only heard a few loud bangs and a shotgun blast, and just after two minutes, all the people inside had safely made it out.

Arpit and Amrita were as happy as they had saved many people’s lives. The people inside the bank were telling us that the two warriors sent by God had saved their lives, and on the next movement, they were gone. 

It was nearly one-quarter past two when they had left the place and got a bus to the orphanage. They were talking about the situation at the bank; they still do not believe what they had done there, how they had saved this many people’s lives and millions of rupees.

They reached the orphanage within an hour and planned to enter from the back, through the garden wall. They climbed the wall and slipped inside.

Arpit took a deep breath of the garden air, happy to be back in his orphanage after so long. There was Aarav, sitting under the tree with Arpit’s drawing book, lost in his world of dreams.

Story by Shreyash Balaji Kamble

To be continued..

***

Read The Hero Part 4: First Day – The New Home here

First Day : The New Home I Story By Shreyash, Sambhaji Nagar

 

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