The dusty road lay in front of little Sammy
when he left his home another lazy Saturday morning. It had been one week since
his holidays had started. His holiday homework still didn’t worry him too much.
The last week should be good enough for that, he thought.
His mom had asked him to
get some milk, he didn’t mind doing any chore where he got the opportunity to
go to the shop around the corner. As sweets would be his unspoken reward. As
Sammy saw the sun beating down as though with vengeance, he thought “I should
do something exciting today”.
Something just clicked. A river of excitement overtook him. There was a glint
in his eyes. He wanted to quickly be done with the task at hand and go in
pursuit of this new mission he had for the day.
He began to run. He rushed to the store. Panting, he asked uncle Joe ”give me
two packets of milk”. Uncle Joe replied “What about your sweet marbles”. Sammy
realized he almost forgot about them, rarely does that happen he thought. Paid
the cash, quickly gobbled up the marbles, put the milk packets into the bag,
and began to hurry back. He saw his buddy Jack around the bend in his
cycle..Sammy shrieked..”Jackieee!”.Jack stopped his bike with a sudden jolt.
Sammy ran , sat on the carrier at the back ,”drop me to my place, fast!”, he
commanded. Rarely had Jack seen him in a hurry like this, so curious he asked
“What’s the rush about?”.Sammy seemed to be in a world of his own and responded
with ”Will tell ya, but later.”
Noticing the purpose in sammy’s voice he dared not to poke further
into the matter.
Then as his home neared, he jumped before Jack had applied the brakes, he
almost fell. Sammy could hear Jack chuckle, but he didn’t care, greater things
were there in his tiny heart; he shouted “Thanks pal” as he rushed up the
stairs.
Nobody seemed to be home, he placed the milk packets into the fridge, ‘it’s
done’ he thought. “The adventure begins” he said with great resolve.
There was a river that flowed through the woods which would usually take one
and a half hour to reach if he went past his backyard. “Sammy don’t go there.
Ok?” Grandma used to say. The thrill, the fear, the anxiety it sure churned up
a funny feeling in his belly.
As he was planning his thrill trip he thought, ”It’s better if I
feed my tummy before I leave, lest it became a reason to turn back.”
So he grabbed a quick bite before he left. Different thoughts passed through
his mind as he was making his way through the backyard. Jumping over the fence.
Into the wild.
Loved the sound that the dried maple leaves under his feet made. It
reminded him of the time he munched on his favorite tomato flavored pack of
wafers.”Don’t have too much of that, or else you’ll have a heart attack.”Mommy
warned each time. It had been a while since he had began .”I will be home
before it gets dark”, he said, as if making a solemn pact with himself.
Suddenly he could hear a strange hissing sound. He freezed in his step.
His eyes resembled a fast paced ping-pong match.
Took a long deep breath and….Slowly smiling realized it’s the sound of the
river gushing.
The fear transformed into glee. Sammy started to jog, dodging the huge mammoth
sized trees that came in his way.
He could see the water every now and then now.”Wow this is sooo much fun!” he
exclaimed. Finally he was at the bank of the biggest mass of flowing water he
had ever seen. This seemed so different . The cold wind ,…the strange sounds
,..the mighty river…..the orange sky..
He sat down, to soak it all in. He at that moment
wanted a bag which could capture this feeling, all that was around him. To be
re-lived when he wished. Then across the river he saw a huge dark figure hidden
between the trees. Sammy felt a chill up his spine starring at it and then at
the water body that separated them, suddenly felt secure as though the river
was his defender. The figure seemed to be still there, as though watching
Sammy.
Then he saw the sun had began moving to it’s abode,
he thought he must also. ”Hmm…but I wanna see what ..or who is this, then will
my adventure be complete” ,he argued as though his daddy were here.
Suddenly it moved, began to come into the light. It was a
Bear!!And there were two more little ones who came out. They sipped on the
water.”Boy this is one summer adventure, Jack would find difficult to beat” he
thought smiling. With this thought he turned around into the woods, which
looked way different than when he came. “There are at least two hours for it to
be dark ,and the journey should not take more than an hour and forty five
minutes ,now that I’m a little tired“ he assured himself. He began to sing. As
he reached the part where he could remember no more, he shifted to the next
one.
He could feel someone asking him ”What if you
get lost?”. He kept singing and following the path he believed he had come by.
It had been a while walking. He felt horribly thirsty. He had been feeling
thirsty from quite a while he realized but the events had kept his mind from
giving it attention.
“Just a little more”, he encouraged. Began a new song thinking about what would
be the dessert tonight. Many games he had played ,now he was learning a new one
,with his mind.
He suddenly felt as if he had grown before his eyes in this little journey. He
saw a familiar green window. He felt a peace within, knew the games could end.
Took a leaf from the ground as a souvenir before he jumped over the fence.
Entered his home, went to the kitchen, his mom was cooking, gave her a hug
around her waist.”Have you washed your hands and feet?” asked mommy.”I will
mommy” Sammy replied.
“How was your day Sammy?”
A million thoughts passed by, trees, river, joy , bear , fear, and the
songs which brought him back.
He paused and finally said “It was nice mommy. It was nice….”
