Short Stories # 3: Thief Ethics

A downtrodden father, having just lost his family in a car accident, decided to go the wrong way down in life. Soon, in a span of 3 months, he committed 4 big heists, and was the 'wanted' man in town. He was enjoying this new way of life, but he often wondered the consequences that had led to him walking down that path.

Another new moon night, the thief set out on his next 'mission', just outskirts in the countryside, was a palatial mansion belonging to a bureaucrat, who lived abroad. He knew that South of the mansion, was a room in which the rich man kept his safe. He even obtained plans of the room. Having mastered the technique of opening safes, which requires putting the ear to the lock, and trying different combinations, and 'hearing' for a 'click' sound, he was quite sure of pulling it off.

Armed with ropes, hooks and a knapsack, the bad man managed to make it into the room. But what his plans didn't tell him was that there was someone in the room, a little kid sleeping on the bed.

Quietly tiptoeing in, the lights suddenly turned on and the child woke up. To the thief's amazement, the child near-perfectly resembled his long-gone son!

The child, his eyes drooling, shouted, "Dad!"

The man, startled, asked the child if he was really his son.

"Yes, Dad. I survived the horrible crash. Fortunately, the caretaker of this place spotted me and brought me here. I thought that everyone had perished, including you, and so I had nowhere to go. But what in the world are you doing here."

The Dad, not knowing what to say told him that he had come to take his son back. After that day, the dad had a heartwarming change, and decided to donate all his 'earnings' to a charity.

Some Thief Ethics. Thieves are made only because of circumstances.

PS. Like all stories, this one too had a happy ending. The dad went on to become a leading counseller and helped dozens of depressed people change their way of living.

Short Stories # 2: The Rich and The Poor

"The Rich and The Poor"

One fine night on a trip to the countryside, a Mercedes was the only car in sight in the vast, isolated area. In it were a father and his son, belonging to a very wealthy family. Suddenly, the lone figure of the car stopped moving. It had broken down. Sensing that there was no way out other than spending the night at a broken down inn a few metres away, the Father approached the caretaker of the inn. The old figure warmly welcomed his unexpected visitors and told them that they could spend the night there.

The next morning, the duo left the inn in the afternoon after their car had been repaired. On reaching their palatial mansion in the city, the father asked his son, "Did you see how the poor live?"

The son replied, "Hmm... Yes."

"What did you observe, son?"

"I saw that they had dogs, cows, buffaloes, cats and other animals at their place whereas we have only a pair of parrots."

"We have all this artificial lighting while they have the rich sky and the stars at night."

"We have a small swimming pool while I saw a river and a waterfall near their place."

"They can wander in their endless fields while I am confined to a small room."

"We buy all our food from the supermarket, they grow their own food."

"The boy there has 3 siblings to play with, while I am all alone."

The Father was speechless. Then the boy added, "Thanks, Pa. Today I learnt how poor we are."

Hard truth: There are always two sides of a coin. Never ignore either.

The above short story is a modified version of a popular folktale.

Short Stories # 1: Piecing the Earth Together

"Piecing the Earth Together"

A Father was having a meeting with a client, when his little boy came to him, wanting to play with him. His father, already frustrated, tore a page from the newspaper which bore the image of the Earth, made several pieces of it, and handed it to his son. He gave him some scotch tape and told him to put back the image together, hoping that it would keep him occupied for atleast 10 minutes. He resumed his meeting.

After about 15 minutes, the boy returned, with a perfect image of the Earth. Knowing that his 4-year old son could not have done it, he asked, "Has your Mother done this?"

The child replied, "No. She's sleeping from the past hour or so. I don't even know what that blue, round thing is. I saw a picture of an elephant on the back of the page, so I put it together and found out that the round thing was there again."

Both the father and his client smiled at the child's innocence. The little boy couldn't figure out why they were so happy, let alone the strong level of common sense that he had used.

You don't have to be a learned one to do something, using a bit of common sense, curiosity and innocence would do better!

The above piece of writing is an integrated version, combined from two separate short stories.